The Life and Loves of a She-Devil is a 1986 BBC miniseries based on the 1983 novel of the same name by English feminist author Fay Weldon.
The story is about Ruth, an ugly housewife with an unfaithful husband named Bobbo. Ruth is passive to her husband's infidelities until he falls in love with famed romantic writer Mary Fisher, at which point Ruth finally snaps, resulting in Bobbo calling her a “She-Devil” and storming out. Ruth decides to live up to the name, going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against her husband and his love. The miniseries, which featured only minor changes from the book, starred Dennis Waterman as Bobbo, Patricia Hodge as Mary Fisher and Julie T. Wallace as Ruth.
Any of this sounding familiar? If so, you're likely thinking of the 1989 American comedy film She-Devil, starring Roseanne Barr and Meryl Streep. The movie is also based on Weldon's novel (a little more loosely than the miniseries, however), and has all but eclipsed the book and miniseries in the public conscious.
This miniseries contains the following tropes:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending - The Book ends with Bobbo almost a vegetative state due to electroshock therapy released , Mary Fisher dead from Cancer and Ruth fully changed into Fisher’s image now everything that Mary was in the High Tower. In the Series Mary dies in a more dramatic way, Bobbo is released as Ruth is a clone of Fisher but she makes love in front of Bobbo, showing how she has won.
- Adapted Out - The things cut from the novel is only minor things but they do make a difference:
- Removed was Ruth's memories of before her married. She was learning to be a typist showing skill, but she lived in a hostel, her Stepfather was addicted to model trains and she had to leave, Bobbo took her out and his parents offered Bobbo's bed to Ruth while he was in Uni, when he returned he knocked her up and there was a shotgun wedding soon after their second child Bobbo told Ruth to have a coil.
- There's the theme of numbers, Ruth reads Mary Fishers' files and knows that she hides her wealth in foreign banks.
- Nurse Hopkins turns out to be at the mental hospital when Ruth arrives the Retirement Home, also her money has come from her parent's will after she developed problems due to the thyroid medicine they gave her.
- Other edits for the mini series includes a more complex Father Ferguson and Pearl Fisher, Andy and Nicole's fate, Pearl manages to look after herself and the children are able to find villagers close to the High Tower that help them.
- All There in the Stinger - During the credits we see the actors playing Bobbo, Mary Fisher and Ruth with her red eyes but she turns into Mary but with the glowing eyes just like she does at the end.
- Attending Your Own Funeral - During Mary’s Funeral Ruth comes to it all swollen due to surgery and Mary’s Mother jokes about this when she sees her Bobbo believes that she is Mary.
- Bratty Half-Pint - Andy and Nicole, Bobbo and Ruth's children cause trouble for her and yet they clearly love their parents.
- Best Served Cold - Ruth’s revenge takes more than about 7 Years if Bobbo served his whole sentence.
- Bleak Abyss Retirement Home - The one that Mary’s unnamed Mother lives in, the owner of it whom Ruth sleeps with calls it "a ripoff, somewhere the Rich to dump their ageing relatives", he's not wrong it drugs all of them, but yet they have the right to throw out incontinent residences and so Ruth as the new nurse does the opposite to kick Mrs. Fisher out.
- Brainy Brunette - Ruth and Nurse Hopkins both study Accounting and Bookkeeping in order to create Vista Rose, an Employment Agency that helps married women and mothers get jobs of course Ruth uses her new skills to get Bobbo arrested.
- Break the Cutie - Ruth does this to Mary, forcing her to become a Mother to her kids, this causes her work to suffer, then when Bobbo's eye starts to drift Ruth adds fuel to the fire and sits back watching Mary's fantasy fall into ruins.
- Broken Pedestal - Ruth to Bobbo, after she drops the main course for the parents dinner, she tries to conceive herself she should be grateful despite his affairs but finally she snaps and spoils it showing how much she tried of the lie.
- Can't Have Sex, Ever - Bobbo is forced to see Ruth as Mary making love to other men at the end.
- Chekhov's Gunman - Ruth has several whether they know or not:
- In The High Tower she has Garcia the manservant who offers to keep updates on the children as well as cause trouble.
- Nurse Hopkins whom she has let into her plot.
- Elsie Flowers to then cause trouble between Bobbo and Mary and to help with the money.
- Then Ruth chats to Olga a Vesta Rose employed bank teller and a former computer hacker to help with the framing of Bobbo. Olga stops messages going to Bobbo's office that money has been transferred to his 'new' account and the hacker installs a program that transfers the money to the account just in time for the audit.
- The Hacker didn't exist in the book, Ruth takes the money out herself using Bobbo's computer and Olga hides the messages.
- Then Judge Bissop who's completely crazy in his views on crime Polly Patch or Ruth in disguise plays him like a puppet.
- Commitment Issues - Bobbo is like this to every woman he is with.
- Conspicuous Gloves - Ruth in the final episode as she becomes Mary, is told that her hands won’t be the same as Mary’s but she tells them that she shall wear gloves.
