The storyline follows the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the Little Ladies, as they struggle for recognition and success.

The series stars Rula Lenska, Charlotte Cornwell and Julie Covington as the Little Ladies, with support from Emlyn Price, Beth Porter, Sue Jones-Davies, Bob Hoskins, Stephen Moore, Derek Thompson, Denis Lawson and Little Nell among others.

The series was made on a small budget for Thames Television, with a style inspired by fringe theatre.

It was based on an original idea by Annabel Leventon, Diane Langton and Gaye Brown.

The fictional band was portrayed by session musicians as well as the three lead actresses (Rula Lenska, Charlotte Cornwell and Julie Covington) who proved they could sing; the spin-off album of music from the series entered the UK Albums Chart at number one (exceptionally rare at that time).

Industrial action during May of that year at ITV, the commercial channel that aired the show, caused the last few episodes to be postponed until November.

[3] The second series pushed the style further in an experimental direction: where the first series had a lot of dialogue and "offstage" scenes, the second focused more on the music and fantasy sequences, with additional songs and musical interludes used to move the plot forward rather than relying on dialogue as the first had done.

[4] It was also unusual in portraying strong female central characters, and having an overtly feminist message.

[7][8] Soon afterward, the first series was shown in the United States on public television and rapidly became a hit,[9] especially in large metropolitan centres like New York and San Francisco.

However, the second series was felt to be too "raunchy" for the sensibilities of a public television audience, especially as the first had received a lot of complaints from the public in areas outside the larger cities for its frank portrayal of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.

[12] An eight-week legal trial in 1982 led to a landmark ruling that Thames TV had used the idea pitched verbally a few years before the show was commissioned, by, among others, Annabel Leventon, author of The Real Rock Follies: The Great Girl Band Rip-Off of 1976.

Dixon, Simon Jones, Stephen Moore and Beth Porter all later had roles in the TV adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

A musical based on the TV series was staged at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester, from 24 July to 26 August 2023, from a book by Chloe Moss and directed by Dominic Cooke.

[13] The cast comprises Samuel Barnett, Carly Bawden, Tamsin Carroll, Fred Haig and Zizi Strallen.