1960s finishing school drama ‘Swans’ coming from ‘The Dig’ team

A new TV series set in the ‘Swinging ’60s’ has been announced.

Swans will follow a working-class teenage girl sent to an elite finishing school, Deadline reports.

We’re told the show will feature “a rich seam of humour, scandals and singular characters, touching on social themes of class and women’s rights.”

Newcomer Amy Mason – best known as a stand-up comedian, as well as for her theatre work and writing a novel called The Other Ida – has written the series.

Swans will follow Ally, a 19-year-old working-class girl from East London who joins a posh finishing school when her street trader dad wins the football pools.

The story is inspired by the real-life experiences of Mason’s mother and aunt, who both attended a finishing school during this transitional decade for women in society.

The six-part drama is created by Clerkenwell Films, best known for producing Netflix movie The Dig, the BBC’s 2007 adaptation of Persuasion, and John Hannah’s Rebus series.

Here’s a clip from The Dig:

Finishing schools were set up to teach young women the social graces and cultural rites they would need to know ahead of their entry into upper-class society.

“I am delighted to be working with Amy and Clerkenwell Films to develop Swans,” said producer David Barron (Emily, Harry Potter).

“This is an exciting opportunity to explore a fascinating period in history and examine class and gender norms through an unexpected prism; and reflect on how things have progressed since then,” he added.

“We were so excited when David and Envision brought us Swans,” commented Petra Fried, Joint Managing Director at Clerkenwell Films.

“Amy has created a world full of glorious stories that present a fascinating and fun look at how much life was changing for young women in the 1960s,” she said. “We think audiences will love this world and all of the characters in it.”

Amy Mason’s novel The Other Ida is available on Amazon.