Girls on Top is a British sitcom, broadcast on ITV in 1985 and 1986, and made by Allan McKeown's WitzEnd Productions for the ITV contractor Central Independent Television. It starred Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ruby Wax and Tracey Ullman with Joan Greenwood. It was written by French, Saunders, and Wax, with additional material for two episodes ("Four-Play", "Ident: Candy Time"), written by Ullman.
The show focused on four female child-like flatmates and their landlady. It was a female version of The Young Ones, two series of which were made in 1982 and 1984. French and Saunders had both previously guest starred in The Young Ones twice and like most of its stars, they were members of The Comic Strip.
<blockquote>The premise of Girls on Top is that a feminist journalist (French), who writes for Spare Cheek, is forced to share her Kensington apartment with three non-feminist women in order to pay her rent to a wealthy romantic novelist (Joan Greenwood) who lives in the flat below.</blockquote>
The first episode had a woman in her early 20s named Amanda struggling to find a flat, against Shelley, and managing to procure one (that she cannot afford) from Lady Carlton, in London SW3. The previous resident, Candice, convinces Amanda to let her stay temporarily as she has nowhere else to go. Then, Jennifer, Amanda's childhood Brownies friend, arrives unexpectedly. Eventually, Amanda allows the obnoxious American Shelley to move in, splitting the rent with her, as she is the only one who can afford it, thanks to her wealthy family.
Episodes often centred on Shelley ordering the others around because they relied on her to get the rent paid; early episodes often incorporated Candice's latest invented illness, or any other reason to not pay the rent.
Guest and recurring stars included:
Many of the guest stars were fellow members of the Royal Shakespeare Company enlisted by Wax. Wax wanted to write a guest part for Ian McKellen, but it never happened.
Early in 1982, French and Saunders met Ruby Wax, and the three began to work on an idea for a television show based around their stage personas. Needing a fourth lead, Lenny Henry suggested Tracey Ullman. ITV's midlands franchise holder, Central Independent Television, commissioned a pilot, under the title "Four FâÂÂs to Share", which was made over the summer of 1983. Central Independent Television commissioned thirteen episodes to go into production in April 1984. Production fell victim to industrial action, and in January 1985, went into production with a rewritten "Four FâÂÂs to Share" as "Four-Play". Ben Elton was the script editor.
Scripts were written Ruby Wax's flat in Holland Park, by Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Ruby Wax.
In January 1985, location night scenes were filmed in Nottingham.
During the second series a tie-in paperback, written by the cast, was published by HarperCollins.
The theme tune, like the series' score, was written and performed by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford of the band Squeeze. Originally, the opening theme was sung by the cast (minus Greenwood). Three episodes of series one added an introductory verse sung by Ullman over the end credits. From the second episode of the second series, the opening theme was instead sung by Tilbrook.
The transmission dates reflect those in the London ITV region. The first series aired on Wednesdays at 8:30pm, while the second series aired on Thursdays at 9pm.
Girls on Top, seen on ITV from 1985 to 1986, was never broadcast in the United States.
The production encountered push-back over words in their script, including "plucking the bikini line" and menstruation, rarely heard on pre-watershed TV in the 1980s.
<blockquote>We werenâÂÂt being shocking, thatâÂÂs just the way we speak...We werenâÂÂt trying to break any walls down, thatâÂÂs just who we were. - Ruby Wax</blockquote>