I caught an episode of the BBC comedy drama Candy Cabs. It was a curious affair and afterwards I felt oddly offended. The episode felt like the dramatic equivalent of the Fosters advert, the one where two unreconstructed Aussie men load a truck full of beer - and then add two bottles of sherry for the “sheilas”.
It was as though the show’s creator went through a checklist of the things women are supposed to like and be interested in. Lots of pink? Check! Diets? Check! Body issues? Check! Useless men? Check! The episode I saw was a string of clichés strung together with plots recycled from successful “chick flicks”. Made In Dagenham, Calendar Girls, Mamma Mia and Shirley Valentine were all referenced here. And this was supposed to be one of the BBC’s flagship series?
Where are the contemporary female-led shows? For those, we have to look across the Atlantic to shows such as The Big C, Nurse Jackie, and The Good Wife. How is it that there are so many great female characters on American TV, and we can’t even manage one over here? It can’t just be down to the money. Can it?
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