It's unbelievable to me that I only heard of this series several months ago when it's been running, and quite popularly and notably, in Britain going on 8 years now.
I've only seen the first 3 seasons. Only the series one DVD set is available in the U.S. This is absurd for such a significant show in British TV history and one which should be seen and appreciated by all, but especially by a discerning gay viewership. I wanted to see what happened next so badly that I had to send to the UK for series two and three and get a DVD player on which I could watch region 2 dvds. But it was worth it. As Helen Stewart says to Nikki Wade, "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." The significance of the Helen/Nikki love story is of immense import as I am quite sure that the vast majority of the viewing audience (huge, at its height, for British prime time) was actively rooting for the lesbian couple to get together and, somehow, stay that way. Despite the impossible circumstances in which they fell in love from opposite sides of the prison bars.
It was a remarkably romantic love story and a pleasure to watch these superb actresses work together. (And what a great alternative to something like "The L Word.") One comes to care about all the characters here...even the truly wicked 'bad' ones, though they are all quite recognizably human, and all have their vulnerable, or likable moments. And the actors, including the villain of the piece, Jack Ellis, are all uniformly superb.
This series turned me into a Simone Lahbib and Mandana Jones fan for life. Ms. Lahbib, especially, is a rare actress of supreme nuance. I never failed to be moved by her intelligent choices in her portrayal of Helen Stewart, the 'warden' who finds herself unaccountably (at first) falling in love with one of the inmates in her charge and does something so proactive about it that one watches in wonderment and can only wish they knew someone like her. She is a stalwart, stubborn, honorable, feisty, little scot, and it's easy to fall in love with the character (and her incredibly sexy accent--who knew?! Craig Ferguson and Billy Connolly just make me laugh) right along with Mandana's heartfelt turn as the hot-tempered lifer (and out lesbian) Nikki, a woman who's inside for killing the corrupt cop who was trying to rape her girlfriend. A passionate (and, at times, jealous) woman with deeply felt (and expressed) emotions. When she decides she can't live with the current situation with Helen anymore she does something, at once, so reckless and yet so Romantic that leads to one of the most wrenching cliffhangers I have ever seen on TV. There's literally no way out...I was so hesitant to move onto series 3...I didn't see how it could be 'satisfactorily' resolved. Actually, there are 4 cliffies at the end of series 2, bambambambam, one right after the other. Audacious stuff.
I found series 3, tho very compelling, not as thoroughly excellent (after the melodrama hit the fan it just kept coming) as the first 2 seasons, and thought, what a shame, they pulled back a bit on the love story in order to begin new threads and sub-plots and introduce new characters and give the rest of the ensemble their due, I suppose, but it was the Nikki/Helen story which was the heart of the show and put them on the map as must-see TV in Britain, but, still, it's a fascinating drama and I defy anyone not to become involved in caring about the fates of these people, and they do become very real.
In a way it's sort of like an "Upstairs, Downstairs" set in a women's prison, and that's about the highest compliment I can pay to a serialized British TV drama.
I've only seen the first 3 seasons. Only the series one DVD set is available in the U.S. This is absurd for such a significant show in British TV history and one which should be seen and appreciated by all, but especially by a discerning gay viewership. I wanted to see what happened next so badly that I had to send to the UK for series two and three and get a DVD player on which I could watch region 2 dvds. But it was worth it. As Helen Stewart says to Nikki Wade, "I wouldn't have missed it for the world." The significance of the Helen/Nikki love story is of immense import as I am quite sure that the vast majority of the viewing audience (huge, at its height, for British prime time) was actively rooting for the lesbian couple to get together and, somehow, stay that way. Despite the impossible circumstances in which they fell in love from opposite sides of the prison bars.
It was a remarkably romantic love story and a pleasure to watch these superb actresses work together. (And what a great alternative to something like "The L Word.") One comes to care about all the characters here...even the truly wicked 'bad' ones, though they are all quite recognizably human, and all have their vulnerable, or likable moments. And the actors, including the villain of the piece, Jack Ellis, are all uniformly superb.
This series turned me into a Simone Lahbib and Mandana Jones fan for life. Ms. Lahbib, especially, is a rare actress of supreme nuance. I never failed to be moved by her intelligent choices in her portrayal of Helen Stewart, the 'warden' who finds herself unaccountably (at first) falling in love with one of the inmates in her charge and does something so proactive about it that one watches in wonderment and can only wish they knew someone like her. She is a stalwart, stubborn, honorable, feisty, little scot, and it's easy to fall in love with the character (and her incredibly sexy accent--who knew?! Craig Ferguson and Billy Connolly just make me laugh) right along with Mandana's heartfelt turn as the hot-tempered lifer (and out lesbian) Nikki, a woman who's inside for killing the corrupt cop who was trying to rape her girlfriend. A passionate (and, at times, jealous) woman with deeply felt (and expressed) emotions. When she decides she can't live with the current situation with Helen anymore she does something, at once, so reckless and yet so Romantic that leads to one of the most wrenching cliffhangers I have ever seen on TV. There's literally no way out...I was so hesitant to move onto series 3...I didn't see how it could be 'satisfactorily' resolved. Actually, there are 4 cliffies at the end of series 2, bambambambam, one right after the other. Audacious stuff.
I found series 3, tho very compelling, not as thoroughly excellent (after the melodrama hit the fan it just kept coming) as the first 2 seasons, and thought, what a shame, they pulled back a bit on the love story in order to begin new threads and sub-plots and introduce new characters and give the rest of the ensemble their due, I suppose, but it was the Nikki/Helen story which was the heart of the show and put them on the map as must-see TV in Britain, but, still, it's a fascinating drama and I defy anyone not to become involved in caring about the fates of these people, and they do become very real.
In a way it's sort of like an "Upstairs, Downstairs" set in a women's prison, and that's about the highest compliment I can pay to a serialized British TV drama.