Rides (UK TV series)
| Rides | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Written by | Carole Hayman |
| Starring |
Jill Baker Louise Jameson Caroline Blakiston Katharine Schlesinger Lynda Steadman Lucy Speed |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Lavinia Warner |
| Production company(s) | Warner Sisters |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 18 February 1992 – 18 June 1993 |
Rides is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1992 and 1993. It lasted two series of six episodes each and was made by Warner Sisters, a UK-based television production company based in Ealing.
The series starred Jill Baker as Patrice Jenner, a former Royal Corps of Transport warrant officer who starts up an all-women taxi firm. The first series dealt with the establishment of the business and the recruitment of a team of drivers - Scarlett (Caroline Blakiston), Janet (Louise Jameson), Sue-Lyn (Katharine Schlesinger), Aileen (Lynda Steadman), Aggie (Nimmy March) and George (Nicola Cowper). The second series explored more personal storylines involving the women, such as Patrice's relationship with her teenage daughter Beki (Lucy Speed). The first series also starred Jesse Birdsall as Julian, Patrice's love interest, however in series two Julian was played by a different actor, James Purefoy.
George was a motorbike-riding, leather-clad lesbian who was dating Sacha, played by Charlotte Avery. They lived in a squat and befriended Patrice's daughter Beki - causing much concern to Patrice. George, Frankie and Sacha were the motorcyclists who made up the 'dispatch' part of the firm. Scarlett (Caroline Blakiston) was a transsexual (male to female).
This episode was directed by Diana Patrick.
In this episode Scarlett picks up Mr Goodwin who suffers from agoraphobia, Sacha says she is pre-menstrual and so George agrees to take her packages. Janet picks up an illegal passenger in the street - a woman who has been raped called Jess Macdonald. She takes her to the police after some cajoling. They take swabs and she suffers numerous interviews before she is allowed to return home. Janet takes her and visits her a few days later, encouraging her to see a counsellor and Janet decides to volunteer to become one herself, however her husband Graham (Jeff Rawle) disapproves which only seems to cause more of a gap between them, as Janet is struck by a question Jess asked her earlier: "Why do men do this sort of thing and why do other men let them?" and is dissatisfied when Graham answers her saying they do it to keep power over women and the world and it's not in the interests of men who don't to stop those that do.
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