Rides (TV series)
Encyclopedia
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).
In this episode Scarlett picks up Mr Goodwin who suffers from agoraphobia, Sacha says she is pre-mentrual 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 tales 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.
Meanwhile Sue-Lyn gets a job as a hostess on a gameshow called 'Knock Knock, who's there?' which has Arthur Smith (comedian)
as the sexist and letcherous host. Her boyfriend Billy is annoyed at the way she is objectified on the show and when Sue-Lyn is made redundant one of the crew tells her the real reason was because 'her boobs weren't big enough'.
George offers to take Beki to watch her play hockey (with Sacha and Scarlett) on Saturday as Patrice has a date with Julian.
Julian and Patrice end up sleeping with each other back at Patrice's flat (after Julian meets Patrice's pet rabbit) and Patrice seems insecure because Julian is a much younger man (he is 29) but defends him when her ex lover (married man and father of Beki) Col. North (played by Oliver Cotton
) aka Alex walks in on them in bed, saying that at least Julian makes her feel attractive and that it was a mistake that she continued to see Col. North when he was never going to leave his wife for her.
Bryant is seen vomiting into a toilet and then tells Patrice that she could do with a crisis manager to sort out the despatch side of the paperwork 'and your image'. When questioned on what she means about the image Bryant points out that Patrice has 'all sorts' working for her - Aggie's a dopehead, Scarlett is a transsexual and as for George!...' Patrice defends George's time in prison but Bryant says it's not just about George being an ex con - that she saw George and Sacha coming out of a gay bar the other night and that she 'better be careful with Beki' - although Patrice had been defending being gay until her daughter was mentioned.
Patrice then admonishes George for letting Beki ride on the back of George's motorbike on Saturday and is clearly unimpressed by how enthusiastic Beki had been in regards to George's squat and the fact their bed was a futon/sofa bed.
Aileen is having trouble with her daughter Jo-Anne, who has been playing truant from school and takes her out shopping in order to show she does care about Jo-Anne's welfare but in the dressing rooms she sees a large cut on Jo-Anne's arm and suspects her boyfriend Tony of abusing her daughter.
Dale (the Australian, played by Erica Grant) says she is outraged by the treatment Jess received at the hands of the law and the courts and threatens to write to The Guardian newspaper but when she gets home she simply types 'lonely lonely lonely' onto her screen.
The women all go out for an Indian meal and whilst there get harassed by some drunk men, George gets up from the table but is prevented from causing further trouble by Sacha. Scarlett however walks over to the men and sets off a rape alarm by their ears and then sprays one of them on the shirt with spray paint, which she carries with her for protection.
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
series produced by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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
Ealing
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
.
The series starred Jill Baker
Jill Baker
Jill Baker is a British actor. She was born Gillian Mary Baker in the UK.Baker made a brief appearance in Only Fools and Horses, in the episode "The Second Time Around", as Del Boy 's ex-fiance, Pauline Harris-Personal life:...
as Patrice Jenner, a former Royal Corps of Transport
Royal Corps of Transport
The Royal Corps of Transport was a British Army Corps formed in 1965 from the transport elements of the Royal Army Service Corps and the movement control element of the Royal Engineers . The depot was Buller Barracks in Aldershot...
warrant officer
Warrant Officer
A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...
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
Caroline Blakiston
Caroline Blakiston is an English actress who has appeared predominantly in television roles, notably in the series Brass. She also appeared as Mon Mothma in the science fiction film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
), Janet (Louise Jameson
Louise Jameson
Louise Jameson is an English actress, best known for playing Leela, the leather-clad barbarian warrior companion of the fourth Doctor in Doctor Who. Jameson has also appeared on Emmerdale , The Omega Factor Louise Jameson (born 20 April 1951 in Wanstead, London) is an English actress, best known...
), Sue-Lyn (Katharine Schlesinger
Katharine Schlesinger
Katharine Schlesinger, is a British actress niece of the film director John Schlesinger and great-niece of Dame Peggy Ashcroft. She starred as Catherine in the 1986 film adaptation of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.-Theatre:...
), Aileen (Lynda Steadman), Aggie (Nimmy March
Nimmy March
Lady Naomi Burke , known as Nimmy March, is a British actress.Her biological parents were a black South African father and white English mother. She was brought up and adopted by Earl and Countess of March and Kinrara, now the Duke and Duchess of Richmond...
) and George (Nicola Cowper
Nicola Cowper
Nicola Jane Cowper is a British actress. Cowper is the younger sister of twin actresses Gerry Cowper and Jackie Cowper. Cowper made an impression as a film actress in her early career, but she is best known for her work on British television, in particular her role as D.S Helen Diamond in BBC's...
). The second series explored more personal storylines involving the women, such as Patrice's relationship with her teenage daughter Beki (Lucy Speed
Lucy Speed
Lucy Renee Speed is an English actress known for her television roles as Natalie Evans in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, and DS Stevie Moss in the ITV1 police drama series The Bill.-Early life:...
).
The first series also starred Jesse Birdsall
Jesse Birdsall
Jesse Birdsall is a British actor, known in the UK for his starring roles in several high-profile, popular television programmes, particularly in Bugs as Nick Beckett and later in The Bill as a character named Ron Gregory, a convicted paedophile.As a child, he attended the Anna Scher children's...
as Julian, Patrice's love interest, however in series two Julian was played by a different actor, James Purefoy
James Purefoy
James Brian Mark Purefoy is an English actor best known for portraying Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome.-Early life and work:...
