Janine Nebeski

Bad Girls (TV series)

Bad Girls was an award winning British television drama series that was broadcast on ITV from 1999 to 2006. It was produced by Shed Productions, the company which later produced Footballers' Wives and Waterloo Road . It was set in the fictional women's prison of Larkhall, and featured a mixture of serious and light storylines focusing on the prisoners and staff of G Wing.

On 11 January 2007, Channel Five's sister channel Fiver won the rights to air Bad Girls along with fellow popular, axed ITV series Footballers' Wives. They have now finished showing the fourth series, and they plan to air the fifth series later in the year, ITV3 has also finished its repeat run of Series 1 - 3 and currently have no plans to repeat any more episodes.

Series

The first series of Bad Girls was shown on ITV1 in 1999, lasting 10 episodes. There have been eight series in total, ranging from 10 to 16 episodes. Christmas specials were produced in 2005 and 2006 and are now established as the final episodes of each of Series 7 and Series 8, respectively. All series have been shown on ITV, at 9 pm, on varying days but primarily Tuesdays and Thursdays. The 100th episode, part of Series 8, was shown on Thursday 3 August 2006 at 9 pm.

Initially the series was very gritty and quite hard hitting. As the seasons passed, more far-fetched storylines were phased in.

ITV axed Bad Girls after its eighth series and the 2006 Christmas Special was the final episode.

The exterior shots that featured in Series 1–3 of the show were shot at Oxford Castle (a.k.a Oxford Prison), and the set itself, used in the show, is a almost exact replica of the wing layout at Oxford. For series 4–8, a entire replica set of the prison was constructed and built to look similar to Oxford. This was due to the prison in Oxford being reconstructed to become a new hotel complex.

Shed recently closed a deal with US channel FX, for them to create their own version of Bad Girls. On May 27, 2008 it was announced that Alan Ball, executive producer of Six Feet Under would adapt Bad Girls for an American audience. A pilot script is to be penned by Nancy Oliver and Raelle Tucker for HBO with Ball as executive producer. Film and TV actress Michelle Rodriguez has signed on with the series. It has been revealed that the American version will remake the UK version (with the same storylines and characters). This at least means that Bad Girls has not been completely axed globally.

Bad Girls around the world

Country	Broadcaster	Series shown
	Seven Network	Series 1-3. No plans to show Series 4-8.
	UK.TV	Series 1-4. No plans to show Series 5-8.
	VTM	Series 1-4
	OUTtv	Series 1-4
	Kanal 2	Series 1-8
	Nelonen	Series 1-8
	RTL9 AB1	Series 1-7.
	TV3	Series 1-8
	TV ONE	Series 1-8
	TV4 (Sweden)	Series 1-2
	M-NET	Series 1-8
	ITV	Series 1-8
	ITV2	Series 1-8
	ITV3	Series 1-3
	Fiver	Series 4. Series 5 to follow
	BBC America	Series 1 and 10 episodes of Series 2.
	LOGO	Series 1-4. Series 5-8 to follow

Cast

Series One (1999)

From the beginning, Bad Girls dealt with controversial subject matter. Early episodes of the first series included particularly shocking moments such as a pregnant prisoner miscarrying in her cell, another prisoner being viciously strip-searched by fellow inmates for concealed drugs, rabbit dildos, and another inmate committing suicide due to being bullied. The central story arc of the first three series revolved around the developing romantic relationship between Nikki Wade, a prisoner serving a life sentence for the murder of a policeman who attempted to rape her girlfriend, and Helen Stewart, the Wing Governor who spent much of series one engaged to her boyfriend. Furthermore, the script, unwilling to compromise the realism of the programme, contained much strong language (for example, the many references to Nikki Wade as a "rug-muncher" and Denny Blood's gloating over the likelihood of Rachel Hicks having "singed her minge").

Other storylines to feature prominently in series one included the pregnancy of a young drug addict Zandra Plackett, the appeal of wrongly-imprisoned Monica Lindsay (frequently referred to as "posh bitch" by other characters), the tragic story of teenage prisoner Rachel Hicks and her bullying by the other inmates, and the illicit relationship between Jim Fenner, the male senior officer and Shell Dockley, the resident bully and drug dealer, serving life for murder. Produced by Brian Park.

