I TALK TO Ola Labib

"It's really refreshing to finally have not just my work as a comedian, but 13 years of my working life, turned into a workplace sitcom."

From pharmacist to comedian and now Channel 4 sitcom writer, creator and star, Ola Labib's star is continuing to rise and her new comedy pilot, The Pharmacy, is proof that she deserves every bit of success she's had and is yet to have.

The Pharmacy, as part of Channel 4's comedy Blaps pilots, delves behind the counter of a local pharmacy as the oddball staff attempt to cure their community one patient at a time.

Ola leads as beleaguered pharmacist Lola, starring alongside Sue Vincent as her aggressively efficient right-hand woman, Margaret, Finlay Christie as up-and-not-so coming wannabe grime artist Harry and Nabil Abdulrashid as Zein, who you can always rely on to deliver bad service with a smile. This diverse group of misfits are tempted by the pills they serve, all whilst dealing with high rent, high stress and low pay.

The only thing wrong with the pilot, having now watched it three times, is that it only lasts 10 minutes. The characters are well drawn, the gags come thick and fast and the cast are superb together.

Channel 4’s comedy Blaps have been the launching pad for many beloved comedy series over the years, including Gameface, We Are Lady Parts, Stath Lets Flats and Disability Benefits, and with a bit of luck, The Pharmacy will be their next big hit.

I recently caught up with Ola Labib to talk about her journey into comedy, why she wanted to create The Pharmacy, what she thinks about Muslim representation in the industry and so much more.

For many, this will be their first introduction to Ola Labib. So what was your journey into comedy like?

I grew up in an immigrant family where you're kind of pressured into either doing medicine, pharmacy, engineering, law... funnily enough, I always wanted to be a fashion designer, growing up. But that was never going to happen.

I actually applied to do medicine. I wanted to do medicine. I wanted to be a doctor, but I didn't get in, so I did pharmacy, which you'll find a lot of pharmacists are similar. Even if they don't like to admit it. I've said it a few times and I get a lot of hate comments from them and I'm like "Shut up, you're lying! You wanted to do medicine, but you didn't get in. There's no shame in it."

So I did that for 13 years, but it was never my passion. Don't get me wrong, I found working in hospitals, clinical pharmacy, very rewarding, but I just felt like it wasn't me. So there were a few things that made me want to, not necessarily do comedy, but come away from pharmacy. But I didn't know what to.

One of the things I spoke about in my hour show is I made a really big error one time, because I was so under pressure. Usually a pharmacist would cover one ward and I was covering three. I was working overtime and it was just so overwhelming that I made a mistake one time, that could have potentially jeopardised somebody's life. And it was at that point that I was like "This is just not even worth it for me anymore. It's just too much." But I didn't know what I wanted to do instead.

There was another Sudanese woman who was an optometrist, and she had this event because she went from optometrist to fashion designer, and I used to really like fashion, so I went and we became really good friends.

I asked her "What made you go into fashion?" And she was like "People used to always say 'We love how you dress and how you style yourself.' so I gave it a go!" and she ended up winning this competition and now she's got her own brand.

I told her that I was in that dilemma as well. I don't want to do pharmacy anymore, but I don't know what to do. And she was like, "What do people compliment you on? What is it people say about you?" and I was like "Well... it sounds stupid, but people are always like "We always have a laugh with Ola. She's really funny." So she went "Why don't you do stand-up?" and that was it.

How did you find stand-up at the beginning?

I didn't do it straight away. I waited until maybe two or three years after that and I'd had a really rubbish day at work so I went onto Facebook, I was living in Manchester at the time, and I went on forums looking for open mic nights. I applied to loads and then a guy called Jason Cook got back to me to say he'd had a dropout and asked if I'd do three minutes at the Ape and Apple. I was like "Yeah sure. Why not?" And I did.

I made lots of Lord of the Rings jokes and he asked me to come back again. So I did another night with Jason and then at that time there was a guy called Sean Paczowski who used to MC loads of nights and asked me to do his night. So I did the Manchester open mics quite a bit and that's just how it all started...

