Girls in Love

"Girls in Love" is a drama series produced by Granada Television which aired on ITV.It is based on the book of the same title (ISBN 0385408048), both created by UK author Jacqueline Wilson that follows the romantic thrills and spills of three teenage girls- Ellie, Magda and Nadine. The show has been running for two series, and has been dubbed by many as the pre-teens version of "Sex and the City", exploring the some what weird and wonderful world of boys through the eyes of Ellie Allard, who is played by Olivia Hallinan. She is an artist, and usually portrays her life events in her big bulging sketchbook, which blends the show's live action with animation. She lives with her dad and his girlfriend (later wife) Anna, and her baby brother Eggs. Ellie has had two significant crushes in the course of the past two series- Russell (played by Adam Paul Harvey), in series one, and Dan, from Wales, in series two (played by Alp Haydar).

Magda (played by Zaraah Abrahams) according to Ellie "goes through boys like I do through takeaway pizzas", she is quite a gossipy, bubbly sort of character, and had a brief fling with Darius in series two. And then there's Nadine (played by Amy Kwolek) who is a goth, and is a budding singer/songwriter but has always had a wildchild reputation about her.

The show has received some criticism from fans of the book, due to Ellie's appearance. In the book, she is a short, bespectacled, slightly overweight, frizzy haired girl, and some people feel that she should have been portrayed this way in the television show.Also, Magda in the television show has a darker complexion and dark hair, yet in the book, she is caucasian and her hair varies, going from what is described as a 'bottle blonde' bob, to mousey brown (her natural colour) and an unflattering cut, to bright red and a 'punky' hair style.

The show has recently been released on DVD.

Many of the school scenes were filmed on location at Manchester Grammar School, which is rather ironic considering in real-life this is an all male institution.

Jacqueline Wilson's Series

The 'Girl's...' series are a highly successful set of books by author Jacqueline Wilson; "Girls in Love", "Girls out Late", "Girls under Pressure" & "Girls in Tears".

Main book characters

* Ellie - Witty and vivacious, the book starts by meeting a thirteen year old Ellie in year 9. She has curly hair, glasses, a passion for art and is self-concious about her weight (she thinks of herself as chubby).
* Nadine - Ellie's childhood best friend. Nadine is tall, thin, beautiful, elegant and everything Ellie wants to be. She is also a goth.
* Magda - Ellie and Nadine's best friend whom they befriended at the start of High School. Magda is beautiful, popular, confident and optimistic.
* Eggs - Ellie's little half brother.
* 'Dad'- Ellie's father, widowed when her mother died, remarried to Anna. An artist and tutor at the local college.
* Anna - Ellie's step mother, much younger than her father. Attractive and kind, her and Ellie often fight but care for each other really. They are like sisters to each other.

More characters

Russell - Ellie's boyfriend, who is first introduced in the 3rd book, Girls Out Late. Like Ellie, he is interested in art. He is two years older than Ellie, and is in year eleven at his school, Halmer High.

Dan - Ellie's kind of boyfriend before Russell. He should be in year eight, but because of his intelligence he got moved up a year, to year nine. They met at Ellies holiday cottage in Wales, and they wrote letters to each other when they got back. Dan stayed with Ellie once. Dan now has another girlfriend, called Gail.

Natasha - Nadine's sister. She is a two faced little girl that acts cute in front of her parents, but is a nightmare in front of Nadine, Ellie and Magda. She is friends with Eggs.

Kevin - Ellie describes him in the first book as her dream Dan, because she wishes that was like Dan was like when they were jokingly going out. They become friends. Kevin works in waitrose and is gay. Ellie has a habit of bumping into him.

External links

* [http://www.itv.com/citv CITV] at itv.com