Series Two (2000)

Nikki and Helen's relationship deepens with Helen resigning from the Wing Governor's post and working as a new liaison officer for prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, encouraging Nikki to continue her education and appeal against her sentence. Shell's background was examined in some detail, with harrowing scenes describing childhood abuse. Zandra's tragic story finally comes to a close when she dies from a brain tumour. For light relief, Yvonne Atkins, the gangster's moll, set up "Babes Behind Bars", a sex-hotline staffed by the prisoners with smuggled in mobile phones, playing such characters as "Whiplash Wanda", "Saucy Sonia" and "Vicky the virgin bride". Series two ended on a double cliffhanger, with Nikki escaping from Larkhall to be with Helen, leaving Helen to agonise over whether to contact the police, and Shell luring Fenner to her cell for sex, where she reaches under her bed for a broken bottle. Produced by Brian Park.

Series Three (2001)

This series picks up from where it left off at the end of Series 2. Jim and Shell are in bed together and Nikki, dressed in a nurse's outfit, is at Helen's house after escaping. Shell stabs Jim with a broken bottle that she had brought back from Sylvia's party, but she is dragged out of her cell before she can finish him off.

The third series saw a high turnover of short-term characters and storylines, but also chronicled the spectacular escape of Shell and Denny Blood to the Costa Del Sol in Spain getting revenge on Sylvia and her husband along the way. Yvonne's top dog status being challenged by Maxi Purvis, the head of the "Peckham Boot Gang"; prison officer Di Barker's struggles as a home carer for her invalid mother and an upbeat finale of Helen and Nikki finally committing to their relationship when Nikki's appeal is successful and she is released from prison. Produced by Claire Phillips.

Series Four (2002)

Series 4 introduced new characters such as Neil Grayling, the gay Governing Governor of Larkhall, who developed an attraction to Jim Fenner. Also introduced were Roisin Connor and Cassie Tyler, imprisoned for fraud and in a lesbian relationship complicated not only by their being behind bars, but by Roisin's being a married mother-of-two. Also Maxi and Shaz square up to each other in a fight, in which Shaz wins, so Maxi chokes herself to death by swallowing toilet paper. The series tackled domestic violence within the relationship of Di Barker and Barry Pearce and teenage junkie Buki Lester's battle for the right to see her disabled son, Lennox. The fourth series ended with the prison library being obliterated as part of an escape plan by the devious Snowball Merriman, resulting in a fire that left several inmates trapped and fighting for their lives. Produced by Claire Phillips.

Series Five (2003)

The fifth series of Bad Girls saw the brief return of a recaptured and pregnant Shell Dockley to G-Wing. Jim Fenner pimps Shell by offering her money to give the male officers a handjob. After the baby's birth, a screw tries to force her to have sex, when she violently refuses, Jim makes it seem as if she tried to smother her baby. Shell is carted of to a mental home and her baby is taken into care. The "Costa Cons", Bev Tull and Phyl Oswyn arrive. There is good news for Denny, who is transferred to an open prison. The ongoing feud between Jim Fenner and Wing Governor Karen Betts reaches its climax as Fenner ruthlessly frames Karen for a hit-and-run accident in which a man dies. Julie Saunders is diagnosed with breast cancer and takes the decision to take her chances without chemotherapy treatment. Barbara Hunt marries the former prison chaplain, Henry - bad news for Sylvia, who had set her sights on Henry after she was widowed when her husband committed suicide. New prison officer Selena Geeson and new inmate Kris Yates are in a relationship. Kris is taking the rap for killing her abusive father in order to spare her younger sister, the real culprit. Fenner's nefarious ways continue as he kills Yvonne Atkins as she tries to escape Larkhall, by ensuring that she will be trapped in the "hanging cell", a small room beneath the main prison that is blocked off from the outside world. Produced by David Crean.

Series Six (2004)

With G-Wing thinking their ex top dog has escaped HMP Larkhall Kris finds Yvonne's corpse after she tries to follow the same way out. But as it is all blocked off she tells Selena who she found. Selena then tells Neil she found Yvonne. Yvonne's death shocks G-Wing. In her absence, Phyl Oswyn is G-Wing "top dog" for a short time before being stopped in her tracks by new wing governor Frances Myers.

Frances Myers soon begins a feud with new inmate Natalie Buxton, in prison for organising a prostitution ring using underage girls. The other girls are disgusted with Natalie and Al plans to beat her up, but she turns the tables and beats Al up. Natalie soon makes the other girls believe she is innocent.

The series features a crossover with Shed Productions' other hit series, Footballers' Wives, with the glamorous character of Tanya Turner enduring a spell on G-Wing for three episodes. Where we see the death of Al McKenzie. Later Tanya is soon released.

Kris Yates's sister, Milly, commits suicide after Selena puts her under pressure to confess to her father's killing (in self-defence) in order to free her sister. Kris and Selena split and Kris sleeps with Natalie Buxton but the couple are reconciled and the series ends with the cliffhanger of Kris and Selena protesting in London about the injustice of Kris being behind bars.

