Tipping the Velvet

Tipping the Velvet is a 2002 BBC television drama serial based on the best-selling 1998 debut novel of the same name by Sarah Waters. It originally screened in three episodes on BBC Two and was produced for the BBC by the independent production company Sally Head Productions. It stars Rachael Stirling, Keeley Hawes, and Jodhi May. Directed by Geoffrey Sax, the novel was adapted by screenwriter Andrew Davies. The production was made available on DVD by BBC Worldwide soon after broadcast. Background and development The BBC had previously aired an adaptation of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit in 1990 and some other scenes in dramas to follow, but none had been so explicit in its depiction of lesbian sexual relations. Sally Head Productions defended the decision to air the entire programme uncut. Waters was quite surprised that the BBC chose to produce and broadcast a television adaptation that faithfully followed the relish and detail of sexual escapades in the book. Stirling thoroughly enjoyed the role, despite her avowed heterosexuality: "To counteract any hard-core sex within it, there's a huge sense of humour and a huge sense of fun and frivolity and joy of life. It was so utterly believable that you never for a moment thought, "fuck, there's no reason why I'm standing here naked." Screenwriter Andrew Davies said he was attracted to the story because it featured a girl transitioning into womanhood and it included his interests in Victorian erotica; he compared it to Pride and Prejudice—for which he wrote the BBC screenplay—"with dirty bits". Both Waters and Davies were concerned about the use of dildos in scenes with Diana, but the BBC allowed it.