Girls on Top (British TV series)
Girls on Top is a British ITV sitcom, broadcast in 1985 and 1986, and made by Witzend for the ITV contractor Central Independent Television. It stars Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ruby Wax and Tracey Ullman, and was written by French, Saunders, and Wax with additional material from Ullman. Despite a poor critical reception, the series was a ratings success.
| Girls on Top | |
|---|---|
 From bottom left to bottom right: Amanda Ripley (Dawn French), Lady Chloe Carlton (Joan Greenwood), Shelley DuPont (Ruby Wax); From top centre to top right: Candice Valentine (Tracey Ullman) and Jennifer Marsh (Jennifer Saunders). | |
| Created by | Dawn French Jennifer Saunders Ruby Wax |
| Written by | Dawn French Jennifer Saunders Ruby Wax |
| Directed by | Paul Jackson (Series 1) Ed Bye (Series 2) |
| Starring | Dawn French Joan Greenwood Jennifer Saunders Ruby Wax Tracey Ullman |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Allan McKeown |
| Producer(s) | Paul Jackson |
| Running time | 30 minutes (including adverts) |
| Production company(s) | Witzend for Central |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 23 October 1985 – 11 December 1986 |
The show focused on four female flatmates and their landlady. It was a female version of The Young Ones, two series of which were made in 1982 and 1984. French and Saunders had both appeared in it and, like most of its stars, were members of The Comic Strip group.
The theme tune was written and performed by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford from the British band Squeeze (with the cast singing the theme for the first series, and Tilbrook singing for the second).
Synopsis
The first episode had a woman in her early 20s named Amanda struggling to find a flat and managing to procure one (that she cannot afford) from Lady Carlton. The former resident, Candice, convinces Amanda to let her stay until Wednesday because she has nowhere to go. Then, Jennifer, Amanda's childhood friend, arrives unexpectedly with nowhere to go. Eventually, Shelley is recruited to move in because of her hefty trust fund from her rich parents back in the States and because none of the others can afford to cover the rent and deposit.
Each episode centred on the fact that Shelley could order the others around because they relied on her to get the rent paid; usually the show incorporated Candice's latest invented fatal illness, or any other reason to not pay the rent. One episode had Candice convincing everyone she was dating Prince Andrew, while another found her tricking Shelley into starring in a porno movie.
Tracey Ullman left after the initial series due to her first pregnancy.
Characters
- Amanda Ripley (Dawn French), a radical feminist who is strait-laced, anti-male and very liberal journalist, and the central character around whom the series was based. Like Shelley, she takes her efforts too far when she has something to prove. Amanda tries to hide her fascination for men and the Royal family to comedic effect, and is always conscious of people's thoughts of her, in particular her colleague Yvonne. All in all, though, she was generally the most level-headed of the group. She has a previous history with Jennifer, which led to Jennifer moving into the flat.
- Jennifer Marsh (Jennifer Saunders), a mousy and childlike woman (whom Saunders portrays as having mild learning difficulties) who was Amanda's childhood friend who serves as the whipping post for everyone else. In the first series, she is studying at Madame Laines' Secretarial and Cookery School. By the second series she is more assertive though no less naive, even briefly working as a stock broker.
- Shelley DuPont (Ruby Wax), a struggling actress and the British stereotype of a gaudily dressed, rude, loud-mouthed American. The other women only tolerate her and let her live with them due to her hefty trust fund and her agreement to pay the majority of the rent in return.
- Candice Valentine (Tracey Ullman), a promiscuous, lazy, manipulative gold-digger. The character is written off in the second series, with Candice leaving a voice mail declaring that she has moved to Oman and was engaged to a prince. She is not heard or spoken about after this episode.
- Lady Chloe Carlton (Joan Greenwood), an eccentric elderly romance novelist and the landlady of the women's flat.
Others in small roles included Helen Lederer, Pauline Melville, Helen Atkinson Wood, Mark Arden, Stephen Frost, Robbie Coltrane, Harry Enfield, Hugh Laurie, Pauline Quirke, Alan Rickman, John Sessions and Arthur Smith plus the Beverley Sisters and American Soap series actor Katherine Helmond, who appeared in one episode as Shelley's mother.
Episodes
These episode descriptions are taken from the sleeve of the DVD release, released by Network. The transmission dates reflect those in the London ITV region. Alternative transmissions in other ITV regions are not listed. The first series aired on Wednesdays at 8:30pm while the second series aired on Thursdays at 9pm.