Jim Fenner marries Neil's ex wife Di. As Neil and Karen are sure Jim has something to do with the hit and run Karen was accused of, they hire a private investigator to prove Karen's inoccent Jim is proven to be the person who drove the car that night. He is later arrested on his and Di's wedding day. Produced by Cameron Roac. (This is full summary of Series 6)

Series Seven (2005)

This series does not follow up on the Series 6 cliffhanger and Kris and Selena neither feature nor are mentioned in this series. Di Fenner, Jim Fenner's wife, lies to ensure he is released from prison and Fenner returns to G-Wing. When the Costa Cons escape to Spain, Neil is demoted to G-Wing Governor and Fenner promoted to Governing Governor. His tenure does not last long; he is murdered in the "hanging cell" the same day, during a memorial service for Yvonne Atkins. The police have a host of suspects to choose from, including new lesbian lifer prisoner Pat Kerrigan, who is a recent transfer from another prison but has already managed to develop a feud with Fenner. The increasingly mentally unstable Julie Johnston later reveals that she committed the crime to exact vengeance against Fenner for all his past crimes, in particular, the death of Yvonne. However, it is Fenner's widow Di who is arrested, charged and remanded in custody for the offence. New Governing Governor Joy Masterton arrives and indicates she will instigate a tough regime at Larkhall.

Meanwhile, Natalie Buxton has taken over as G-Wing's new top dog. When Natalie and the other imates find out that new inmate Arun Parmar is a transsexual, Natalie makes her life hell until Pat Kerrigan, annoyed by Natalie's bullying of Arun, beats Buxton in a fight and demands she leave Arun be. Pat develops a romance with recovering drug addict and single mother Sheena Williams before managing to expose Natalie, despite her denials to the contrary, as having been involved in the prostitution of underage girls. Produced by Rachel Snell.

Series Eight (2006)

The series begins with the arrival of Emira Al Jahani, a Muslim whose husband is a suspected terrorist. When Neil Grayling and a prisoner die and other prisoners fall ill, Emira is accused of biological terrorism. However, it is later established that Neil has died of a previously undiscovered heart condition and the sickness on the wing has been caused by an outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease caused by a faulty air-conditioning unit. New G-Wing governor Lou Stoke (Amanda Donohoe) develops a romance with the prison doctor Rowan Dunlop (Colin Salmon) not knowing he is married, and tries to find her missing sister. Meanwhile, Pat is sickened by Natalie's use of a child in smuggling drugs into the prison and plans to get rid of Natalie for good. Pat devises a plan in which she will trick Natalie into trying to escape, but Natalie realises she is being tricked and a fight ensues, which ends when Pat beats Natalie in the head with a rock. With the help of the two Julies, Pat disposes of Natalie's body in the sewers beneath the prison, making it seem as if Natalie has indeed escaped Larkhall. Inmate Janine Nebeski and new prison officer Donny Kimber embark on a romance that leaves Janine pregnant. With help from Bev, Phyl and Tina Janine gives birth in her cell who then names the baby after Bev. Longterm inmate Tina O'Kane is released for the second time but as before, struggles to adapt to life in the outside world and commits another crime as she takes a bank hostage with a toy gun where a man suffers a heart attack she is again reimprisoned. Joy Masterton's long-lost daughter Stella Gough turns up as an inmate at the prison. But then is shipped out after taking her mother hostage. Darlene Cake is tricked into killing a new inmate Catherine Earlham's husband and tries to commit suicide, but is saved by Donny. And Natalie Buxton's spirit returns in the last episode to haunt Sylvia and teach her the error of her ways.

Bad Girls: The Musical

A musical comedy adaptation, based on the characters and storylines of series 1, including the events of the death of inmate, Rachel Hicks, and the relationship between Wing Governor Helen Stewart and lifer, Nikki Wade. The musical originates with the same creative staff which worked on the television program. Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus, of Shed Productions, are the book writers of the musical, and Kath Gotts, composer for Bad Girls series 2 - 4, is the composer-lyricist. The first full production of the musical premiered at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in May - June 2006. A West End production has been running at the Garrick Theatre since August 2007, and opened to mostly positive reviews. Despite the positive reviews it had on opening in the West End, it closed in October 2007 some four months earlier than was supposed to due to a steep decline in ticket sales

Sets

Oxford prison was use for the exterior shots that featured in Series 1–3 of the show were shot at Oxford prison, and the set itself, used in the show, is a replica of the wing set-up at Oxford. For series 4–8, a replica set of the prison was constructed and built to look similar to Oxford. This was due to the prison in Oxford being reconstructed to become a new hotel complex

DVD releases

Series 1-8 of Bad Girls are available on DVD in the UK (Region 2). Series 1-8 are also available on DVD in Australia (Region 4). Series 1 was released on DVD in the United States on 7 June 2005. A boxset of Series 1-4 was released in the UK on 9 October 2006. Series 5-8 was released on 22 October 2007.