.
George was a motorbike-riding, leather-clad lesbian who was dating Sacha, played by Charlotte Avery
Charlotte Avery
Charlotte Avery is a British actress and voiceover artist. Charlotte has a son called Jacob with Australian actor Craig McLachlan and a daughter Louella and son Jonah with her present partner Simon Hinton, self-development Master and creator of Quantum Power Programming...
. 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
Caroline Blakiston
Caroline Blakiston is an English actress who has appeared predominantly in television roles, notably in the series Brass. She also appeared as Mon Mothma in the science fiction film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
) was a transsexual (male to female).
Sample plot: Episode 4, Season 2 "Which one of you is the victim?"
This episode was directed by Diana Patrick.In this episode Scarlett picks up Mr Goodwin who suffers from agoraphobia, Sacha says she is pre-mentrual 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 tales 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
Jeff Rawle
Jeff Rawle is a British actor, perhaps best known for playing the long-suffering George in the news-gathering sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey...
) 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.
Meanwhile Sue-Lyn gets a job as a hostess on a gameshow called 'Knock Knock, who's there?' which has Arthur Smith (comedian)
Arthur Smith (comedian)
Brian Arthur John Smith is an English alternative comedian and writer. He was born in Bermondsey, South London, brother to Richard Smith...
as the sexist and letcherous host. Her boyfriend Billy is annoyed at the way she is objectified on the show and when Sue-Lyn is made redundant one of the crew tells her the real reason was because 'her boobs weren't big enough'.
George offers to take Beki to watch her play hockey (with Sacha and Scarlett) on Saturday as Patrice has a date with Julian.
Julian and Patrice end up sleeping with each other back at Patrice's flat (after Julian meets Patrice's pet rabbit) and Patrice seems insecure because Julian is a much younger man (he is 29) but defends him when her ex lover (married man and father of Beki) Col. North (played by Oliver Cotton
Oliver Cotton
Oliver Cotton is an English actor, known for his work on stage, TV and film.After training at the Drama Centre London, he has worked extensively at the Royal National Theatre playing in many productions including The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Much Ado About...
) aka Alex walks in on them in bed, saying that at least Julian makes her feel attractive and that it was a mistake that she continued to see Col. North when he was never going to leave his wife for her.
Bryant is seen vomiting into a toilet and then tells Patrice that she could do with a crisis manager to sort out the despatch side of the paperwork 'and your image'. When questioned on what she means about the image Bryant points out that Patrice has 'all sorts' working for her - Aggie's a dopehead, Scarlett is a transsexual and as for George!...' Patrice defends George's time in prison but Bryant says it's not just about George being an ex con - that she saw George and Sacha coming out of a gay bar the other night and that she 'better be careful with Beki' - although Patrice had been defending being gay until her daughter was mentioned.
Patrice then admonishes George for letting Beki ride on the back of George's motorbike on Saturday and is clearly unimpressed by how enthusiastic Beki had been in regards to George's squat and the fact their bed was a futon/sofa bed.
Aileen is having trouble with her daughter Jo-Anne, who has been playing truant from school and takes her out shopping in order to show she does care about Jo-Anne's welfare but in the dressing rooms she sees a large cut on Jo-Anne's arm and suspects her boyfriend Tony of abusing her daughter.
Dale (the Australian, played by Erica Grant) says she is outraged by the treatment Jess received at the hands of the law and the courts and threatens to write to The Guardian newspaper but when she gets home she simply types 'lonely lonely lonely' onto her screen.
The women all go out for an Indian meal and whilst there get harassed by some drunk men, George gets up from the table but is prevented from causing further trouble by Sacha. Scarlett however walks over to the men and sets off a rape alarm by their ears and then sprays one of them on the shirt with spray paint, which she carries with her for protection.
Credits
- Patrice - Jill Baker
- Janet - Louise Jameson
- Beki - Lucy Speed
- TV Compere - Arthur Smith
- Billy - Simon Donald
- Sue-Lyn - Katherine Schlesinger
- Jess Mcdonald - Katherine Stark
- Magistrate - Philip Anthony
- George - Nicola Cowper
- Sacha - Charlotte Avery
- Julian - Jesse Birdsall
- Aggie - Nimmy March
- Dale - Erica Grant
- Aileen - Lynda Steadman
- Raquel - Suzan Sylvester
- Jo-Anne - Evelyn Sweeney
- Micky - Joseph Swash
- Col. North - Oliver Cotton
- Graham - Jeff Rawle
- Bryant - Judith Scott
- Stella - Carole Hayman
- Bobby - Henry Goodman
- D.I. Thomson - Dona Croll
- Dr. Bhatia - Sudha Bucha
- Mr Goodwin - Ralph Riach
- Men in restaurant: Breffni McKenna and Tony Bluto
- Stunt artists - Sy Holland and Colin Skeaping
- Series written and devised by Carole Hayman
- Title Song lyrics - Bill Connor, Carole Hayman
- Song performed by Sheila Gott
- Music - Bill Connor