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17 out of 17 people found the following review useful: Effective and Powerful Drama., 4 September 2004 Author: Random_Steve from Hampshire, England.
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.
13 out of 16 people found the following review useful: This is one of the best TV shows i have seen..Don't miss it!, 28 November 2001 Author: Kam from Alberta, Canada
A Great UK TV drama about a women's prison..This drama touches on many female issues about sexuality, abuse, drugs and love. This show takes you onto a rollercoaster of highs and lows...There are characters you just love and some you love to hate! The lesbian story lines are strong and is a very positive look at lesbians and Bi-Sexuality. I am impressed by how the UK has surpassed the Canadian and US in what can be and not be shown on TV. Being a religious country I am happy that the production company has pushed the envelope to the front. This is a great TV Drama.
9 out of 10 people found the following review useful: what i think of this series, 29 November 2005 Author: fairyfootsteps123 from United Kingdom
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!
6 out of 6 people found the following review useful: A landmark show of tremendous significance, 4 July 2006 Author: bacchae2 from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
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.
7 out of 8 people found the following review useful: my favourite T.V show, 9 January 2006 Author: basford from United Kingdom
I started watching Bad Girls at the end of series 6 when it was aired because I'd heard about this great character Jim fenner. At the end of that series, he was sent to prison and i was left in doubt about whether it was so great. However, when series seven was aired, i became hooked and was ecstatic that they brought Jim Fenner back. Once series seven was finished, i went about buying all the DVDs of the previous series. It is an absolutely fantastic show and has become my favourite program, closely followed by South Park and Eastenders. It shows us life in a prison drama with some over the top story lines. They have been very clever about it because it could easily be one the most depressing and dullest shows but they give us characters that we care about and story lines that have us gripped. I really loved the episode where Fenner murdered Yvone, it was so greatly written. I was fairly upset when they killed off Fenner but they brought his ghost back (in an inmate's mind) for an xmas special and it was brilliant. I cannot wait for series eight.I recommend Bad girls to allsorts. It portrays cruelty and tenseness to the tenth power but it also shows light hearted humour which captures the viewers imagination.Derek
7 out of 9 people found the following review useful: best miniseries, 1 February 2003 Author: (VANCE_LEE@ATTBI.COM) from seattle
i have ever seen. the characters are so enthralling, you have no choice but to fall in love with them. you see their shortcomings, thats true, but moreso there always seem to be a story behind their faults.its very very well acted, restores my faith in british television. the only bad thing is that i dread to see the day when i have seen the final third season finale. hope there will be a fourth and forever year.
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: How can anyone make a better show?, 8 June 2006 Author: patcase from Canada
I am totally bereft. I have just finished watching season 6 of Bad Girls. In Canada, we only actually have access to season 1 so I bought the following five seasons on ebay. Beware though, the UK versions on ebay are Region 2 as opposed to Region 1 encoding for North America. No problem, I discovered that my trusty Mac computer (you can do it on a Windows machine too albeit with less flexibility) let me play the Region 2 disks. So I watched five seasons on my computer. I'm a Bad Girls junky. I could watch this series for 30 years just as I have done with Coronation Street (no comparison other than time spent watching).Anyhow, what can one say about this show? The casting is absolutely superb. The storyline is just riveting; some of the female characters are so alluring (and not just in an avuncular sense). I'm in love with the tall Julie and Sheena (Charlotte Lucas) and Karen ....
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Fantastic show, unfairly tarred with the "trash TV" brush, 13 November 2005 Author: billyellyot from United Kingdom
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.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Exceptional TV Series, 30 August 2002 Author: moondancer from Toronto
This is a wonderful gritty, raunchy series set in a UK women's prison. The cast of cons and screws is a marvelous ensemble juggling a terrific blend of heartbreak, back-stabbing, infighting and deft comedic turns that will leave you drooling for the next episode. Sultry Scot Simone Lahbib (seasons 1 - 3) as Wing Governor Helen Stewart, and Jack Ellis as the scheming head screw Fenner,who never quite gets his comeuppance,are particular stand-outs.
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful: One of the greatest drama's ever, 16 September 2003 Author: Stockard
Bad Girls has always been brilliant. I have loved it from the first series, but then the fantastic Phyl and Bev (Stephanie Beacham and Amanda Barrie) known as The Costa Cons arrived and it got even better! These two are my absolute favourite characters ever, and i really hope they are both back for the next series. Their scenes with Officer Hollamby (Helen Fraser) had me in stitches.
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