Girls on Top (British TV series)

Did You Know?

• The theme tune was written and performed by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford of the band Squeeze.
• Three episodes of the first series added an introductory verse sung by Tracey Ullman over the end credits.
• Girls on Top was never broadcast in the United States.

Synopsis

A feminist journalist named Amanda Ripley, who writes for Spare Cheek, must share her Kensington flat with three non-feminist women to afford the rent charged by her landlady, a wealthy romantic novelist. The first episode follows Amanda as she secures a flat she cannot afford from Lady Carlton, then allows the previous tenant Candice to stay temporarily, followed by her childhood friend Jennifer, and finally the obnoxious American Shelley, who pays most of the rent. Episodes often involve Shelley ordering the others around because they rely on her money, and Candice inventing illnesses to avoid paying.

Cast and characters

Amanda Ripley (Dawn French) is a strait-laced feminist, socialist, and anarchist who works at the magazine Spare Cheeks. She is the most level-headed flatmate but hides her fascination with men and the royal family, a running gag in the second series involving hidden copies of Playgirl. Jennifer Marsh (Jennifer Saunders) is a mousy, childlike woman and Amanda's childhood Brownies friend, often the group's whipping post. In the first series she is implied to be intellectually disabled; in the second she is more intelligent but still naïve. Saunders described the character as a moronic version of herself at age twelve. Shelley DuPont (Ruby Wax) is a loud, rude American struggling actress with a trust fund who pays 75% of the rent, tolerated only for her money. Candice Valentine (Tracey Ullman) is a promiscuous, lazy, manipulative gold-digger; Ullman left after the first series, and the character was written out in the first episode of the second series. Lady Chloe Carlton (Joan Greenwood) is the eccentric elderly romance novelist landlady who treats her taxidermied dog Josephine as if alive. Guest stars included Helen Atkinson-Wood, Mark Arden, Stephen Frost, Suzanne Bertish, Angela Pleasence, Harriet Walter, The Beverley Sisters, Simon Brint, Rowland Rivron, Robbie Coltrane, Paul Brooke, and Harry Enfield.

Production

French, Saunders, and Wax began developing the show in early 1982 based on their stage personas. Lenny Henry suggested Tracey Ullman as the fourth lead. Central Independent Television commissioned a pilot titled Four F’s to Share, made in summer 1983. Thirteen episodes were commissioned for April 1984 production, but industrial action delayed filming until January 1985, with a rewritten pilot as Four-Play. Ben Elton served as script editor. Location night scenes were filmed in Nottingham. A tie-in paperback by the cast was published during the second series.