A lot’s changed in the 100 years since women got the vote.

Women have won all kinds of new rights and freedoms: from managing banks, to driving tanks, to running the country and getting married. They can even sumo-wrestle now.

So who better to help us celebrate the centenary of the vote, than the women who lived through it all?

So we set out to search for the three feistiest, sassiest 100-year-old ladies in the country. And that’s exactly who we found.

Millie, Beattie and Margaret took over Channel 4’s Continuity during the week of the anniversary of the vote. They introduced our programmes, reminded the nation of all the things that have changed for women since then, and talked about the progress that still needs to happen.

In 1918, the first UK women were granted the right to vote.

This was a significant event preceded by years of protest, and the death of Suffragette Emily Davison whilst taking a stand against inequality at the Epsom races.

A lot’s changed since then, with women winning rights to a multitude of things, big and small.

But there’s still work to be done: last year, an EU study found that Britain had made zero progress in tackling gender inequality over the past decade, whilst The World Economic Forum suggests it will take 100 years for Britain to close its gender equality gap.

There are many 100-year-old women living in the UK, but few with stories they want to tell on national TV.

So we travelled the UK in search of our centenarian talent.

We were looking for women whose character and charisma came across in film.

And most importantly, who cared about gender equality progress as much as we did!

We spent time with many women, filming tests with them and discussing their memories of the past century, whilst also making the people around them (their carers, and their families) a core part of the process.

And we knew we’d struck gold when we met Millie and Beattie (who’d been best friends since 15) and Margaret. Their wit, warmth and passion for equality made them the perfect hosts for Channel 4 during an important social moment.