Lip Service Episode 6
Comedian and broadcaster Rosie Wilby shares her thoughts about the
final episode of BBC3's Lip Service
So it's all over - for now at least. Lip Service's finale left the
(closet) door wide open for a second series. In an episode
subtitled 'Ex-Girlfriends! What a pain in the arse they are! Grrr!'
(blink and you missed this caption) Cat finally got it on with
still strangely charmless Frankie while Sam was marooned in the
pub. Fortunately they were horizontal for much of this, rendering
their height different less problematic. Perhaps a friend of mine
was right when she once said 'it all evens out when you're lying
down'. If the 'bad messed up ex versus good stable girlfriend'
allegory continues to play out I'm looking forward to some full-on
'rucksacks at dawn' fisticuffs.
Will Cat ever make her mind up? Only a few weeks ago, she was
married to David Tennant and, um, dead. Ok this was a different
show on a different channel but the unfortunate scheduling makes
her more of a floozy in my mind. And there was good news for
unlucky Tess who got together with the peeping tom-ess across the
road whose idea of a date seems to be a darkened room full of
broken computers. Yet Tess seemed quite happy with this. Perhaps I
was wrong all those years ago to flunk my degree in Electronic
Engineering.
The series really did improve over its short run, the dialogue got
sharper and the sex scenes steamier and more believable. Even
Hillary Clinton said 'it gets better' on youtube a few weeks ago
when addressing the LGBT community. I assumed she must've been
talking about Lip Service, perhaps having been privy to a preview
DVD.
What I can't believe is how much furore and discussion the series
has caused amongst lesbians. We're so starved of adequate
representation on TV that when a show like this does come along we
have unrealistic expectations and all want to see ourselves in it.
Perhaps if we had more of a breadth of real-life and fictional
lesbians to watch, Lip Service could get away more easily with
being simple frothy fun.
Rosie Wilby
Lip Service Episode 1: Comedian and broadcaster Rosie Wilby
shares her thoughts about the first episode of BBC3's Lip
Service
There's been a fair bit of press hype about this new Glasgow-set
soapy lezzie drama (that already has me thinking of shower sex
scenes). However as the first episode is about to air, my
girlfriend decides to go to bed. She does however pop in halfway
thru to check if I'm masturbating (!). I'm not. However, I do feel
slightly unfaithful. This first episode does have some of the
awkward feel of a first date.
Prime candidate for embarrassing mishaps is Tess who breaks into
her ex girlfriend's flat (we've all done it) and gets caught hiding
under the bed - she is my favourite already. Hats off to writer
Harriet Braun for creating a character that shows lesbians are not
all moody, troubled types and some really do have the GSOH a
zillion personal ads claim to seek. You need to when your day job
involves dressing up as a fizzy drink. Yet it is whilst wearing
said costume that Tess actually manages to pull a 'straight' TV
presenter scarily reminiscent of Christine Bleakley. Doomed
romance? I think so. I once got off with a girl in a college panto
when we shared a moment in a horse costume but it was too hard to
shake off the image.
The main love story is that between sex-crazed caddish Frankie,
suddenly back in town after disappearing two years earlier, and
fragile control freak Cat. However, their reunion scene is rendered
unintentionally hilarious by the extreme height difference between
the two actresses. How did these two get together in the first
place? Did their eyes meet across a seesaw? Maybe they broke up
because they couldn't share clothes. And the fact that Frankie has
a tendency towards doing it standing up makes me ponder on the
practicalities of this. Will the inevitable romance-rekindling
scene involve a stepladder?
More importantly, do women like Frankie really exist? Even in my
slutty year (2004) I never shagged within touching distance of a
dead body. And I don't remember being in such a rush I never
removed any clothes - mind you this is Glasgow i.e freezing. And
whenever you have casual sex, the lesbian rules dictate that you
will see them the next day on the bus - I promise you, you can't
love and leave and get off that easy. Perhaps that's why Frankie
absconded to New York. Without calling Cat for weeks! If I was Cat,
I would not be talking to her. Go for the sensible hardworking cop
instead!! How many people did you have to talk to on Gaydar before
you found someone normal? But my feeling is that her hearts not in
it when she sighs 'I'm too old to be dating fuck ups'.
We'll see what happens over the next few weeks.
Rosie Wilby
This article first appeared on divamag.co.uk in 2010
Rosie presents Out In South London every Tuesday on Resonance
104.4FM at 6.30pm
