Kick ass women: President Laura Roslin

I confess to having found myself surprised to be watching Battlestar Galactica (the 2003 NBC mini-series) and even more surprised to be enjoying it. It came about after I’d been watching Jake Yapp’s highly amusing clips about The Apprentice on The Poke and started following him on Twitter. A conversation ensued about how good he thinks Battlestar Galactica is. I raised as quizzical an eyebrow as I could manage over Twitter, but he was clear on the fact that 1) it really is very good and 2) his girlfriend likes it. And so it was I promised to give it a go.

I admit, I was dubious. I enjoy Dr Who, and loved Blake’s 7, but in general, I hate sci-fi and what I view as ‘space tosh’, especially boysy, fight-based intergalactic nonsense, and I feared that’s exactly what this would be.

But not so. The fact that most of it takes place in space is not the point, or at least not all of it. This is quality drama; sexy, dynamic, well-written and highly engaging. And it’s not boysy, at least not in an unbalanced way. There are a wealth of strong, interesting female characters. Impressive, feisty, muscular pilot, Kara ‘Starbuck’ Thrace, is the obvious choice for a kick ass woman. And you really wouldn’t want the terrifying, gorgeous blonde bombshell Cylon Number Six (Cylons being the baddies) as your babysitter.

[Her lover in this, by the way, is Dr Gauis Baltar, played by James Callis, who I knew as the adorable male bezzie mate in Bridget Jones]

But I’m going to plump for Laura Roslin (played by Mary McDonnell) as my top kick ass woman. She starts the mini-series as a slightly mumsy Education Minister who has just been given a diagnosis of terminal cancer. She ends up (after the Cylons wipe out most of the population of Kobol with a nuclear attack) as President of the Twelve Colonies (thank you PF) when all the other 42 in line have been killed. And she steps into this role with calm, compassionate aplomb. She’s brilliant, and is an elegant counterpoint to the rugged masculinity of Commander Adama and chums.

She’s one of the reasons I’d recommend Battlestar Galactica to anyone, and particularly women who are dubious about space-based drama. This is all very human and beautifully drawn.

Now I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of Series 1.

Posted by Inkface

For other kick-ass women posts, see here

Louie Spence’s Showbusiness: Return to Pineapple Dance Studios

I’ve only seen half of the first episode of Louie Spence’s Showbusiness (I’m forbidden, on pain of death, from watching it without PLA Jr, and she had to go to school) – but I’ve seen enough to know we can safely file it under the Pineapple Dance Studios category. “Change is good,” says Louie in his introductory spiel, “I like change.” But in fact this really is PDS Series 2, so little has actually changed. Even the opening credits are the same(ish).

Whether this turns out to be a good thing (the first series of PDS was, generally, brilliant) or a bad thing (the first series of PDS was flagging badly by the end of the run) we’ll have to wait and see.

So far in this episode we’ve been reacquainted with Louie’s nephew, the hunky Lotan, who is now one of the Dreamboys (ie he’s a male stripper, but at least it’s showbiz!).

Talking of showbusiness, did you know that it’s 90% business and 10% show? This information was brought to us by the eternally sparkly Andrew Stone, who provides the 10% while Starman’s manager Rob is the man charged with supplying the other 90%. No wonder Rob looks permanently about to cry, though he leaves the actual crying to Andrew, who is so much better at it. I can’t help loving Andrew, who could come across as a monstrous ego but has a charm and a vulnerability that come through at the same time.

I also love his bandmate Jesus (second from left in the photo), who is Spanish, sulky and has great rock & roll legs.

Posted by PLA       (posts about the first series of Pineapple can be found here)