Television series

Lip Service

Name: Lip Service
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 2010
Cast: Anna Skellern, Natasha O'Keeffe, Ruta Gedmintas, Laura Fraser, Fiona Button

Drama

Lip Service is a Glasgow-set drama about a tight group of lesbian and bisexual women navigating love, ambition, and friendship with sharp wit and genuine mess. It's intimate and funny without shying from real hurt. For anyone who wants character drama that treats its women as complete people, not orientations.

TVMaze rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like ensemble dramas where the romance is messy, funny and frank, and the characters talk about sex and heartbreak with the bluntness of old friends rather than polished romantic leads.

Skip it if you want a tidy, uplifting love story; this one leans on sharp banter and awkward, sometimes uncomfortable honesty, and its comedy can feel abrasive if you come looking for something soft.

What it asks of you: Sixty-minute episodes, twelve across two series, so you can binge it in a weekend, but it keeps you alert to who is sleeping with whom and why, and rewards close attention to the dialogue.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Gentleman Jack2019

A Yorkshire period drama about a diarist and a landowner's tentative romance, with the same balance of humour and vulnerability. Character-driven and gorgeously realised, it trusts the audience to care about the emotional stakes.

But The pacing can drag in stretches, and if you need constant plot momentum rather than character texture, it'll test your patience.

Heartstopper2022

A coming-of-age romance about two teenagers falling for each other, with the same warmth and ensemble cast energy. It's sweet without being saccharine, and genuinely funny about the small catastrophes of growing up.

But The brightness and optimism might feel too much if you prefer stories with harder edges. Some find the aesthetic almost aggressively charming.

Fleabag2016

A sharp, irreverent comedy-drama about a chaotic woman's life and loves in London. Same irreverent humour as Lip Service, same willingness to let characters be selfish and complicated and still lovable.

But It's much darker and dirtier, and the protagonist is far more destructive. If you want warmth and solidarity, this goes the other way.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Lip Service

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Blue Is the Warmest Color2013

Both treat lesbian relationships as deserving the full weight of drama: no titillation, no irony, just women whose emotional lives are as complex and urgent as anyone else's. Both understand that intimacy is plot.

A three-hour French film about two women's relationship across years: intimacy, desire, heartbreak, and the feeling of being genuinely seen by another person. It's patient and uncompromising and real in a way that most screen romance isn't.

But It's extremely long, subtitled, and sexually explicit. The director's reputation for difficult shoots is well-documented. It demands total commitment and gives back unflinching emotional truth—not everyone wants that bargain.

Ozark2017

Intense ensemble drama where relationships buckle under pressure and nobody's hands stay clean. Brilliantly acted and plotted, with that same sense that nobody's really in control of their own life.

But It's relentlessly bleak and violent. There's almost no humour, and the show assumes you'll watch people you care about get hurt repeatedly.

Killing Eve2018

A cat-and-mouse drama with real chemistry between the leads and genre-defying tonal shifts. Unpredictable, darkly funny, and confident in its own weirdness in a way that keeps you watching.

But The final season disappointed many fans. The earlier seasons are significantly better, and if you're committed to the whole arc, you may feel the investment wasn't worth it.

The L Word2004

The ancestor of this whole conversation. A Los Angeles ensemble about lesbian and bisexual women with genuine stakes and soap-opera momentum. It's where a lot of this language and storytelling comes from.

But It's dated in ways that can be distracting. Some of the acting is patchy, and the production values show their age next to Lip Service's tightness.

Normal People2020

An intimate drama about two people whose lives intertwine across years. Beautifully shot, with that same sense of how much unspoken feeling can live between people who know each other.

But It moves slowly and trusts you to find drama in texture rather than plot. If you need external momentum, it can feel static and repetitive.

Happy Valley2014

A Yorkshire crime drama with a brilliant ensemble cast and real emotional weight. British, character-focused, and brilliantly acted, with stakes that feel earned.

But It's grim and violent in ways that some find gratuitous. The genre is much harder than Lip Service, which might feel like a tonal shift.

Catastrophe2015

A comedy-drama about two people's chaotic relationship, funny and tender and messy. Quick-witted, well-acted, and genuinely warm about people being disasters together.

But It's heavily heterosexual in focus, and the comedy sometimes overwhelms the emotional stakes. If you want consistency of tone, it can feel unbalanced.

Minx2022

Both celebrate women's desire and agency without judgment, and both understand that humour and sexuality and genuine feeling can live in the same scene. Both feature ensembles where the women actually like and support each other, which is surprisingly rare.

A period comedy-drama about a woman launching an explicit magazine for women in 1970s LA. It's funny and sharp and sexy without apology, with real character development and a cast that genuinely sparks off each other. Criminally underrated.

But It was cancelled after two seasons, so you'll be left hanging. It's also lighter in register than Lip Service—if you need emotional weight, it prioritises comedy and fun instead.