- Cool House - Mary lives in the High Tower by the Sea, in the Series it's a decommissioned Light House on the Sea Front. After her death falling from the balcony, the place is considered Cursed and boarded up. However, it's brought and restored by Ruth.
- The Dark Side Will Make You Forget - Ruth after her breakdown becomes detracted from others, she has meaningless one night stands to push her even further to the point she doesn’t care about her kids, but even when she frames Bobbo she hasn’t a feeling strong enough to feel sorry anymore.
- Death Is Dramatic - Mary is writing away, poor and alone when a sudden gale blows the papers and Mary to the open windows. Then she sees Ruth’s eyes and shouts her name then Mary falls backwards to her death on the cliffs. Her corpse is seen like a statue of the Virgin Mary.
- Earn Your Happy Ending - Ruth.
- Feminist Fantasy - Ruth is a woman that punishes her chauvinist husband and his pretty girlfriend, but some of scenes are a little mystical and Ruth has powers it seems.
- The Vesta Rose advert is too good to be true and even Judge Bissop despite his strange views believes women can do better if they weren't committed to the home fantasy.
- Full-Name Basis - Mary Fisher is always called by her full name by Ruth.
- Also there is all of Ruth's false names like Rita Rooney, Lily Latimer, Vista Rose and Polly Patch as well they are always said in full.
- Gold Digger - Elsie Flowers is accused this by Bobbo after she said she loved him, yet she wasn’t.
- Gonk - Ruth towers over people and has a ugly face, but a little self care afterwards does make her decent.
- Hanging Judge - Judge Bissop has this, he hires Polly Patch Ruth in disguise warning her that if his children don’t behave around him, a man with a minor offence might have a longer sentence. Also, he likes whipping people and tells strange theories that he claims causes criminals.
- Hired for Their Looks - Garcia was clearly chosen for his looks, he is smart as well and Elsie Flowers.
- Hourglass Plot - Ruth gets this.
- Hot for Preacher- Mary, after Bobbo is jailed and the said Vicar has been corrupted by Ruth, she starts writing religious-themed romances and ends up broke from it.
- Housewife - Ruth was a very poor one.
- Hypocrite - Bobbo is this, he calls Ruth a bad mother but when she leaves the children with him and Mary due to their homeless state, he pleads to her that she can’t abandon them but he was just as willing to call her a bad Mother.
- The "I Love You" Stigma - Ruth does love Bobbo but becomes evil to punish him for not loving her back.
- Poor Elsie Flowers, she thinks after being seduced by Bobbo she loves him and after she tells him she is fired.
- I Reject Your Reality - When Mary is forced to look after Bobbo and Ruth’s children, she is made to do things like laundry and other bits of domestic housework. After she includes it in her latest novel to reflect this new lifestyle, her publisher rejects it for not sticking to the formula.
- In the novel Mary has Bobbo help with the book, as he feels the book needs ‘help’ but the publishers reject it and so Mary rewrites to the formula which causes Bobbo to leave for a few days as punishment to Mary.
- Inner Monologue - Ruth.
- Latin Lover - Mary has Garcia her hot Italian Manservant, who dislikes Bobbo, but after Ruth’s plight promises to care for the children. Garcia is far from dumb and when Mary craves him after Bobbo’s arrest he displays himself only to shut the door.
- Lethal Chef - Ruth.
- Mad Doctor - When Ruth has finished her surgery, she goes to a party with her doctor. Another doctor's wife is catty about the surgery Ruth has had and calls her husband Frankenstein. A few minutes Frankenstein is fighting Ruth's date to dance with her and his own wife vows to divorce him, Ruth suggests he goes after her.
- Magic Plastic Surgery - Ruth has her entire body remodelled, her face is rebuilt to look like Mary Fisher, she has her teeth reshaped and even risks being crippled for life to have slits in her legs to be Mary’s height.
- Match Cut - When the Judge is whipping Ruth and saying how many years Bobbo will get the final number cuts to the Judge giving the 7 year sentence.
- Maternally Challenged: Mary admits she doesn't know a thing about raising children and when she tries to punish the kids after breaking something, they refuse to listen claiming the item was broken already. But it's clear she's learned a few things by the time Bobbo is arrested, as she comforts them as he is driven away.
- Mind Screw: Ruth's plan to become Mary Fisher's image and accept Bobbo back has raised some... questions, from readers. Fay Weldon has stated that it's a story about envy, not revenge.
- Mind Screwdriver - Judge Bissop has a bizarre theory of Peanut Butter for the growing amount of crime. However, when Polly Patch the Nanny questions the flaws of it, Bissop congratulates her for passing his test, it's just a chat over coffee with other Judges.
- Miscarriage of Justice - Polly Patch Ruth tells Judge Bissop that giving Bobbo a year is far from a just sentence saying that his class and lack of record shouldn't affect his verdict:
- Polly: When the Working Class commits a class, it's spur of the moment, when the Middle Class do it, it planned from the start.