Fast-forward to today, where does being a pharmacist sit alongside being a comedian?

I'm still a registered pharmacist and I will still do shifts to make sure my license is valid. The comedy market at the moment is quite dry, so even now, I will still do shifts when needed. I got signed by UTC during Covid, so for two years, after thinking "OK, I've done it." there was nothing going on.

It's scary, because you get so used to a 9 to 5. You know work is guaranteed. You know how much you're getting. You know that you can deal with your bills and this and that. But with comedy, it's not. What people don't understand is that you do a lot of work for free. So in order to succeed in comedy, it is very, very expensive and to be completely transparent, I need to work as a pharmacist to fund my comedy.

For example, if there's a writing competition and they want a 10-page script, I need time to sit down and do it. So I will need to work to pay the bills, in order to have the time to free up to do it. So it is a balance and I am looking forward to the day I can officially say I never have to do pharmacy again. But I'm not quite there... almost.

Speaking of almost, how does it feel to almost have The Pharmacy available for people to watch?

You know how it is in the industry, how hard it is, and it got to a point of frustration where people really liked the idea, but then they'd talk about funding and this and that. So for Channel 4 to be like "Actually, do you know what, we want to invest in this." it gives you this feeling that maybe I am good enough at what I do.

How would you describe The Pharmacy?

I believe the show is a true reflection of most pharmacies. You work with people that day-to-day you would never associate with. Never. The longest place I worked was Fordingbridge, whch is a small village in the New Forest. The people I worked with, would never in a million years have interracted with someone like me. I would never in a million years have interacted with someone like that.

You find yourself coming together in an environment where you're working with people that you would never associate with and you have to learn to work with them, to get on with them, to clash with them.

In The Pharmacy you've got Margaret who represents a lot of people that I've worked with. The pharmacy dispenser or technician who's been there for years and years and years, thinks she knows everything, who's secretly, or not so secretly, so bitter that this young pharmacist, just because she went to university, she has more authority than me. I'm going to show her that actually, you don't need to go to university and I know more than you. This is a character that I believe a lot of people have worked with in the pharmacy environment.

You're stuck working with these new students and Gen Zs who are just lazy and think they know better... and I know that's a stereotype, I know not all people are like that, but a lot of them are.

I was covering shifts over Christmas, and I worked in this one pharmacy who were looking for a dispenser and my 18 year old brother was looking for a Christmas job, so I brought him to work with me. Harry (played by Finlay Christie) was based on my brother. He had his headphones in the whole time and was cracking the dispensers up, so I really wanted to include that character in the mix.

Did you have much say in the casting?

I literally told them "I wrote these parts for Nabil (Abdulrashid) and Finlay (Christie)."

Finlay's whole comedy is he's Gen Z, he's very posh and middle class, but into grime. So I wrote that part for him. I was like "He's such a pretty boy. Everything about him is this mismatch. Finlay auditioned hungover and I was like "What the hell are you doing?!" They did have somebody else they wanted, but I really fought for Finlay.

As for Nabil, I was like "Guys, I know you might have other options, but I'm telling you right now, I'm not prepared to give this role to anybody else apart from Nabil." He's just perfect for it. He's my comedy uncle. He hates it when I call him that, but that is literally who he is. A moody miserable fart, but when he's annoying, he's over giggly and just perfect for it.

Your husband Ramey Dawoud plays a love interest for your character in The Pharmacy. How did that come about?

I first saw my husband in a film, called Faisal Goes West in 2014/15, and that's when I became a little bit obsessed with him. I watched everything he was in. I listened to his music.

That's how I met him. He was performing in Sudan, I booked tickets, saw him, worked a bit of magic and we ended up getting married! Then we did a podcast together and I thought, you know what, how cool would it be if it went from watching him, to marrying him, to working with him?

The casting director didn't know he was my husband, so he auditioned and she was like "Oh, this guy's perfect. They seem to have a natural chemistry." There were other options, but it worked. They wanted an intimate scene, and maybe it'll amount to that later on, but I said to them "If you want a scene like that, I religiously couldn't do it with anyone else".

