#an immeasurably important piece of british tv history; mostly known (if known at all) as featuring almost certainly the first kiss between

[mariocki]

Second City Firsts: Girl (BBC, 1974)

"Listen, the first week I was here, I slept with the company sergeant major."

"But she's old, she's awful!"

"That was four years ago."

"But still, old Jackson? God, she's like a monkey."

"Yeah."

"I just don't know how you could."

"Oh, I enjoyed it. It was a thrill the next morning, when she marched on parade. Waiting for the look that might or might not pass between us, seeing straight through her immaculate BD blouse. Knowing her in weakness - and then in strength."

#second city firsts #girl #single play #queer tv #1974 #classic tv #bbc #james robson #peter gill #myra frances #alison steadman #eileen mccallum #stella moray #barry hanson #tara prem #if nothing else ever came of the bbc centenary celebrations‚ i would remain forever grateful for the opportunity to see this single play #an immeasurably important piece of british tv history; mostly known (if known at all) as featuring almost certainly the first kiss between #women on uk tv (although debatable‚ but this is certainly the first undeniably romantic kiss between two wlw in specific context) but this #is much more than the kiss. more or less a two hander between a young Steadman and the late Myra Frances‚ as the young trainee soldier #about to leave the force and her superior officer and former lover; lesbians had appeared on british tv earlier‚ but often shrouded in #euphemism (Public Eye) or tinged with a sense of sorrow‚ shame or pity (The Main Chance and others). this is the first depiction of wlw in #old tv that is not only direct‚ it's brash‚ defiant‚ perhaps brave even. Frances (in an absolutely brilliant performance) has no need for #shame or for repression: she's a self described dyke‚ who speaks variously of her pride in her conquests‚ her distaste for men and for #heterosexuality‚ particularly in patriarchal ideas of homemaking and 'traditional' family units. she describes the army as the natural #place for her ('All girls together' she says‚ dripping with.. what? sarcasm? irony?). there's more at play here too: the disparity in age #and experience between the two women‚ the power imbalance in their respective ranks‚ but it's all written so beautifully‚ so delicately. in #a little more than 25 minutes the two (Frances in particular) create a snapshot of something so very real and human and honest and yet #largely unseen (then and to some degree still)... the kiss when it comes is almost astonishing in its passion and its realness. no delicate #blocking or hesitant peck; it's a lovers kiss‚ and it says more about the characters and their situation than dialogue ever could #a genuinely astonishing and deeply important piece of tv history. if you have iplayer access i cannot recommend enough that you watch this