- Missing Mom - Ruth never appears to her kids again. Bobbo believes she’s dead.
- No Animals Were Harmed - In-universe, Ruth saves the cat and dog when she blows up the house, but she lets the hamster die in the blaze. In the book, her reason is that it ruined too many socks for her to save it.
- Obnoxious In-Laws - Averted Bobbo's parents do like Ruth, in the book it's revealed that they offered her to sleep in Bobbo's bedroom when he was at Uni, when he knocked her up they agreed to the marriage as Ruth showed herself as a good homemaker. They are horrified when Ruth reveals his affair and don't understand why he would behave so badly when they leave they shout "marriage isn't easy" to Bobbo who has spent his time insulting them and Ruth.
- Only One Name - We are never told Ruth and Bobbo's last name in the miniseries. In the book and She-Devil, it's Patchett.
- Potty Failure - Mary’s Mother.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech - Bobbo gives one to Ruth after she exposes his true self to his parents. However, Ruth is inspired to become a real She-Devil from it.
- Right Under Their Noses - Ruth does manage to hide herself from Bobbo and Mary and still ruins their fantasy, she also manages to use her agency to get a new Secretary into Bobbo’s lusty eyes and a Computer Hacker to frame Bobbo for stealing money and attempt to escape the country yet she still manages to speak to him on the phone as Vista Rose and fool him.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge - Ruth doesn’t stop at punishing Bobbo, Mary Fisher is played with until she is destroyed as well.
- Sex Is Liberation - Ruth has a couple of one night stands, in order to become detached from the dependency and so she can use Sex as a powerful tool.
- Sexy Secretary - Elsie Flowers, a perfect pawn in Ruth’s game. She's attractive — and married — and yet Bobbo still seduces her. She ends up falling in love with Bobbo, and after she tells him, he fires her, wrongly thinking that she’s a golddigger. Elsie ends up divorced and realises she wasn’t in love, but Ruth is kind enough to give her a second chance in New Zealand. Of course, it turns out Ruth has a second motive.
- She Cleans Up Nicely - Ruth when she is Vista Rose has removed her Warts, has Blonde Hair and looks better than other disguises she has.
- Shotgun Wedding - Bobbo knocked up Ruth and blames his cheating on that.
- Smug Smiler - Ruth when her plans come into actions.
- Stuff Blowing Up - Ruth blows up the family home, she makes sure nothing survives the fire. However, she also makes sure that the insurance can’t pay out by claiming her own “accidental” reason.
- Swiss Bank Account - Kinda after Elsie is fired by Bobbo, Ruth gives her a new life in New Zealand, however she meets Ruth in Switzerland where Ruth gives her a new name passport and she gives Ruth the money that was removed from Bobbo’s clients leaving Ruth wealthy and Elsie free from the police.
- Tears of Remorse - Mary's Mother at her Funeral is joking about how she knew she'd outlive her daughter only to breakdown.
- Teen Pregnancy - Bobbo knocked Ruth up and that's why they are married.
- Traumatic Super Power Awakening - Ruth after Bobbo leaving, she stands in front of the mirror naked and becomes a different person. Her powers include a stronger mind, the power to hypnosis men with her eyes, believably change her appearance, a lower heart rate and a stronger pain tolerance and the strength to recover from a surgery to reduce her height that would've left her disabled.
- Ungrateful Bastard - Bobbo is this, he doesn't want to be bothered with Ruth, she tries her best, then when she confronts him at the dinner party with his parents are clearly on Ruth's side and when he blames them for his behaviour but their remarks suggest that he was like this as a child.
- It's worst in the book, he returned from becoming an accountant, is told to treat Ruth like a sister, he then slept with her to deal with a incest fetish he had and after seeing how quick Ruth had their second he made Ruth have a coil. Then he regularly looks at his children with disappoint mainly because Nicole is like Ruth and Andy is girlish
- Unwanted Spouse - Ruth is this to Bobbo.
- Visual Innuendo - The High Tower is clear a phallic symbol for Mary Fisher who lives for sex.
- Warts and All - Ruth has several moles on her face but not for long.
- What Happened to the Mouse?? - Nurse Hopkins disappears after Ruth tells her she has to leave, she’s done it so that nobody can connect Vista Rose to the framing of Bobbo. Ruth’s children and Mary's Mother are sent to a house in the country as Mary is forced to sell the tower they do appear at Mary's funeral but after that they vanish. Also Garcia disappears after Ruth sacks him, he might be the man Ruth now as Mary makes love to in front of Bobbo but we can't be sure.
- In the book Ruth speaks to Nurse Hopkins afterwards to use the Vista Rose employees in Bobbo's jail to influence him to break contract with Mary, also the fates of Pearl Fisher and the children are very different
- Pearl leaves and finds her way like before, the children find themselves in life but Ruth doesn't help them she feels no emotion for them anymore.
- Woman Scorned - Ruth of course.
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Write What You Know - Mary Fisher this is a blessing and a curse.
