BBC Three Reveals Lip Service Cast

Laura Fraser (Florence Nightingale, Casanova, The Boys Are Back), Ruta Gedmintas (The Tudors) and Fiona Button (The Palace) have been cast as the three female lead roles in Lip Service, a bold new drama for BBC Three about the sex lives and love affairs of twenty-something lesbians living in contemporary Glasgow.
Produced by Kudos Film & Television (Ashes To Ashes, Spooks, Life On Mars) through BBC Scotland, the six-part series, which started filming in Glasgow this month, was written and created by Harriet Braun (Mistresses, series one, and co-creator of Attachments).
Ruta Gedmintas plays Frankie, an irreverent and provocative photographer who avoids commitment at all turns; Laura Fraser plays Cat – Frankie's former lover, who may not be as immune to Frankie's charms as she professes to be; and Fiona Button plays Tess – Cat's best friend and flatmate who has an uncanny knack of attracting all the wrong sorts of women.
As well as the three lead roles, major supporting roles in Lip Service include Roxanne McKee (Hollyoaks) as Lou, Emun Elliott (Paradox, Blackwatch) as Jay, Heather Peace (The Chase, Blue Murder) as Sam, James Anthony Pearson (New Town Killers) as Ed and Tom Mannion (Doctors, Taggart) as Frankie's uncle Cameron, amongst others.
Writer and Creator Harriet Braun said: "All of these characters are very close to my heart, so to have found such a great cast who bring them to life so fantastically is very exciting."
Derek Wax, Executive Producer for Kudos, said: "I am thrilled we have secured such a strong and exciting cast for Lip Service. Harriet Braun has a completely fresh and engaging take on contemporary relationships, as explored through the lives of young gay women and it's fantastic that her tragi-comic series about love, in all its passion and absurdity, has been commissioned by the BBC. Kudos is very proud to be making this new series with her for BBC Three."
Anne Mensah, Head of Drama BBC Scotland, added: "Harriet's scripts are very much authored pieces and, as such, the series takes a very vivid and authentic look at the lives and loves of modern British gay women on the cusp of life. The quality of the cast that the scripts have brought to the table really speaks for itself and Lip Service promises to be an emotionally-charged and utterly enjoyable drama series."
Lip Service was commissioned by Danny Cohen, Controller BBC Three and Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning and will transmit on BBC Three in Spring 2010.
The producer is Polly Williams (Hotel Babylon, Holby City) and the executive producer is Derek Wax for Kudos (Occupation, Flesh And Blood, Sex Traffic) and Matthew Read (Fiona's Story, Wallander) for BBC Scotland.
The director is John McKay (Life On Mars, Canterbury Reichenbach Falls).
(KMcA/BMcc)