Lip Service (2010-2012) is a BBC drama series about a group of lesbian friends in Glasgow.
Tropes:
- All Gays are Promiscuous: Played straight with Frankie; most of the other gay characters, however, are looking for something more long-term and substantial.
- Black Comedy Rape: In episode 4, Frankie suggests to Ed "you should stay. The state [Tess] is in, you won't even need Rohypnol." Ed's response is to give her a look that says Dude, Not Funny!.
- Boyish Short Hair: Both Frankie and Sam, the two butch lesbians, sport this (in the latter's case it's actually a bob, though she frequently pulls it back). Fin is also an example.
- British Brevity: Both seasons have only six episodes.
- Butch Lesbian:
- Sam and Frankie are both prone to wearing pretty masculine attire, along with short hair although the latter swings both ways.
- Fin also has this style, along with her football team.
- Butt-Monkey: Tess. Flitting between soul-crushing temp jobs, cheated on by her girlfriends, and surrounded by more successful friends.
- The Casanova: Jay appears to have been one of these, but is now trying to go monogamous.
- Cast Full of Gay: All of the main and most supporting characters are lesbians (plus bisexuals in a couple cases).
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Cat is abruptly killed off with a random car accident.
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex: There's at least one sex scene each episode (often multiple ones). As you'd except, they're nearly all lesbian ones.
- Fair Cop: Sam is a good-looking woman who's a Glasgow police constable.
- Family Relationship Switcheroo: Frankie's "uncle" is really her father. He blackmailed her into giving up Frankie because he'd got evidence she was involved with a murder (her friend really did it, but that couldn't easily be shown). Then after the deaths of his brother, sister-in law and their child, he passed Frankie off as his niece.
- Five-Finger Discount: Sadie's preferred method of acquiring possessions.
- Friends with Benefits: Lexy has this relationship with Bea, a fellow nurse at the hospital.
- Gaydar: Funeral homes, bookshops, random street corners — Frankie can find lesbians anywhere.
- Gender-Blender Name: Sam, Frankie, Jay, Fin. Frankie tried to make use of this to pass herself off as Jay, which would have worked better if it weren't for his Embarrassing Middle Name.
- Hospital Hottie: Lexy and Bea are two attractive nurses who have a Friends with Benefits relationship.
- The Immodest Orgasm: Sadie brings home an Italian tourist named Gabriella who's very loud when they're having sex, much to Tess's annoyance while being kept awake by it near there.
- Interrupted Intimacy: In the fourth episode when the interruptor turns out to be the husband of one of the women who is hoping to watch his wife and Tess have sex.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy:
- Ed fits this trope very well. Despite his long-standing crush on Tess (which is doomed to failure because of her Incompatible Orientation), he actively tries to help her love life: in the opening episode, he made a feeble excuse for not joining Tess and Lou for a drink, so that it would have some chance of turning into a date.
- Frankie says she wants Cat to be happy in episode 3, but it's undoubtedly an inversion-since as Cat points out all Frankie cares about is herself.
- Killed Off for Real: Cat in the second episode of series 2.
- Lesbian Jock: Fin, who's on a whole football team with many more examples.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Tess and Cat have long hair with feminine styles of dress, though Tess is a bit more "chapstick".
- Look Both Ways: Cat is texting Frankie when she steps into the street without looking. She's immediately struck by a car.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places:
- In the funeral parlor, close to the corpse? It's an unusual location, to say the least.
- In a police station? Really?
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple:
- Cat, a Lipstick Lesbian, seems to prefer soft butch women, dating Sam and Frankie (who both qualify).
- Tess, also a Lipstick Lesbian, dates Fin (a proud Lesbian Jock).
- My God, What Have I Done?: The driver who struck Cat accidentally had this reaction, becoming so distraught the hospital staff had to sedate him.
- No Bisexuals: Frankie doesn't mind sleeping with guys but she doesn't consider herself bi, as she says "men are only when women are not around".
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Most of the actors are English, even those playing supposed Glasgow natives. They don't even attempt a Glaswegian or any other kind of Scottish accent.
- Oblivious to Love: Tess has no idea that Ed has feelings for her. Frankie, however, does.
- Polyamory: Bea is in an open relationship, so when her girlfriend leaves town she sees Lexy. This turns out to be a lie. She's actually married-to a man. He is not okay about it.
- Put on a Bus: Frankie returns to the US early in Season Two and isn't seen again.
- Queer Romance: The series is all about the lives and relationships of queer women in Glasgow.
- Really Gets Around: Frankie, who's the most sexually active of all the characters. She has casual sex frequently.
- Right Through the Wall: Tess can't sleep when Sadie is having sex with an Italian tourist named Gabriella (who is quite loud). Lexy, meanwhile, is also getting it on with a woman at the same time (not so loudly, but still to a degree she can hear). The next morning, she lets them all have it.
- Switched at Birth: Frankie. Or rather, switched at age three.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: This seems to be Cat's preferred relationship model, as she was with tomboys Frankie and Sam in succession. Fin and Tess are an example as well.
- Tomboyish Name: Frankie, which is short for Francesca, Sam (which may or may not be short for Samantha) and Fin. All are lesbians, but only Frankie is really a tomboy.
- The Un Favourite: Frankie's family seem to pretty much hate her, apparently just because she's a lesbian (although given how she behaves, there may be other reasons).
- What the Hell, Hero?: Cat finally snaps and gives Frankie a lecture on how selfish she is in episode 2. It seems to have been a long time coming.
