This LGBT+ History month, dive into one of these fantastic sapphic films and TV shows set in the past
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGES BY BBC, STUDIOCANAL UK AND AMAZON PRIME
Raise your hand if you love a good period drama. Now raise the other one if you love them even more when they feature at least one lesbian. Safe to say both our hands are up in the air.
Thankfully, there are quite a few incredible lesbian period dramas available to watch now. Here’s our list of what to watch this LGBT+ History Month:
Gentleman Jack
When is it not time to re-watch Gentleman Jack? In this BBC drama, Suranne Jones stars as real life trailblazer Anne Lister, the UK’s “first modern lesbian”. It’s 1832 and a brokenhearted Anne flees to Yorkshire to restore her late uncle’s estate. She soon strikes a romance with Sophie Rundle’s Ann Walker, which she records in a cryptic diary.
Tipping The Velvet
This miniseries, based on the Sarah Waters novel of the same name, was groundbreaking for its depiction of lesbian sex. Taking us back to the 1890s, Tipping The Velvet follows Nan (Rachael Stirling), who leaves her small town life for London after she meets and falls in love with a male impersonator named Kitty (Keeley Hawes).
The Handmaiden
If you loved Tipping The Velvet, then you’re in luck, because there are loads of Sarah Waters adaptations. Like this one! The Handmaiden is a Korean version of the novelist’s crime story Fingersmith, moving the setting from Victorian England to the 1930s in Korea. It sees a con-man enlist a pickpocket-turned-maid to help him seduce a Japanese heiress. It seems like the perfect plan, until the maid and the heiress fall in love.
Carol
It may not be Christmas, but we can still rewatch Carol right? This 1950s-set film came out 10 years ago and follows the relationship between Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) and Carol Aird (Cate Blanchett). Taking place at a time when homosexuality was illegal, the film dives into the bravery it takes to love who you love.
Pride
We move to 1984 for this one. Pride tells the true story of how a few LGBTQIA activist helped the miners in a small Welsh town continue their strike, a move that ignited the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign. Three of these campaigners were lesbians, played by Faye Marsay, Karina Fernandez and Jessie Cave. Not only are they brilliant in the film, but they get a whole scene to sing: “Every woman is a lesbian at heart”.
Call The Midwife
You’ll need to watch seasons four to six for this one. While the show starts in the 1950s, it’s 1960 when we first meet Delia Busby, a Welsh nurse and secret girlfriend of Patsy Mount, a midwife. Over three seasons, a lot happens to the pair, unpacking exactly what it means to be in a same-sex relationship when homosexuality is illegal.
A League Of Their Own
We had to include this one! The lesbian baseball show, based on the 1993 film and the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, shines a light on the queer women who secretly went to gay bars during the Second World War. This is a show that was called “perfect queer TV” by The Guardian.
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