The brand new BBC drama What It Feels Like For A Woman is already producing a variety of dialog.
Based mostly on the memoir of the identical identify by journalist, presenter and transgender activist Paris Lees, the coming-of-age comedy-drama centres round teenage Byron as they navigate the numerous highs and lows of rising up queer within the East Midlands within the 2000s, and the way their life modifications as they discover their very own tribe.
Over the course of it eight episodes, What It Feels Like For A Woman tackles heavy topics like gender id, intercourse, class and the significance of group and chosen household for queer folks, and is already being hailed as “completely fearless”, “uncooked” and “important viewing”.
Right here’s a choice of why the BBC collection is being known as a must-watch…
“It’s definitely a wild trip – I’ll battle to have a look at a rest room brush the identical approach ever once more – however in the event you keep on board till the tip, a memorably complicated psychological portrait might be your reward.”
“At a time when the trans group are being compelled to undergo virtually day by day indignities by the hands of Britain’s political and media institution, the presence of What It Feels Like for a Woman feels pressing […] in a world the place it’s straightforward to really feel pessimistic concerning the course of progress, What It Feels Like for a Woman presents an enticing – and rational – case for optimism.”
“For A Woman doesn’t gloss over the messy bits. There’s a variety of intercourse, medicine, and 2000s dance music. Scenes with predatory older males, from soiled doggers to deprave coppers, are harrowing for essentially the most half. However it additionally thrills with its portrayal of teenage transgression.”
“Make no mistake, What It Feels Like for a Woman is uncooked and incessantly uncomfortable viewing […] But the unease is what makes What It Feels Like for a Woman such a visceral, important watch. We want extra TV prefer it.”
“This collection could be very bingeable. It’s humorous, heartbreaking, sometimes disturbing, sharply written and effectively acted, most notably by Ellis Howard, who performs Byron with wit and, at instances, devastating poignancy […] Thisis a uncooked drama that might simply have been miserable (and at instances it’s), however finally ends up in the end being a buoyant story of resilience.”
“Whereas the drama doesn’t fall into the lure of training or being overtly political, it’s an overdue examination of how being decrease class intersects with sexuality and gender id… whereas additionally being an utter riot.”
“We want extra reveals like this, singular outlooks that give a voice and creative imaginative and prescient to communities lengthy underserved on display. That’s very true at a time when trans rights are being threatened much more than they have been 25 years in the past, within the time this present is ready.
“To see not simply trans ache, however trans pleasure, trans love and, most crucially, trans acceptance on a platform as broadly seen because the BBC might be nothing wanting life-saving proper now. That is 2025′s reply to It’s a Sin, but it’s much more very important than that present in some ways. One other queer masterpiece that holds the potential for real-world change.”
“[What It Feels Like For A Girl] pulls no punches […] the collection is a uncooked, hedonistic, brutal – however usually hilarious – story of Byron, a 15-year-old boy who’s looking for his id and is determined to flee the small-mindedness of his house city.”
What It Feels Like For A Woman is now streaming on BBC iPlayer.
Assist and assist:
- The Gender Belief helps anybody affected by gender id | 01527 894 838
- Mermaids provides info, assist, friendship and shared experiences for younger folks with gender id points | 0208 1234819
- LGBT Youth Scotland is the biggest youth and community-based organisation for LGBT folks in Scotland. Textual content 07786 202 370
- Gires gives info for trans folks, their households and professionals who look after them | 01372 801554
- Rely gives assist, recommendation and data for anybody who is aware of, or is said to, a transsexual individual within the UK
