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Sugar Rush (British TV series)

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Sugar Rush
GenreRomantic-dramedy
StarringOlivia Hallinan
Lenora Crichlow
Sara Stewart
Richard Lumsden
Sarah-Jane Potts
Opening theme"One Way or Another" by Blondie
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series2
No. of episodes20 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time30 minutes (including adverts)
Original release
NetworkChannel 4
Release7 June 2005 (2005-06-07) –
17 August 2006 (2006-08-17)

Sugar Rush is a British television comedy drama series developed by Shine TV and broadcast by Channel 4, based on the Julie Burchill novel of the same name. It is centred on the life of a 15-year-old lesbian Kim Daniels, who has moved from London to Brighton on the south coast of England, and copes with her infatuation with Sugar, a heterosexual girl.

Cast

Plot

From the beginning of the first series, main character Kim is sexually obsessed with her best friend, Sugar, motivating her to do anything for her friend, even when Sugar takes advantage of this. Kim is drawn into Sugar's world of casual sex, smoking, alcohol and illegal drugs. The main theme of series 1 is Kim trying to accept her feelings for Sugar even though Sugar is heterosexual. The last episode of Series 1 demonstrates the lengths that Kim is willing to go to for her friend. In the second series, Kim attempts to build a relationship with another woman, Saint.

Sugar has little interest in serious activities, and not much causes her to worry. She spends the majority of her time drinking alcohol, socialising and having casual sex with men. In spite of their different backgrounds, Sugar and Kim soon become close friends.

Sugar is independent and streetwise, and is accustomed to using her good looks and charisma to get what she wants. She becomes a negative influence on Kim, encouraging her to drink alcohol and entangling her in a variety of difficult situations. Kim's love for Sugar borders on obsession. Kim is apparently Sugar's only close friend; she rarely hangs out with other girlfriends and only has intermittent relationships with the men in her life.

Sugar constantly teases Kim about her sexuality, seemingly unaware of the hurt she is causing. In Series 2, Sugar is incarcerated in a young offenders institute, after stabbing a man who was attempting to rape her in the last episode of Series 1. Following the attack Sugar breaks down in tears for the first time, but quickly regains control of the situation by stealing a car with Kim and driving to London, where they spend the night in a posh hotel.

Sugar exhibits a more vulnerable side when she tells Kim that she feels very lonely in prison, and that Kim is the only person in her life who has not abandoned her since her imprisonment. In the third episode of the second series, it is implied that Sugar slept with one of the female prison guards to get her sentence reduced. Sugar is then released from prison, causing friction between Kim, Sugar and Kim's new girlfriend, Saint.

In Episode 3 of Series 2, it is revealed that Saint is still friends with her ex-boyfriend, causing friction in her relationship with Kim. In Episode 5 of Series 2, Kim is caught cheating on Saint with rocker Montana, which results in Kim overdosing on the beach. After several hallucinations, Kim repeatedly calls Saint, apologising profusely before collapsing. When she awakes, Kim mistakenly believes Sugar saved her life, but Sugar later confesses to Kim that it was actually Saint who saved her. Saint asks Kim to move in with her near the end of series two, which Kim accepts, though with reservations. She confesses to Sugar that she does not want to move in with Saint because she always wondered what would have happened between herself and Sugar if Sugar had not been arrested. Sugar convinces Kim that, although they "have their moments", they would argue too much. Kim returns to Saint and tells her that she will move in, leaving Sugar crying in a cafe. In episode 7 of series 2, Saint declares her love for Kim.

Background/production

There were 2 series of the programme, the first airing in 2005 and the second in 2006. Each series consists of ten episodes, each 30 minutes long, including adverts. Episodes do not have individual titles.

Channel 4 stated that Sugar Rush will not be returning for a third series, despite its popularity with viewers and critics alike. Some rumours were that there was not a scheduling spot for it, that it was being removed because of the requirements for Big Brother 8, and because a third series was never originally planned.[1]

A decision had been made to allow new dramas to be made for each month in 2008. However, a spokeswoman confirmed that third and fourth series were never planned, and that the story of the girls had run its course.[1]

Hallinan and Crichlow subsequently spoke out about the cancellation, saying, "the show was an asset to Channel 4. I don't think Channel 4 recognises Sugar Rush was a brave move and did really well for the channel," and adding that the cancellation, "was a last minute thing, especially the way we leave series two [i.e. with Sugar moving in with Kim and Saint and Stella's pregnancy], it sets things up for series three."[2]

Broadcast

Main article: List of Sugar Rush episodes

The first series was broadcast in 2005 on Channel 4, at 10:50 p.m, but would sometimes air later due to Big Brother 6 UK over-running, with the next episode on E4 afterwards, sometimes overlapping the Channel 4 broadcast. The programme was shown significantly after the watershed.

The first episode of the second series was broadcast on Channel 4 on 15 June 2006, and the last episode was aired on 17 August 2006 on Channel 4, and on 10 August 2006 on digital channel E4.

Series one currently airs on OUTtv in Canada. Re-runs are currently available in the UK, on the Channel 4 streaming service 4OD.

Reception

On 20 November 2006 Sugar Rush (A Shine Production for Channel 4, United Kingdom) was awarded the 34th International Emmy Award classified under "Children & Young People". It ran against "Boys Will Be Boys" (Monster Film for NRK, Norway), "Elias - The Little Rescue Boat" (Filmkameratene AS, Norway) and "Johnny and the Bomb" (Childsplay Television, United Kingdom).

It was nominated for the Best Drama Series BAFTA Television Award in April 2007 - along with Life on Mars and Shameless - but lost to The Street.[3]

Lenora Crichlow's portrayal of the central character Maria Sugar Sweet inspired Burchill to write the 2007 sequel novel Sweet.[4]

Media information

Both series one and two of Sugar Rush have been released on DVD box-sets. The first series' box-set was released on 15 August 2005. The second series box-set, and a separate series one and two box-set were released on 21 August 2006. An audio CD compilation of the first series' music has also been compiled, but as of September 2006 a similar audio CD to complement series two has yet to materialise. Some of the commercial music used in the TV series has been changed to stock background music for the DVD release.

References

  1. ^ a b "Channel 4 cancels Sugar Rush". Lovegirls.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
  2. ^ Turner, Toni. "Sugar Rush Interview - Part 2". LoveGirls.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
  3. ^ "BAFTA winners & nominees". Bafta.org. Retrieved 20 May 2007.
  4. ^ The Independent, 5 October 2007, Julie Burchill: Where a wild thing went
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