Review - The Glasgow Girls

If you were watching the BBC last night, you might have noticed a theme going on, namely immigration. It’s something that’s dominated the news recently as parties like UKIP enter politics and so it seems only right to explore the issue through drama.

What a pity that I was nearly put off when the guy announcing the next programme decided to tell us that this would be a musical drama. Immediately nightmarish scenarios were breaking out in my head. Was I going to be subjected to cheesy performances of Titanium or whatever the newest hit was? A Gleek, I am not. (If you have not heard that term before now, be very grateful. And resist Googling).

Thankfully the musical bits were few and far between, and weren’t too cheesy although I certainly think we could have done without them. Musicals have their place but it isn’t in thought-provoking dramas like this one.

Onto the drama and the delightful Scottish accents. OK so they were hard to understand for the first five minutes or so but once we got in the swing of things, they were strangely pleasant to listen to. Gary Lewis’s accent as schoolteacher Euan Girvan was particularly strong.

It was an interesting choice to tell the story through the eyes of a young Somali who had recently entered the UK herself. Having Amal as the protagonist gave the story an extra layer and the characters an extra dimension. We saw the fear of her mother who wants to remain invisible while their papers are sorted clash with the determination of Amal as she tried to get her friend back.

Agnesa was a likable warm character from the first and so it really was a wrench when she was taken away. A slight confession here - I was in Kosovo last summer volunteering for a charity and the country, although much better now, is still a little unstable and tense. In 2005 Agnesa would have been in danger - Roma attacks were very frequent and they still go on although they’re much more rare now thankfully. The reason why I watched this was because I have a personal interest in Kosovo so I may have been rooting for the Glasgow Girls more than most.

The other strong character featuring in the drama was that of Euan Girvan (who I’m calling Mr. Girvan because it’s easier). He’s the kind of teacher you’d want your own kid taught by - he’s principled, he stands up for what he believes in, and he encourages others to do the same. When the girls announced that the class were going on strike due to the decision to take Agnesa away, you could tell right away that he was proud of them for doing so.

And of course where would we be without the typical politician, in this case First Minister of Scotland Jack McConnell played by Greg Hemphill. He agrees with the cause and wants to help but asking a politician to take action is like asking a chocoholic to give up their favourite food. It’s not going to happen. That’s why we have protocols.

The awards evening was a suitable climax. The girls were given the award for best campaign, and in their thank you speech implored Jack once again to take action. Harder to refuse when the evening is being televised.

I do have issues with the drama as a whole though in that I found it was focusing more on teaching us about immigration than telling the story. One scene in particular - the classmates calling Agnesa in Yarlswood Detention Centre - stood out for me. It was as if the dialogue was specifically geared to teach us. It’s possible to tell stories like this in an objective way and at times, I don’t feel the drama was achieving this.

The other issue I had was the end scene. It was probably meant to be heartwarming but for those of us whose hearts have been lost in the post, it came off corny. We had the girls and a whole group of people standing there singing at deportation officers. Who does this? Did that actually happen? They may as well have done a dance routine while they were at it! I just feel that having the protest be silent would have been a better way to go. It would have been a powerful ending.

Despite the bias and singing, Glasgow Girls was a good drama, designed to make people think. Out of five imaginary stars, I shall give them three.