ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT {PART 1 OF 3} (TV)
Summary
The first in this three-part British comedy/drama about the childhood and coming of age of Jess, the adopted daughter of a devout fundamentalist couple, who finds herself at odds with her congregation when she awakens to her lesbianism as a teenager. In part one, Jess appears as a small child, being brought up on Bible stories by her mother who, though unyielding in her beliefs and intimidating in manner shares a deeply loving relationship with her daughter. Together, they accompany their church band, "Society of the Lost," on local conversion missions, while Jess's passive father remains home watching television. Jess's friend Elsie, the elderly church accordionist, doesn't take all the fire and brimstone too seriously, imposing a balance of ironic good humor in Jess's life early on. Though Jess's mother would rather teach the girl herself and keep her away from the "heathens," the authorities force her to send the girl to school, where Jess shocks her teacher with her adult language and firy religious views. Later, when Jess suddenly goes deaf, her mother and the church pastor take it as a miracle from God -- until Jess passes out with fever during a service and it is learned that her "deafness" was actually the result of tonsilitis and swollen adenoids. When Jess awakens in the hospital, her mother apologizes, and then rushes off to a prayer meeting, as Elsie arrives with storybooks for a long visit. Continues with T:31988.
Details
- NETWORK: BBC (United Kingdom)
- DATE: January 10, 1990
- RUNNING TIME: 0:54:23
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:31987
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBT Collection - Drama; International Collection - United Kingdom; Drama; Fundamentalist churches
- SERIES RUN: BBC (United Kingdom) - TV, 1990
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Phillippa Giles … Producer
- Beeban Kidron … Director
- Glyn Edwards … Production (Misc.), Production Associate
- Jeanette Winterson … Writer, Adapted from the novel by
- Rachel Portman … Composer
- David Snell … Conductor
- Emily Aston … Cast, Small Jess
- Geraldine McEwan … Cast, Mother
- Peter Gordon … Cast, William
- Barbara Hicks … Cast, Cissy
- Margery Withers … Cast, Elsie
- Elizabeth Spriggs … Cast, May
- Freda Dowie … Cast, Mrs. Green
- Celia Imrie … Cast, Miss Jewsbury
- Sophie Thursfield … Cast, Jess' Real Mother
- Kenneth Cranham … Cast, Pastor Finch
- Pam Ferris … Cast, Mrs. Arkwright
- Katy Murphy … Cast, Mrs. Virtue
- Sharon Bower … Cast, Mrs. Vole
- David Thewlis … Cast, the Doctor
- Bill Rogers … Cast, the Ice Cream Man
- Darren Scott … Cast, the Boy Next Door
- Kay Clayton … Cast, the Gypsy Woman
- Tamar Swade … Cast, the Church Pianist
- Cathryn Bradshaw … Cast, Melanie
- Charlotte Coleman … Cast, Jess