LIP SERVICE

Glasgow. Famous for ship building, The Barras and lesbians. Apparently.
In 2009 the BBC announced plans for a big, shiny drama about lesbians. Long overdue many have said; British lesbians have had to settle for reminiscing about Tipping the Velvet for far too long. In a most surprising twist of events however, the BBC announced that this new big, shiny Lesbian drama would be set in, um, our fair city of Glasgow. Strange choice?



Cat & Frankie in the city.

Well, no, not really actually. Glasgow has long been known to all of us who live here to be a diverse and tolerant city, and it was just a matter of time before people from elsewhere discovered that. The three main characters Frankie, Cat and Tess lived fairly normal lives, with fairly standard problems, which a much wider audience could empathise with. Sometimes with "gay" drama, it can look like a nature documentary as they show us the peculiar mating habits and rituals of these, gasp, strange creatures! Luckily, Lip Service was the complete opposite, and made great strides in showing functional,non-stereotypical gay people in the UK today.

The central plotline was the not so triumphant homecoming of Frankie, who had fled Glasgow in a hurry, leaving girlfriend Cat behind to mourn her departure.Cat moves on, finds herself a nice, if very serious, new girlfriend in the form of policewoman Sam. But Frankie wants Cat back... Throw in some mystery, some comedy and some tantalising images of Glasgow by night, and voila, one brandspanking, lesbian drama!

Sam & Cat go public.

Because there are so few television shows specifically aimed at the LGBT community, the ones that are broadcast tend to get massive support from the community. These shows tend to have far greater reach than other British drama, as the gay and lesbian communities across the worlda support any decent LGBT output.

Lip Service was at home on the BBC3 schedule. It gathered large audiences for a minority channel, showing that the viewers looked beyond the lesbian tag, and focused on the strong storylines. The role of Glasgow was an important one for the show. Sex & the City famously viewed New York City as the 5th character of the show, and in a sense the same could be said for Glasgow in Lip Service. The city looks sleek and modern. I live here and it makes me want to visit...

Keep your eyes peeled for Series 2 of Lip Service, showing on BBC3 this spring.

BROADCAST:- 2010-present.

STARRING:- Ruta Gedmintas, Fiona Button, Laura Fraser.

WEEGIE RATING:- Ya dancer!