Bad Girls: Series One Uncut
	Set Details			Special Features
	10 Episodes 4-Disc Set 4:3 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: No English (Stereo)			Documentary: Bad Girls in Oxford Commentary Track: Episode 10 Cast Interviews: Simone Lahbib (Helen) Mandana Jones (Nikki) Debra Stephenson (Shell) Jack Ellis (Jim) Alicya Eyo (Denny) Helen Fraser (Sylvia) Victoria Alcock (Julie S) Kikia Mirylees (Julie J) Outtakes Fan Featurette: Bad Girls Book Signing Photo Library
	Release Dates

	18 June 2001	24 March 2003	7 June 2005

Bad Girls: Series Two Uncut
	Set Details		Special Features
	13 Episodes 4-Disc Set 4:3 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: No English (Stereo)		Gallery 1: Behind The Scenes Gallery 2: The National TV Awards Bad Girls In South Africa: Documentary Outtakes Deleted Scenes Cast Biographies Producer Biographies
	Release Dates

	1 October 2001	26 May 2003

Bad Girls: Series Three Uncut
	Set Details		Special Features
	16 Episodes 6-Disc Set 4:3 Aspect ratio Subtitles: No English (Stereo)		Interactive Map Of Larkhall Prison Outtakes Prison File: Behind The Scenes, Subsidiary Character Profiles and Interviews: Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Crystal) Victoria Bush (Tina) Pauline Campbell (Al) Jack Ellis (Jim) Claire King (Karen) Simone Lahbib (Helen) Nathan Constance (Josh) Helen Fraser (Sylvia) Lara Cazalet (Zandra R.I.P) Kiki Mirylees (Julie J) Lindsey Fawcett (Shaz) Mandana Jones (Nikki) Tracey Wilkinson (Di) Linda Henry (Yvonne) Audio CD: features music from Series 3
	Release Dates

	25 March 2002	8 September 2003

Bad Girls: Series Four Uncut
	Set Details		Special Features
	16 Episodes 5-Disc Set 16:9 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: No English (Stereo)		Series One - Feature Length Version Outtakes Tour of The New Exterior Set - With Jack Ellis (Jim) International Promo Trailer Fan Event With Simone and Mandana (Helen and Nikki) (2000) Gallery PC Wallpapers
	Release Dates

	9 June 2003	22 April 2004

Bad Girls: Series Five Uncut
	Set Details		Special Features
	16 Episodes 4-Disc Set 16:9 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: English English (Stereo)		Outtakes Photo Gallery
	Release Dates

	23 August 2004	7 March 2005

Bad Girls: Series Six Uncut
	Set Details		Special Features
	12 Episodes 3-Disc Set 16:9 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: English English (Stereo)		Outtakes The King In Larkhall Cast Interviews: Tristan Sturrock (Colin) Antonia Okonma (Darlene) Amanda Barrie (Bev) James Gaddas (Neil) Tanya Turner - Ultimate Bad Girl Bad Girls The Musical
	Release Dates

	25 June 2005	4 July 2005

Bad Girls: Series Seven
	Set Details		Special Features
	13 Episodes 4-Disc Set 16:9 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: English English (Stereo)		Photo Gallery Christmas Special
	Release Dates

	7 August 2006	18 September 2006

Bad Girls: Series Eight
	Set Details		Special Features
	11 Episodes 3-Disc Set 16:9 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: English English (Stereo)		Photo Gallery Christmas Special
	Release Dates

	26 December 2006	3 September 2007

Bad Girls: Series 1-4 Boxset
	Set Details	Special Features
	55 Episodes 18-Disc Set 4:3 Aspect Ratio (Series 1-3) 16.9 Aspect Ratio (Series 4) Subtitles: No English (Stereo)	Special features from Series 1-4
	Release Dates

	9 October 2006

Bad Girls: Series 5-8 Boxset
	Set Details	Special Features
	52 Episodes 14-Disc Set 16.9 Aspect Ratio Subtitles: No English (Stereo)	Special features from Series 5-8
	Release Dates

	22 October 2007