Pop Quiz, hot shot: What do you get when you grab Queer as Folk (UK) and the first few seasons of Queer as Folk (US) and run them through a blender with a set of bagpipes, a haggis and a jumbo bucket of Oestrogen? One answer is of course, some very odd looks from the judges on MASTERCHEF. Another is that you might end up with something like this month’s televisual feast, which is definitely one for the grrrls.
So grab your favourite Tegan and Sara album, your favourite dyke detective novel and a fried mars bar as we tip the velvet with LIP SERVICE.
LIP SERVICE is a Scottish-lensed and set drama about the lives of six lesbian friends (well, technically, four lesbians, one more-or-less bisexual and one woman who seems to refuse labels) who hang out together in sunny…well, rainy… Glasgow. The series basically plays like Queer as Folk with lesbians instead of gay men, or perhaps Sex and the City where the women stop complaining/talking about sex long enough to actually have sex.
The catalyst for the series is Frankie Alan (the awesomely named Ruta Getmintas, from THE TUDORS), an ex-pat Glaswegian who has become a successful-ish photographer in the US of A. Frankie is called back to the land of tartan, fish-shop fried confectionary and mythical lake monsters at the behest of her sick auntie, Carol. Carol dies faster than you can say ‘plot- serving bit-part’ and Carol finds herself drawn back into Scotland’s lesbian scene – especially that involving her ex-girlfriend Cat, whom Frankie, um…dined and dashed on some years before. Frankie identifies as ‘occasionally bisexual’, though she only uses men for casual sex and falls in love only with women. She’s essentially Lip Services’ version of QAF (US)’s Brian Kinney – and just as unlikeable and self-centred a character, alas. Brian and Frankie could start up a support group for American Sociopathic Sex-aholics.
Cat McKenzie (Laura Fraser) is Frankie’s former bestfriend-turned-girlfriend whom Frankie dumped after all of three seconds to go to America. Architect Cat has moved on from her first love, Frankie, and is embarking on a first date with a policewoman, Sam (Heather Peace, and yes, handcuffs do get involved down the line). When Frankie returns she literally crashes the date and ruins it for her.
Tess Roberts (played by the adorable Fiona Button, the standout actress on the show so far, in my opinion) is a sweetly naive struggling actress and Cat’s best friend, who has an unfortunate propensity for dating bad girls (and no, I don’t mean Madeleine Stowe, Drew Barrymore and Andie McDowall! …eh, rent the 1994 movie and you’ll get the joke). She has an almost supernatural ability to attract women who treat her like crap or use her; indeed, Frankie calls her ‘the doormat’ (there’s not a pot and kettle big enough, Frankie)
Lou Foster (Roxanne McKee, fresh from playing a bisexual shop owner on East Enders ; the character was bisexual, not the shop) is an ostensibly straight reality-TV-star-turned-media presenter, whom is adored by men across the UK. Secretly, Lou has always been interested in women as well, and she starts a fledgling relationship with Tess that is threatened by both the closet, and her agent (Frankie and Cat’s sexy brother).
Other characters we meet along the way, several of whom get tangled in the above mentioned characters’ lives and/or bedsheets include:
Sadie – a colleague of Frankie’s who is addicted to partying and enjoys use of various substances found on the periodic table, putting her in immediate conflict with Sam.
Ed – (James Pearson) the aforementioned sexy brother of Cat, whom is unsure of his sexuality at the best of times, let alone when being propositioned by a horny lesbian.
Jay Adams (Emun Elliott), Cat’s best friend, whose girlfriend, Becky, falls under Frankie’s charms.
Lesbians, explicit sex scenes and nigh-incomprehensible Scottish accents! Don’t miss it! (watch with subtitles or a Scottish friend to translate for the first few episodes!)
Lip Service is available on DVD
Wicked Wedges
THE MOST HATED FAMILY IN AMERICA
(Wed Sept 7, ABC2- 8:30pm)
Louis Theroux’ fascinating documentary about the vile Phelps family and their Westbro Baptist Church, who take homophobia to whole new levels of hate, picketing funerals of, as they often say on their placards, ‘fags’ and ‘fag enablers’.
SEX: AN UNNATURAL HISTORY
(Fri Sept 9, SBS- 10pm)
Australian documentary on the changes wrought to human sexuality, from the emergence of HIV/AIDS in the early eighties and the increasing likelihood of legally recognized gay marriage across large sections of the world.
I DREAM OF JEANNIE
(Sat Sept 10, GO!- 11pm)
Not that I’m suggesting that this is a little dated after 46 years, or that a main character who is an astronaut in a show made before the Moon Landing might not be up to date with current NASA missions and technology, but when ¾ of your cast is in their Eighties and the rest is in the ground, you might want to, I dunno, move on to something more current, like Different Strokes.
SUPERSIZERS GO… Edwardian
(Thurs Sept 15, SBS- 8:30pm)
UK comic history series in which hilarious lesbian comedian Sue Perkins and the oddly sexy restaurant critic Giles Coren time-travel, gastronomically, for a week, eating nothing but what the people in their chosen era would eat, and see what the effect is on their health. This episode sees the duo chowing down Edwardian Style (1900-1910).
GAME OF THRONES
(Sun Sept 17, Showcase-6:30pm)
Get ready for some medi-evil with this fantasy saga based on a hit series of books by George R R Martin (BABYLON 5). It follows the power struggle of a group of warring feudal lords several thousand years ago in an ancient land that is actually not New Zealand doubling for Middle Earth. The feuding feudals face in-fighting, in-breeding, intrigue and infection from plague in their quest for the one thing…the throne. And despite the lack of suspiciously chummy homoerotic hobbits on hand, the series gets its gay on, with a bevvy of GLBT characters popping up amidst the swords and/or sorcery. Introduced recently were the gay prince Renly Bartheon (Gethin Anthony) and Lorras Tyrrel (Finn Jones), the Prince’s First Knight (who wasn’t apparently his first knight, but is definitely up for some private jousting).
Gavin Pitts
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