Sunday Mail - Australia
Simone Lahbib is one of the hottest and most popular young actors on British television, yet the character with which she has found fame, Bad Girls' Helen Stewart, is the antithesis of the dramatic heroine. Stewart is the idealistic wing governor at Larkhall women's prison and, to further diminish any residual gloss from her snappy power-dressing image, Stewart has lesbian tendencies.
While Lahbib says the relationships are "not explicit", these are hardly the ingredients for a mainstream popular drama series, and the Seven Network is calling it an adult soap. While we had our own series about women in prison in the early '80s (Prisoner), it was certainly a soap while Bad Girls is more heightened drama.
Creator Brian Park, who honed his craft on Coronation Street (which has been running since 1960), prefers to refer to this well-made and quickly addictive series as "a powerful drama series set in a closed world governed by petty rules and harsh punishments". Critics were not that kind when Bad Girls premiered a couple of years ago, but Lahbib says viewers immediately took to it.
The series is set in Larkhall's G Wing, which Stewart runs, and Park's aim is to dramatically portray this tense and unusual community, capturing the warmth and humor needed to survive the system. On the outside are the women's homes, partners and children, while on the inside they must negotiate their places in the prison's hierarchy. Bad Girls aims to show the relentless procedures of the prison system and its regulations pitched against the devious guerrilla tactics of the often smarter prisoners.
Into this cauldron is pitched wing governor Stewart (Lahbib), a young idealist. She soon finds herself pitted against the wing's resident bully, convicted murderer Michelle Dockley (Deborah Stephenson, Playing the Field), who is also having a secret affair with Stewart's second in command, prison officer Jim Fenner (Prime Suspect, Heartbeat). Stewart is in a live-in relationship with her boyfriend.
With two series of Bad Girls completed and work about to start on a third, Lahbib, a fan of the internet, likes to log on to the show's website to gauge viewer interest. Speaking by phone from her home in the UK, Lahbib is enjoying the autumn sun in her garden but, unlike her character, she is good for a laugh. Lahbib comes from a family of five kids. She says she is enjoying the kick Bad Girls has given her career.
Lahbib has not been fazed by the controversial nature of the show, including Stewart's growing physical attraction to inmate Nikki Wade (Mandana Jones). "I knew from the moment I signed on where they intended going with my character," she says. "And, to be honest, I have found the stuff (love scenes) with Mandana easy. "We did a television series together called London Bridge, so we have worked together before. "As we are both straight there is no sexual tension. Sometimes when you do love scenes with someone you half fancy it can be quite difficult." Tuesdays 9.30pm Seven.
