Girls in Love (TV series)
Girls in Love is a British teen drama television series produced by Granada Television which aired on CITV. It is based on the 1997 novel of the same name, both created by English author Jacqueline Wilson. The show ran for two series from 1 April 2003 to 20 May 2005. It was filmed in Manchester.
| Girls in Love | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Teen drama |
| Based on | Girls in Love by Jacqueline Wilson |
| Written by | Carol Noble Steve Turner Diane Whitley Jacqueline Wilson |
| Directed by | Indra Bhose Rachel Tillotson |
| Starring | Olivia Hallinan Amy Kwolek Zaraah Abrahams Ian Dunn Sam Loggin Adam Paul Harvey |
| Narrated by | Olivia Hallinan |
| Opening theme | "Party in the Club Tonight" by the Sugababes |
| Composer(s) | Nick Harvey |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Anne Brogan |
| Producer(s) | Grainne Marmion Diane Whitley |
| Production location(s) | London Manchester |
| Cinematography | Roger Bonnici David Katznelson |
| Editor(s) | Annie Kocur Sebastian Morrison Sue Wyatta |
| Camera setup | David Budd |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Granada Media |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV Network (CITV) |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original release | 1 April 2003 – 20 May 2005 |
Plot
Three teenage girls — Ellie (Hallinan), Magda (Abrahams) and Nadine (Kwolek) — are best friends that go through the somewhat weird and wonderful world of boys together. The show is narrated by Ellie, and usually portrays her life events in her sketchbook, which blends the show's live action with animation in a similar manner to the American teen sitcom Lizzie McGuire. She lives with her dad and his girlfriend (later wife) Anna, and her baby half-brother Benedict "Eggs".
Cast
- Olivia Hallinan as Eleanor ”Ellie” Allard, narrated from her perspective, often told through her drawings and writings in her journal. Her mother died when she was five years old.
- Amy Kwolek as Nadine, Ellie's best friend since they were little. She is said to have a "wild child" reputation and is also goth.
- Zaraah Abrahams as Magda, also one of Ellie and Nadine's best friends, after they met in high school. She is known for attracting lots of boys, and having a loud personality.
- Ian Dunn as Dad, Ellie's father, widowed when her mother died, remarried to Anna.
- Sam Loggin as Anna, Ellie's step mother, much younger than her father. Ellie and Anna soon start to be friends after having their ups and downs in the first few episodes.
- Adam Paul Harvey as Russell, Ellie's boyfriend then later her ex-boyfriend. Like Ellie, he is interested in art. Is in year eleven at his school, Halmer High. Becomes Ellie's ex-boyfriend in the episode "The Unforgiven" after Russell cheats on Ellie. They almost get back together in episode "The Ex Factor" but Russell cheats on her again.
- Dale Barker as Greg, Magda's on and off again boyfriend.
- Nick Schofield as Liam, Nadine's sleazy, but extremely good-looking, ex-boyfriend who had a reputation for using girls for sex.
- Tom Woodland as Dan, Ellie's "kind-of" boyfriend before Russell. He should be in year eight, but because of his intelligence he was moved up a year, to year Nine. They met at during the summer holidays but Ellie and Dan split up and Dan gets another girlfriend.
- Alp Haydar as Darius, new American exchange student that becomes friends with Ellie, Magda and Nadine. Magda and Ellie both develop crushes on Darius, and Magda and Darius eventually go out but it doesn't work out, and in the last episode at a school dance Ellie and Darius kiss (which Magda doesn't mind).
- Gemma Wolk as Natasha, Nadine's spoiled, manipulative little sister.
- Julian Kay as Mr Green, Ellie, Magda and Nadine's art teacher, who Magda has a crush on.[1]
- Clare Wille as Miss Henderson, Ellie, Magda and Nadine's tutor and P.E teacher in year nine. She is usually strict and often unfair on the girls.
Reception
The show has received criticism from fans of the book, much of it due to Ellie and Magda's appearances. In the book, Ellie is short, bespectacled, chubby, frizzy-haired, whereas in the television series, she is taller, thinner, has straight hair and does not wear glasses. Magda was also portrayed differently—in the series she is black with dark hair; in the book, she is white and has dyed red hair. Also in the book Ellie has a younger brother Eggs who is five years old; however, in the series Eggs is not born til later on.
Girls in Love was repeated for the first time since 2005 on CITV's digital channel from September 2010. The TV series was also repeated on Australia's children channel ABC3 in 2010 and most recently repeated in June 2016.
References
- Julian Kay (27 September 2016). "Julian Kay as Mr Green in "Girls In Love" - Series 1". Retrieved 21 April 2018 – via YouTube.