Lip service gets green light from the BBC

by Florentine

The keenly observant among you will be well aware by now of longstanding rumours surrounding a new British lesbian series over at BBC headquarters.  Up until now however, that’s exactly what it has been (rumour that is).  We folk at TMC are pleased to announce that more moist-making small screen news has dripped its way into the press this week, making ‘Lip Service’ the latest in a sizeable line of lez orientated programming headed jauntily to our telly boxes in the coming months.

Penned by UK writer Harriet Braun (Mistresses, Hotel Babylon) and picked up by BBC3, Lip Service is now an officially greenlit six-part drama series based on the sex lives of twentysomething lesbians in Glasgow.  Partly based on her own experiences, Braun hopes the show will be a “sexy, funny and irreverent drama that reflects what it is to be a young gay woman living in Britain today”.  So far so good.  And whilst the show has already been dubbed ‘the UK’s answer to The L Word’, the taboo-busting writer says “it’s high time we saw some contemporary British lesbians, with all the bad weather, trips to the pub and repressed emotions that go with that”.

Lip Service will be made by Spooks producer Kudos Film and Television for BBC Scotland and is, at last check, yet to undergo casting.  It would be rude not to speculate which of our fine young (a reminder that the cast are supposed to be in their twenties) Blighty actresses might take centre stage as replacement Bette, Alice and Shanes; so please find below a selection of potential picks that we (well, I) would happily welcome make the grade.

Jemima Rooper.  Last seen in ITV’s sexed up Pride and Prejudice rethink Lost in Austen, she’s had her fair share of girl-on-girl character roles (four that I can count), from her stint as a lesbian ghost in supernatural drama Hex to a flirty cameo in Sugar Rush.

Juno Temple.  This quirky, unafraid young actress gets my gaydar all a’tingling.  And while this is not remotely based on fact (please don’t sue), we can all pretend for a little while by catching her in Jordan Scott’s upcoming lesbian feature Cracks.

Olivia Hallinan.  Yes yes I know, beat me with the cliché stick.  But we know she can do lez convincingly and we don’t see nearly enough fine young red things gracing our screens.  Or everyday lives for that matter.

Gemma Arterton.  Just because.  The dazzling new queen of the small screen may have transformed into a Hollywood Bond girl for the Quantum of Solace last year, but she’s still ours.

Billie Piper.  Guilty pleasure this one.  Is it me or has she gained a few small grains of street cred these past few years?  She looks pretty good in a two-set anyway…

Tuppence Middleton.  The wild card entry.  This hot new starlet on the block made her break through in the lead role of UK horror-comedy Tormented, released earlier this year.  Acting pretty much all her co-stars effortlessly off the screen, she’s definitely one to watch.  And massively deserves a shot at stardom (take heed producers).  She’s got a pretty gay vibe too, at least in my head.

Now, it wouldn’t be fair to have all the fun inventing the cast myself.  Suggestions on a technologically advanced postcard (blog comment) please…

Read the original Guardian article here.