By Laura O’Neill

Serena Terry aka Mammy Banter is in talks about a TV adaptation of her book The Secret Life of an Uncool Mum.

She revealed the news while in NWRC as the main guest for a very special chat show filmed in the colleges TV studio. Young people from the Tuned In Project, for adults with learning disabilities, worked with L3 Media students to produce The Wan Show. And Serena gave an exclusive worthy of The One Show when she disclosed her TV ambitions.

“I want to be a screen writer it’s all I’ve ever wanted to be,” she said. “I want to get behind the camera.”

Talks about producing the  TV sitcom are at an early stage and will continue early next year. Serena said: “Everything in the TV world moves at a snail’s pace.”

Serena’s comedy journey began during Covid. Losing her two brothers six months prior encouraged Serena to adopt the attitude of ‘life is too short’ so she took to social media as the character Mammy Banter. She did it ‘literally for the craic’ and hoping to lift her spirits. Since then, she has developed a career which has gone from strength to strength.

Speaking about the early days on social media, Serena said she enjoyed the feedback but mostly finding a platform that allowed her to be authentic.

“It was real people talking about real life. You have to be authentic and follow people who are authentic,” she said.

Previously a Chief Operations Officer for a software company Serena had never envisioned a career as a comedienne. A pinnacle moment when she realised her future could change was when Harper Collins, the publishing agency, contacted her about writing a book. After initially thinking the email from the publisher was a hoax Serena said,

“It was an actual opportunity that I got to fulfil and I’m going on to write my third book now.”

The prospect of freedom, creativity, and the ability to shape her own brand was her motivation to leave her corporate job and focus on comedy.

Serena has a good relationship with her publisher and although she admits she was naive about the writing process and is sometimes guilty of procrastination.

“The best thing is that you are project managed. You have a team who let you know how many words they need a day or a week. They keep you on a strict timeline.”

Her confidence has grown and during the editing process she now has the conviction to say what she wants.

“The characters are all from Derry and there are a lot of colloquialisms and local humour. I have an editor sitting in London saying this doesn’t make sense maybe we should take it out. It came to the second book and I’m like no we are keeping it in.”

The Mammy Banter brand also incorporates a stand-up comedy tour. Her next year’s tour will be bigger than the last. The largest venue being the SSE arena in Belfast which holds 8,500 people. Serena points out that: “Bigger venues mean pressure in terms of ticket sales and in the run up to it the nerves will kick in.”

2024 will be a busy year for Serena with her new book coming out in February. Whilst waiting on TV talks to progress she is ‘happy to have the tour’ and will keep writing, making videos and building her brand.