What It Feels Like For A Girl: Everything We Know So Far

When Paris Lees released her memoir in 2021, it received immediate acclaim. The black comedy chronicles the journalist’s 00s adolescence with grit, tenacity and tenderness, creating a Y2K nostalgia through retired slang, walkmans, cheesy tunes and Nokia phones that’s so palpable, you can almost see it. And soon we will be able to see it: the BBC is working on a star-studded eight-part TV adaptation of Lees’ What It Feels Like For A Girl. Here’s everything we know so far.

Ellis Howard as Byron in What It Feels Like For A Girl. (BBC)

What It Feels Like For A Girl: Plot, Cast, Release Date

Ellis Howard, Laura Haddock, Hannah Walters, Michael Socha, Laquarn Lewis, Hannah Jones, Adam Ali, Alex Thomas-Smith, Calam Lynch, Jake Dunn and Dickie Beau are set to star in the BBC’s hotly anticipated adaptation of What It Feels Like For A Girl. Produced by the team behind Sky’s Mary & George, Hera Pictures, the eight-part series is a heartbreaking yet hilarious drama that explores self-discovery and self-destruction backdropped by a new millennium.

‘This is a proudly working-class story, and it needed a cast who could bring it to life authentically,’ Lees says. ‘We’ve struck gold with these highly talented actors, some of whom are already familiar faces – and some who are about to be. The biggest challenge was always the lead role – we’re following someone who’s going from, in the eyes of the outside world, a schoolboy, right up to a trans woman starting university, and all that’s in between.’

Hannah Jones as Sasha & Alex Thomas-Smith as Sticky Nikki in What It Feels Like For A Girl. (BBC)

What Is It About?

Inspired by Paris Lees’ acclaimed memoir, What It Feels Like For A Girl is a coming of age story centring on teenager Byron (Ellis Howard), who feels trapped in his working class town. But Byron’s life explodes in a rush when he escapes to Nottingham’s vibrant underworld. There, he discovers a realm of drink and drugs, and falls into a chaotic family of troublemakers he calls “The Fallen Divas”. This gang of kindred spirits is made up of Lady Die (Laquarn Lewis), Sticky Nikki (Alex Thomas-Smith), Dirty Damian (Adam Ali), while an intense rivalry brews between Byron and the beautiful, acid-tongued Sasha (Hannah Jones).

According to the BBC, ‘Between them, they beg, steal and skank their way on a rollercoaster ride of hedonism at the heart of the UK’s early 2000s club scene. The party can’t last forever though, and when Byron is seduced by bad-boy Liam, a shocking encounter occurs that will change life forever.’

Jake Dunn as Liam in What It Feels Like For A Girl. (BBC)

Who Will Star?

• Ellis Howard as Byron
• Hannah Walters
• Laura Haddock
• Michael Socha
• Laquarn Lewis as Lady Die
• Hannah Jones as Sasha
• Adam Ali as Dirty Damian
• Alex Thomas-Smith as Sticky Nikki
• Calam Lynch as Max
• Jake Dunn as Liam
• Dickie Beau as Peter
• Emma Shipp
• Sekou Diaby
• Laura Checkley
• Oliver Huntingdon
• Lorn Macdonald
• Rhys Connah
• Fay Ripley
• Selina Mosinski

‘The moment I saw Ellis, I recognised something in him – a cheekiness, a delicateness, a complexity – and knew he was the one,’ Lees says. ‘And he rose to the challenge, again and again. The chemistry between El, Hannah, Laquarn and the rest of the Fallen Divas is something you can only dream of in drama.’

‘We couldn’t be prouder of the phenomenal cast leading What It Feels Like for a Girl, who join a team of brilliant creatives in bringing Paris’s daringly distinctive vision to the screen,’ adds Liza Marshall, the series’ executive producer. ‘Ellis and the rest of the ensemble – an exciting mix of new and established talent – deliver incredible performances, bringing these anarchic, sharp-witted characters to life.’

Calam Lynch as Max & Ellis Howard as Byron in What It Feels Like For A Girl. (BBC)

Where Was It Filmed?

What It Feels Like For A Girl was filmed in South Wales and Nottingham.

Release Date

What It Feels Like for a Girl will air on BBC Three and iPlayer ‘later this year’. We will update this page with the release date when we have it.