Interview: Fiona Button of BBC series Lip Service
What to expect from series two of drama set in Glasgow lesbian culture
For anyone who hasn’t seen it before – what’s Lip Service?
It is a drama with a little bit of comedy, looking at the lives and loves of a group of women living in Glasgow. There’s so much to entertain you in the show. Although on the face of it the programme is portraying Glasgow lesbians, the heart of it is looking at how much of a struggle love can be and how people try to manage their relationships. Everybody is interested in watching that, because it’s something that everyone can relate to.
Tell us about your character.
My character, Tess, is a struggling actress. At the end of the last series you managed to finally get a ‘proper’ job doing a play in the Tron in Glasgow, which is a really big deal for her. As for her love life, she got together with Fin the electrician at the end of last season. Fin seems on the surface to be what Tess needed – somebody reliable, who wasn’t too messed up as Tess hadn’t been too lucky in love before that. If I could choose any other character to play, I would pick Sadie as that would be a lot of fun – she’s such a delinquent…
And the new series?
Tess starts to wonder if Fin is all she’s cracked up to be, as their interests are pretty different. Tess is really interesting to play because she’s so many different things. She’s fun and bubbly and very comedic. Tess is responsible for the lighter end of the show, although I think series two will bring in a bit more comedy in general than series one had in it. Tess also goes through a lot emotionally, so it’s fun for me as there are two sides to play that are very different for each other and you don’t often get that. We finished filming last August so it’s been ages, but we all stay up there for the whole time we’re shooting. About four months all together, so we get to know the city pretty well.
What will happen with Cat and Frankie?
I can’t tell you that!
The Lip Service cast is predominately female. What’s the working environment like? Any cat fights?
It’s great. We all bonded almost better than a cast which is more equally mixed, and everyone really looks out for each other in a way which you don’t necessarily get otherwise. That said, there are a couple of boys and we shouldn’t forget them – James Anthony Pearson and Emun Elliot who play Ed and Jay – so it is balanced, but the lead characters are all female and that’s rare. We’ve all pretty much made friends for life, which is pretty amazing.
And any news on series three… ?
We don’t know yet! It all depends on how this series goes down so watch this space.
Lip Service returns to BBC Three on Fri 20 Apr at 9pm.