Articles
Goodbye
to sexy Bad Girls
By LEEANN KRIEGH
December 20, 2006
AFTER eight years of arresting
viewing, TV’s Bad Girls have finally earned their release from
fictional HMP Larkhall.
Tonight sees the last-ever episode of the hit show on ITV1, a series that's won millions of fans around the world with its saucy goings-on behind bars.
During its lifetime, storylines have seen warders sleeping with prisoners, warders murder prisoners, prisoners romping with other prisoners and even the prison governor having a lesbian affair with one of her inmates.
It regularly drew up to nine million viewers a week and went on to win a host of awards including two coveted NTAs.
So it's no wonder
original cast members Simone Lahbib and Mandana Jones - whose characters
embarked on that steamy twosome - have fond memories of the barrier-breaking
show.
They appeared in the first three series which had Simone's character
Helen Stewart fall in love with Mandana’s alter-ego Nikki Wade,
a “lesbian lifer”.
Simone said: “It was a ground-breaking storyline. A love story that was so well-developed and beautifully done that I think it helped viewers move past whatever initial prejudices they may have had.”
Mandana agrees
and admits it was a challenge for the two straight actresses to portray
a lesbian romance.
She added: “I thought for it to be powerful, you must take the
gay label off it and focus on the truth that existed between the two
characters.
“As actresses, I think where we succeeded was in dropping ego
and letting go of our fears.
"We trusted each other quite completely, and that helped us portray
the love story in a way people could relate to and believe.”
During their three
years on Bad Girls, the pair received hundreds of fan letters each
week, mostly from lesbians and other women who were touched by the
issues explored.
“I’ve had letters from people saying, ‘My mum kicked
me out. She wouldn’t talk to me for five years, and now she’s
gotten so into Bad Girls and loves Nikki Wade so much that she rang
me up and now we get on like a house on fire,’” Mandana
said.
Through its unusual
mixture of camp humour and gritty drama, Bad Girls also explored controversial
topics such as self-harm, drug abuse, prison privatisation and the
forced separation of children from their incarcerated mothers.
“We broke down barriers, portraying things the public didn’t
normally have on in their front room at nine o’clock on a Tuesday
evening,” Mandana said.
“With Bad
Girls, the focus was on the lives of women who were generally not
killers but rather prostitutes or drug addicts - women whose lives
were ruined because of fairly menial crimes.”
Tonight's episode revists some of G-Wings darkest moments as ex-inmate
Natalie Buxton (Danielle Brent) - who met a grissly death at the hands
of a rival con and was then thrown into the sewers - comes back to
haunt new wing governer Sylvia 'Bodybag' Hollamby played by Helen
Fraser.
Mandana added: “I think at its best, Bad Girls was thoroughly engaging, ‘don’t-ring-now’ entertainment,” said Mandana, “but it was also more than that.
“It was a subversive show that provided an absolutely unique and absorbing study of incarcerated women and women’s issues in general.
“It’s
a shame, really. I think it’s quite rare for a television show
to cross over into the real world and make a difference. Bad Girls
did that, and it’ll be missed.”
Diehard fans of Bad Girls need not worry; the show has already aired
in more than 40 countries and is currently being remade in the US
by the FX network.
Additionally, after a successful run this year in Leeds, Bad Girls - The Musical - will be moving to the West End in 2007.
Simone added: “I’m happy to see the show go on, in whatever form it takes.
“I like to think Bad Girls will still be reaching new audiences and challenging and affecting people five and 10 years down the line.”