Lip Service

Harriet Braun Harriet Braun — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:30:01 +0000

**SPOILER ALERT!**

This post contains spoilers if you’ve not watched episode two of Lip Service (Fridays, 9pm). If you’ve missed it, catch up on iPlayer now.

I'm writing this knowing that some people will be shocked as they've just watched the episode where Cat dies. You're probably wondering why.

During the writing process, I learned that Laura Fraser had acting commitments elsewhere, and would only be available to be in series two for a very short space of time. Obviously, initially I was sad and disappointed, but I had to pick myself up and dust myself off – I had a series to write. I very quickly realised what it made the most sense to do.

I'd always known that Cat was faced with an impossible choice to make between Sam and Frankie. If anyone feels cheated of a happily ever after, I'll confess that even if she'd stayed in the series, there wasn't going to be one.

My intention was always that in playing with fire, and continuing to see both of them, Cat would end up with neither of them. In a way her death allowed for that to happen in an extremely dramatic and truthful way.

Of course I could have, for example, had Cat move to London for a job in episode two, but given her relationship with both women, I don't think anyone would have believed in such a sudden departure. I also don't think it would have satisfied viewers, or been a fitting ending to a very dramatic love triangle.

Once I knew what was going to happen, the pieces of the jigsaw just fell into place. I know these characters so well that I could feel their pain and knew exactly what they would do in that situation. Occasionally writers talk about feeling like a script has come from somewhere outside of themselves, and they're just transcribing what they hear. Well, it's the first time I've ever experienced that for a full sixty pages.

To those who are upset that Cat has gone for good, I'd say this. Cat may not be there in body, but her death impacts on all of them in very dramatic ways. Cat dies with her emotional affairs unresolved, and it is those who are left behind who have to deal with that and pick up the pieces.

Sam, who is used to being in control of her life and emotions, suddenly finds herself hit with something she never imagined. A grief stricken Frankie has to live with knowing that she can't publicly acknowledge what she meant to Cat. And Tess carries Cat's secret with her.

They will all do things they didn't think they would, and forge new connections they didn't anticipate. A whole wealth of rich storylines lie ahead, which are well worth sticking around for.

For anyone who is worried that things are just getting too miserable all round, I would assure them of two things. Firstly, Lip Service has always had a lot of comedy thrown in with the tragedy, and that won't change. There are characters who never knew or were close to Cat, who lead the way on the funny front and keep the laughs coming.

And secondly, before we get too maudlin, Laura Fraser is very much alive and well, and now living in the United States. I am hugely grateful to her for the fantastic work she has done on the show and wish her well in all her new ventures.

Harriet Braun is the writer and creator of Lip Service which continues every Friday at 9pm.

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TV Blog: Heather Peace on playing Sam in the Lip Service love triangle.

Creating brand new lesbian drama Lip Service

Harriet Braun Harriet Braun — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:40:22 +0000

When I was first asked whether I would like to write a UK based lesbian drama, I didn't immediately jump at the chance. The L Word had just run for five seasons in America and was about to go in to its sixth. Many people I knew had seen it and its characters had taken on an almost mythic status. Did I want to try and follow in its footsteps? I ummed and ahhed for a while and then I thought - of course I do. If George Lucas had worried about that kind of thing, then the Star Wars trilogy would never have got off the ground. Clearly there was room for another lesbian drama; the more the merrier.

With a commission for a treatment from the BBC in place it was simply a matter of what to write. Staring at a blank page is always intimidating but even more so when you know there will be lots of expectations from a community that is very under represented. However, I soon realised that to be able to do this I had to put all such concerns aside and simply get on with my job, which is to write a good story.

The first idea to pop into my head was of a woman crying in an inappropriate place after finding out her ex is seeing someone else. The scene was loosely based on something that happened to me, which just goes to show for a writer there are up sides to embarrassment and humiliation. I knew I wanted to include a love story, so next up was someone returning from New York and throwing her ex into a state of panic. And so I had my three leads; Tess, Frankie and Cat. The friendships between gay/bi women and straight men is something I've rarely seen on TV and fancied exploring; enter Ed and Jay stage left. Having gathered the characters together I always knew I wanted the show to be as comic as it is dramatic, both because I like writing comedy and also because, in my experience, life tends to be like that.

Fast forward to a year and half later. We'd been given the green light by an enthusiastic BBC and I was on set in Glasgow where alongside writing I was working as one of the producers on the show. It was the beginning of the shoot. I knew that before filming started in earnest, there were going to be some test shots of the three leads. I headed off across the Merchant City's cobbled streets and was directed towards the café where Ruta, Laura and Fiona, dressed as Frankie, Cat and Tess were waiting to start. It's a surreal experience walking into somewhere and seeing characters that started off in your imagination chatting, drinking tea and reading the newspaper. It's rude to stare but I couldn't stop. It totally blew me away.

I have a lot of memories of that time: the buzz of being on set, late nights and early mornings at the computer, how very, very cold your feet can get on location in Glasgow coming up to Christmas, and consequently discovering something new to me and fairly magic. It was nearing the end of the shoot and we were on a rooftop terrace filming a romantic scene. It had been written to take place on a mild evening but was actually being shot in rain, wind and snow. What can take five minutes on screen can take hours to film and I suddenly became aware that my feet, which formerly felt much like feet, now felt like two painful ice blocks. Then someone tipped me off about foot warmers, gel packs that you slip inside your shoes and function as a hot water bottle for the foot; a genius invention that is now up there in my estimation alongside sliced bread and the internet. As I felt the glorious sensation of warmth permeate my toes, I pondered the exciting thought that, what had started with a single image of a woman crying over her ex, was now a whole series that was nearly in the can. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed being a part of it.

Harriet Braun is the writer and creator of Lip Service which starts at 10.30pm Tuesday 12th October on BBC Three.

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Lip Service

Creating brand new lesbian drama Lip Service