A GENDER SETTING DRAMA
New Friel series on trans kid
We’re going to get attacked. It’s incredibly difficult as people are so pro or anti NICOLA SHINDLER TALKING ABOUT TRANSGENDER ISSUES
THE makers of a drama about a transgender child are bracing themselves for a backlash.
The three-part Butterfly with Marcella star Anna Friel will not air until later this year.
But show bosses are sure the mini-series about an 11-yearold boy who wants to live as a girl will spark controversy.
Friel and ex-Hollyoaks actor Emmett J Scanlan play the separated parents of Max, who wants to become Maxine.
Max, played by Callum BoothFord, has dressed as a girl at home for years and as puberty approaches decides he no longer wants to hide who he is.
Scanlan is reluctant to let his son become his daughter and wildly disagrees with Friel about how to react. The one thing they do agree on is that Max’s welfare is paramount.
Nicola Shindler, of RED Productions, said: “I know we’re going to get attacked for it, and I know that whatever we do, we’re going to get it wrong for some people because it’s not their point of view.”
OUTRAGE
But Shindler, who worked on hard-hitting Channel 4 drama Queer as Folk, said the contentious issues raised by Baftawinning writer Tony Marchant’s series should not put people off.
She said: “It’s told a lot from the point of view of the parents. It’s ITV’s way of saying, this could happen to anyone and this is how you deal with it.
“It’s an incredibly difficult subject matter because people are so anti or so pro, and a lot of people haven’t decided how they feel about whether a child should be able to take medication or go through an operation, and whether we should listen to children that age.”
Co-producer Louise Sutton said: “I think even if there is a negative reaction, I’d hope people would stick with it.
“They will go on the journey with the family and will be rooting for Maxine. There will be initial outrage but if people watch it and involve themselves in it, they can connect.”
Shindler said of Callum: “We had an extraordinary young actor who’s really pulled it off, I think, to make you feel what she’s going through.”