''Tinsel Town'' is a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

co-produced by

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

and Raindog/Deep Indigo Productions. It ran for two series, the debuting on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

in 2000 and the second airing on

BBC Choice BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in digital format, as well as the BBC's second non-analogue-terres ...

the following year. Developed by Raindog, the series was created by Robbie Allen, Stuart Davids and Martin McCardie. Set throughout the city of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, it deals with the lifestyles of eight main characters who each have the titular Tinsel Town nightclub in common. In Series One, six episodes were written by Martin McCardie, two by Ed McCardie and two by Dublin playwright, Jimmy Murphy. In the second series, the Tinsel Town name has extended to feature a clothing retail store in addition to the nightclub. Produced and broadcast in the wake of 1999's controversial TV drama '' Queer as Folk'', and promoted as a "Scottish version" of that series, ''Tinsel Town'' was defined by its broadcaster as "a cutting-edge saga of life and love in Glasgow club land". In its debut year the series was nominated for four BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards: Best Television Performance nominations for

Dawn Steele Dawn Steele (born 11 December 1975) is a Scottish actress best known for her portrayals of the characters Alexandra “Lexie” MacDonald from the BBC drama '' Monarch of the Glen'', Alice Trevanion in the ITV drama series '' Wild at Heart'' a ...

and

Kate Dickie Kate Dickie (born 1971) is a Scottish actress who has appeared in television series, stage plays and films. She is known for her television roles as Lex in the BBC series '' Tinsel Town'' (2000–2001) and Lysa Arryn in the HBO series '' Game ...

, and wins for Best Producer, Robbie Allen and Best Television Director for actress turned director

Caroline Paterson Caroline Paterson (born 1965) is a Scottish actress and director who has appeared in many Scottish television shows such as one-off STV drama, '' The Steamie'' and the BBC's '' Rab C. Nesbitt''. However, she is most recognised for her role in ' ...

. The series was also nominated for two UK BAFTAs in the category of Best New Writer. Brothers Ed and Martin McCardie were nominated against each other for the award, with Ed winning UK BAFTA Best New Writer of 2000. The characters include Stevie Allen as 37-year-old policeman Lewis Reid, and

David Paisley David Paisley (born 2 February 1979) is a Scottish actor, domestic violence and LGBTQIA+ rights campaigner, known for roles as midwife Ben Saunders in '' Holby City'', Ryan Taylor in '' Tinsel Town'' and Rory Murdoch in ''River City''. Some of ...

as his 17-year-old boyfriend Ryan Taylor. Ryan's sister Sandra (Mandy Matthews) is also a central character with her friendship with Jack Donnelly (Paul Thomas Hickey) providing humour and balance to the cast. Other central cast members were Dawn Steele as Teresa, Steven Duffy as Brady, Stuart Sinclair Blythe as Coutts and Kate Dickie as Lex. In Series 1, Brady embarks on a sordid affair with Coutts's girlfriend Teresa, resulting in the end of series cliffhanger. New club DJ Lex (Dickie) is introduced at the start of the series and we see her battling to escape her sadistic ex-husband with the help of the club owner, transvestite Stella (Jim Twaddale). Series Two saw the transmission times reduced to 30 minutes, with all ten episodes being written by co-creator, Martin McCardie. The loss of Brady and Coutts who were central to the plot and cliffhanger of series 1, changed the emphasis of the second series. The series aired again on BBC Choice in 2001 and then

in 2002. The first series was released on VHS, but neither has been repeated by the BBC since. Rights to both series were acquired by

Rapture TV Rapture TV was a previously free-to-air satellite television station (although now an exclusively online channel) operated from the United Kingdom, founded in 1997. Focusing mostly on electronic dance music and extreme sports, it is notable ...

, who are at least theoretically Scottish-owned, and began airing in May 2006. This is one of the first times that a BBC series has been sold to a

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

broadcaster, or been shown FTA other than on the BBC itself. The shows effective "theme song" is " Out of Control" by the

Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre ...

and

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the post ...

, which plays through the majority of in-club sequences as well as other times in the show. However, the actual opening and closing theme is a remix of "

Tinseltown in the Rain "Tinseltown in the Rain" is a song by Scottish pop band The Blue Nile. It was released as the second Single (music), single from their 1984 debut album ''A Walk Across the Rooftops''. The song was written and produced by lead singer Paul Buchanan ...

" by Scottish band

The Blue Nile The Blue Nile was a Scottish band which originated in Glasgow. The group's early music was built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured guitar more prominently. Following early champ ...

Ariel Pink Ariel Marcus Rosenberg ( ; born June 24, 1978), professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi music, lo-fi aesthetic and home ...

references "a Tinseltown Tranny" in the song "Dedicated to Bobby Jameson".

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0255757, Tinsel Town *
Tinsel Town
' at RaptureTV 2000 British television series debuts Television shows set in Glasgow BBC Scotland television shows 2000s British LGBT-related drama television series 2001 British television series endings