The Boy In The Dress.

This drama, based on David Walliams' book was shown on BBC1 today and I really enjoyed it. 

I did wonder whether it would be a bit like Billy's New Frock which inspired me when I was younger. In some ways it was but this was more the boy's choice rather than something forced upon him which effects a change. 

Young Dennis lives in a miserable household with his Dad and brother following his parents split. The only drop of colour in his life was his mum who has now left but he always remembered how she was and what fabulous clothes she wore. One day he buys a copy of Vogue and soon attracts the attention of popular girl Lisa who provides a friend to talk and someone to push his new found interests further.

It's nice that Dennis is a typical young boy with an interest in football and a lot of talent. The stereotype of the crossdresser is often that of a gay young man with no interest in sports. In fact Dennis' sexual preference is never really explored. The closest we come to that is Lisa and she could either be a crush or a really good friend. Lisa is perhaps the crossdresser's dream made flesh. A bright, popular girl who is willing to talk about fashion with you, dress you up and inspire you to go out dressed.

Typically, it feels an idealised ending with the football team deciding that they can't do without the expelled Dennis so much they are willing to drag up to get him back an much like the gay bashers who turn out to be repressing their own homosexual feelings, the hardline headmaster (a brilliant Tim McInnerny) turns out to be a crossdresser too. There are some nice parallels with Dennis' sikh friend putting up with religious intolerance and his depressed Dad's world opening up because of the incident. There was a good cast and I especially liked Jennifer Saunders' batty French teacher, the Arkwright-esque newsagent Raj and James Buckley's apathetic gym teacher. 

Overall, it was a light and enjoyable piece of Boxing Day children's drama. I wonder what effect it would have had on me if I was still in school. Would I have even been interested in watching it? Perhaps it would have been something illicit I would have hidden my viewing of, much like the Clueless TV series years ago. Being afraid of looks from my parents, wondering why I was interested in such a thing and probably making fun of me a little. At least it would have been something to think about and I may not have felt ashamed. It's worth it just to let you know that there's someone out there like you or something that you can believe in.