TMC Investigates… Lip Service
So whatever happened to Lip Service: BBC3′s foray into the complex, too often cringe-worthy world of lesbian entanglement? Their promise of a British L Word seems to have drained away over time, much like my respect for Jenny Schechter did circa 2006/2007. (Seriously, she wasn’t THAT bad in season one!) According to their website Lip Service was set to hit our screens in Spring 2010. So what’s going on?
Has our dear old Beeb forgotten about us? Have they pulled the plug on what was set to be a monumental development for lesbian representation on British TV? Do they no longer care about my wish to see attractive ladies fumbling about with each other on screen?
Well thankfully the answer is no, they haven’t pulled the plug; and indeed they do care about my tele-visual needs, it’s true, I asked.* Rather it’s a question of scheduling. After a quick chat with the lovely press lady at BBC Scotland I was informed that the show has been pushed back to Autumn and would be hitting our screens around October or so. Apparently there isn’t any explicit reason for this; it’s just the nature of scheduling. But the show was shot around that time last year so that could have been a factor in the decision. I asked about the lack of information/ teasers/ sneak peaks on offer and was informed we should stay tuned as more will be coming our way very, very soon.
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So why does it even matter? Hasn’t the lesbian world enough real life drama already, do we really need it reflected on screen? Well pushing aside my excitement at the prospect of lesbians with Scottish accents, I would say most certainly yes we do, as Stonewall’s latest report shows. There are so few representations of LGBT characters on British TV – particularly lesbians – that I would seriously struggle to write a Tuesdays Top Ten. (Anyone fancy giving it a go?) So it’s incredibly infuriating when I see articles such as this; slamming the entire effort whilst giving no courtesy whatsoever to the fact that this is such a big step in the right direction for British TV. Obviously Lip Service won’t cover the entire spectrum of gay girl experience (no show could ever realistically do so) but having an entire show dedicated to and portraying lesbians is a huge step forward, away from the sort of archaic stereotypical token lez that’s thrown into a popular soap every now and then. Lets just hope others soon begin to follow.
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*I didn’t.
Haven’t quite satisfied your Lip Service fix with this article? Why not read a few more as written by our very own Florentine.
First Peak Teaser For Lip Service
Am so proud of you…think this is the shortest thing you’ve ever written ;) xx
I like it. From the teaser anyway. And this is not purely based on the fact that it includes a woman with a cute Scottish accent saying ‘Moose’. Nope. Not one bit.
Aw thanx Fairy Cake… I guess less is more huh ;)
@ Dundee Cake – clearly the word ‘Moose’ as uttered by a TV lesbian with a cute Scottish accent is more than enough incentive to tune in. Feel no shame!
A homosexual I know who has seen the first two episodes says it’s AMAZING. And very sexual. And that’s coming from a man-gay. Who knew?
Tha should shut everyone up! Such style requires skill. The teaser has mute me and now I shall never ever speak again! Unless your answers are of great interest for this service.
The man gay spoke the truth. I have just watched the first episode and it’s PROPERLY ACE.
Oo artic roll how’d you manage that? I’m most intrigued….
I begged the important types at work (ie the TV folk) to instruct the BBC that the resident office lesbian NEEDED to see the show for review purposes. And lo and behold, they biked over the disc of the first episode last week. Needless to say, I’ll be MAKING SURE there’s a massive preview on Lip Service in the mag when it’s finally on TV. GO LESBOS.
@Arctic roll Aha- I knew it. The lesbian sphere of influence continues to expand… Stand aside Freemasons, there’s a new kid on the block.