ReaderKenka
Let's be realistic.
Fairaher
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Neive Bellamy
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Leoni Haney
Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.
bacchae2
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.
fairyfootsteps123
I started watching this series at the beginning of the airing of series six. By the end of it, i had seen all the other episodes of all the other series. It is one of the best shows I have ever seen. It is addictive and you do get a genuine feel for the story lines - you cannot watch one episode without forming loads of opinions. People claim its unrealistic, it is not - as assured by the producers, everything in the show is possible in a real prison. Agreed, it may not happen to the same people, as in the series but give the show a break - its a TV series! It has to be exciting and it really really is. It is moving and the story lines are real and in most cases relevant to thew outside world as well, in my opinion. It is serious and can be upsetting but it is also one of the best acted and best written shows I've ever seen! I cannot wait for the next series!
billyellyot
I first started watching Bad Girls when i was 12, a little young perhaps, but i was hooked on it, and wanted to continue seeing it. That was when the 3rd series was drawing to a close in 2001, and ever since then, i have become an ardent fan. It has shocked me, made me laugh with some genuinely funny moments, and some very moving story lines. b Having also seen the first two series that made the show the huge hit it once was, i feel that it has lost its way over Series 5 and 6 (WHY did they do the Tanya Turner episodes??) However come 2005, and Series 7 hit our screens, and has shown us once again why Bad Girls won all its awards - it has returned to the dark, gritty roots and brought us a genuinely chilling and moving episode when 18 year old Laura Canning killed herself, action-packed drama where the amazing Pat Kerrigan (Liz May Brice) arrives. She is the best thing to have happened to the show since Eva Pope was brought in, and is also one of the sexiest women i have ever seen on TV! However ever since the introduction of Footballers Wives, people seem to think that this show is OTT camp like FW. Although FW is also a great show (it was set out to be OTT), it cannot compare with Bad Girls.The writing, acting and direction of Bad Girls is almost always great, and i think Shed Productions should do more to improve it so it can win more awards again, as the current series has shown that there still is life in it, and that although it is made by the same people that made FW, its a very different show.
Random_Steve
Bad Girls is Shed Productions first, and most popular drama series on ITV.Bad Girls is based in larkhall womans prison. After having watched every single episode to date, Bad Girls have successfully displayed what being in a womans prison of this nature is really like. It is shocking, depressing, and more often than not disturbing.Even after watching 3 - 4 episodes, you get a feel for the characters, and what happens to them, happens to you too. At times you feel happy, and at others you feel sad. There is comedy thrown in every now and again, but there is always a more serious underlying concept that can never be forgotten.At the end of each episode, you are left wanting more. Bad Girls NEVER fails to surprise you with what's in store round the next corner. Just when you think it can't get any better, it does. This drama is a masterpiece that will hopefully go on for years to come.