Series 1 (1985)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Four-Play" | 23 October 1985 | |
|
Amanda manages to snag herself a flat in Chelsea but is unable to pay for it herself. She has no other choice but to look for flatmates. Guest star: Alan Rickman | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "Staying Alive" | 30 October 1985 | |
| Candice is cultivating her latest illness; Amanda is quoting liberally from her latest publication "Spare Cheeks"; Shelley has failed yet another audition; and Jennifer, well, she's just Jennifer. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "C.O.D." | 6 November 1985 | |
|
Candice arrives home with her latest Latin lover, Julio, but just as they're about to get down to the nitty-gritty, they are aware that there is another in their company – the inevitable Jennifer. Guest star: Robbie Coltrane | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Cancel Toast" | 13 November 1985 | |
| It's Shelley's big day. Can her ambition to become the next Glenda Jackson finally be realised at her audition for RADA? However, instead of asking her to do Shakesperean Juliet speech, they want her to improvise... as a fried egg. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Ident: Candy Time" | 20 November 1985 | |
| Amanda is miffed that Candice is not paying her way with the rent even though she keeps buying expensive clothes. Shelley suggests that Candice could be a prostitute so they all decide to follow her one day. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "Skankin'" | 27 November 1985 | |
| Annoyed at not being asked to help with the street festival, Amanda goes out into the streets of Chelsea to look for needy people. She pounces on two black boys and then phones the festival organiser to say she has found her a reggae band. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Hark" | 4 December 1985 | |
|
Oh horror! Oh Calamity! Oh Jennifer! She who is lacking in almost everything, plumbs new depths when she takes Josephine, Lady Carlton's stuffed black dog, for a walk and promptly loses her in a shop. The girls plan various schemes, including a stuffed coypu, and giving Lady Carlton a message "from heaven" by a teddy bear, which is supposed to be Josephine, transformed into an angel. Note: This was the final appearance of Tracey Ullman as Candice Valentine. | ||||
Series 2 (1986)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | "Mr Fluffy Knows Too Much" | 30 October 1986 | |
|
Shelley and Amanda stir Jennifer into comforting Candice about her pornographic habits which have corrupted even Lady Carlton. But Candice has left a note saying she's in hospital. Guest star: Harry Enfield | ||||
| 9 | 2 | "Big Snogs" | 6 November 1986 | |
|
The women at Spare Cheeks are taking classes in electrical repair work which is now being taught by Tom, whose sister can't make it. Amanda, always on the lookout for a man, falls head over heels in love. Guest star: Hugh Laurie | ||||
| 10 | 3 | "Who's Ya Uncle Shelley?" | 20 November 1986 | |
|
Once the subject of an exploratory brain operation (nothing was found), Jennifer suddenly reaches hitherto unknown areas of intelligence when she becomes a financial whizz-kid. Guest stars: John Sessions, Pauline Quirke | ||||
| 11 | 4 | "Bring Me More Flamingoes" | 27 November 1986 | |
|
Shelley is determined to be a megastar but, at her glam/glit party, the only invitees who bother to turn up are The Beverley Sisters and the loopy Lady Carlton. Guest stars: The Beverley Sisters | ||||
| 12 | 5 | "Mr Yummie Brownie" | 4 December 1986 | |
|
Shelley's mother pays a surprise visit and is expecting her offspring to be a fully-fledged member of the Royal Shakespeare Company by now. She is a touch disappointed to discover that Shelley is with a theatre in education group... playing a tadpole. Guest star: Katherine Helmond | ||||
| 13 | 6 | "Lower the Donkey" | 11 December 1986 | |
| Lady Carlton has won a new kitchen in a competition but when her microwave explodes, all the lights go out and Shelley thinks that the world is about to end. She grovels her way into Amanda's makeshift shelter but finds there's no food there so they send Jennifer out to forage. | ||||
Crew
- Ben Elton – Script Editor
DVD releases
| DVD Name | Release Date | Additional Information | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Girls on Top –
Set One |
2003 | Single disc DVD, containing all episodes from the first series UK
Special features:
|
Region 1 (UK) |
| Girls on Top – The Complete Series | 2007 | Two Disc DVD set, containing all 13 episodes from Series' One and Two.
Special features:
|
|
| Girls on Top – The Complete Series | 2007 | Two Disc DVD set, containing all 13 episodes from both Series One and Two. |