There were other versions without the intimacy, so I'd have been able to do the scene, but it would have been less intense. Or, I could do it with him. Or we cut it out and have an alternative. Luckily, it worked out well. The feedback I got was that they liked what was happening on screen between us.

I notice your character is called Lola, and you’re Ola. What was behind that decision? And how similar is she to you?

So it wasn’t supposed to stick with Lola. At the time, they were like “What do you want to be called?” And I said “I definitely don’t want to be called Ola.” So we were thinking of names and I said “Let’s leave it as Lola for now and think of something later.” And then it got so late that it was too late to change it.

I do think she’s a true reflection of myself and other pharmacists, where it takes every bit of their mental strength, not to punch some of those geriatric patients in the face. They have to literally speak through gritted teeth to deal with them. So I really wanted to show that on screen.

I definitely relate to the way Lola has to put on a front because patients are always right. Whilst round the back she’s literally seething. I actually had anger management for two months. I don’t know if that was a result of the NHS or not, but it got to the point where my brother, who’s a doctor, said to me “You need help”. I think it’s because I hold so much in and people please so much that when people take my kindness for weakness, I snap and I don't like it. So I was working through that and thought why not do the same for the character.

Why did you want The Pharmacy to get made?

Pharmacists are really undervalued in the NHS and people don't really know what goes on in the world of pharmacy. You go into a pharmacy, you just see that person who's on the front counter, but you don't actually know what happens in the back. All the dramas, the anecotes and everything that comes with it.

It's really refreshing to finally have not just my work as a comedian, but 13 years of my working life, turned into a workplace sitcom. So I'm really excited. I'm really excited to see how people take it.

Talk to me about the talking heads aspect of The Pharmacy. What inspired that decision?

I really love The Office, the British Office. My American husband's going to get really pissed. But it was very wry, very dry, very realistic and very funny, whereas the American one was very over the top and unrealistic. Almost slapstick silly. But I really like Ricky Gervais’ The Office. I really like the interviews. I think it was just an interesting way to see people's actual thoughts.

Originally, I wasn't going to do talking heads, you know, but when the development producers came to my show and saw me doing imitations to the audience, they were like “If we can put that, some of those antidotes on screen, that would be amazing.” And that’s how that made it into the show. But it was definitely influenced by The Office and I called it The Pharmacy because… The Office, The Pharmacy.

I’m surprised it hasn’t been done before!

I do think that sometimes. I even looked up shows that were pharmacy related, to make sure it wasn’t clashing with anything, but I couldn’t find anything. I think it's genuinely because people think pharmacies are a really boring place. What could be possibly write about?

You’ve spoken about wanting to represent pharmacists, health workers, and women, but especially women of colour. Do you feel pressure when you say that?

I think particularly as a Muslim woman, an evidently Muslim woman, wearing a hijab, whether I like it or not, I do have that pressure. I know that's a conversation that a lot of Muslim comedians have a lot of the time, especially the women. And they're like, it shouldn’t be a representation of everyone. And I'm like “I agree, but we are, whether we like it or not.” Because a lot of people don't know any Muslims or they've never come across Muslims or don't necessarily socialise with Muslims. Maybe they work with them at most.

The first time a lot of people will ever see a Muslim, especially if they're watching in certain rural areas of England, will be on TV. So I think it's really important that we do have a positive reflection of our community in a positive way. There is pressure, I think, to do that.

There are a lot of things that I've wanted to say or I have said and then asked for that to be edited out, because in the spur of the moment I'll say things and then think “Oh shit, that's gonna reflect so badly on me and on my community.” So even though it's a pressure that’s a little bit unfair and shouldn't be there, whether I like it or not, it is.

Have you ever felt represented on television?

Growing up, not really. Not as a Muslim. But as a woman of colour, I grew up watching Angellica Bell on CBBC. And I remember that she was probably one of the first women of colour that I'd seen on TV. She was great. She was so amazing. A very positive reflection. Beautiful. Empathetic. Sympathetic. So I remember seeing her on TV and that gave me a bit of, there is someone that looks like me.

I think the biggest impact of a woman of colour was when Spice Girls came out. I know that sounds really silly, but I grew up in a council estate in Paulsgrove and we were the only black family. I was the only black girl in school. People don't like hearing it, but this is the reality, I felt very secluded. I didn't really get involved in a lot because the early 90s was very racist where I was from.

But I remember when the Spice Girls came out, all of a sudden everybody wanted to be my friend because they wanted me to be Mel B, because no one else could be her except for me. So as crazy it sounds, I think when the Spice Girls came out, that was the most I felt included. Even though I always wanted to be Baby Spice.

Do you think the representation of Muslims in the industry has improved?

No. I think they're trying, but I still think there's a one in, one out policy. You will never see two Muslim women on the same line-up. You will never see two Muslim women on the same TV show unless it's a show about Muslims. It just doesn’t happen. I think they want it, but they want that token one. There can’t be two.

I've always said I'm a comedian that happens to be a Muslim woman, not a Muslim woman that happens to be a comedian. And that's how I want to be seen. But I don't think we're seen as comedians. We're seen by our diversity quotas. We're seen by our colour.

We talk about it because it's an issue, and I’ve told people that if you don't want me to talk about it, then it has to stop happening. They think they're doing better, but there's very much still tokenism, where there can only be one in the room. And I don’t know how long that’s going to take to get dealt with.

Even now, I'll submit a script, even with this script, I didn't mention Lola's religion or ethnicity. She’s a pharmacist. Because I know that if I’d started mentioning race and this and that, they’ll go “Oh we’ve already got a Muslim show. We’ve already got We Are Lady Parts.” And they’re both on completely different ends of the spectrum.

Rowan Atkinson would never come to you with Mr Bean and they’ll be like “Oh sorry, we’ve already got The Vicar of Dibley.”

So that’s the struggle we’re having. I’m just glad that it was only after The Pharmacy got commissioned that I started introducing little stereotypes that Margaret would say about Lola.

Pilots don't often make it on air, so what are you hoping to achieve by letting people get a taste before it hopefully goes to series?

It's not just about me, but it's to show that there are a lot of people out there who have these great stories to tell and this is their first step in showing it. Yes there are a lot of great writers and comedians out there, but there are more people who just haven't had the chance to show you what they can do.

I'm really hoping with The Pharmacy as well, that even though it's a workplace sitcom and it's funny, it's exciting and insane, I really do want people to have an insight into what it's like to be a pharmacist.

That's why I did that opening scene. That opening scene is the story of my life. I was like, "I know we've done this script like 47 times, but I really need this to be the opening scene, because this is the reality for a pharmacist and I know a lot of people are going to watch this and going to be thinking 'Yep, isn't that what you do? Just pick boxes off a shelf and sell lollipops?'" Story of my life!

Channel 4 has a great track record in turning their Comedy Blaps into series. Do you have ideas for future episodes?

Part of the pitch was that we write six outlines for six future episodes, which I've done.

We’ve tried to play a game of who gets commissioned why and what’s the pattern. But there isn’t one. It’s not on views because there have been BLAPs with way more used than ones that have been commissioned and haven't been commissioned.

No one knows! I asked the producers and they were like “We don’t know”. And then I asked the commissioners and they don’t say a lot. They’re probably not allowed to. But I do think we’re in need of a workplace sitcom. And a health-related one? I don’t think I’ve seen one before.

Well, let’s hope Channel 4 do the right thing!

Aw, thank you. I hope so. Like I say, I’ve got no idea what they’re looking for. It’s had a really positive response on social media so far. But you never know. This industry is very unpredictable.

You see some things on telly, I’m not going to say what, and you question what they saw in that. But then you see pilots, or work and question how they didn’t make that because it’s brilliant. What I think it is, is that it’s all dependent on a handful of people who make the final decision. And their subjective opinion.

But look, even the fact that it’s been made into a BLAP, I’m very very thankful. With comedy, once you’ve made one thing, and it does well, that’s when it happens. But until then you’re climbing that greasy, slippery, splinter infested, broken ladder, waiting for that hand to come down and pull you up.

The Pharmacy is available now on Channel 4