Most movies can be boiled down to a handful of themes.  One of these is the journey a person goes through when they change from being an adolescent to an adult.  The plot for Tipping the Velvet falls into that category.  This three part BBC miniseries charts the course of a young girl's passage from youth to woman.  The thing that makes this series different, and interesting, is that the girl is a lesbian in Victorian England.

The story is narrated by Nan (Rachael Stirling,) an 18 year old girl who lives on the English seaside in the 1890's. She works in her father's oyster bar, and isn't content with her lot in life.  A new performing troupe comes to the local theater and Nan becomes entranced with Kitty Butler (Keeley Hawes,) a male impersonator.  Nan adores the way she looks and moves and sings.  She goes back every night to see Kitty's act.  Eventually, Kitty notices and asks for Nan to visit her in her dressing room after the show.  The two hit it off, and soon Nan is helping Kitty get dressed before and during the shows.  The two grow close, and when Kitty gets an offer to appear in London, she jumps at it and brings Nan with her.

London is exciting and dynamic, especially to a young rural girl.  To save exspenses, the two girls share a room, with a single bed.  Nan starts having romantic feelings for Kitty, but is afraid to act upon them.  So instead she dresses up in Kitty's male clothes.  When Kitty sees Nan like that, she brings her into the act, and the two of them become popular entertainers around the London show circuit.  One night after a show,  Nan dances with a man who has been admiring her.  Kitty, becoming very jealous, storms out.  Nan runs after her and discovers that they both are sexually attracted to each other.

The two become lovers, and Nan couldn't be happier.  She has fame, a certain amount of money, and is in love.  Unfortunately, this happiness doesn't last long.  Nan gets a few days off and returns home.  While there, she confides in her sister that she is in love with a woman.  Her sister is aghast, tells her that she is filthy, and says that she wants nothing more to do with her.  Having been rejected by the relative she's closest with, Nan returns early to London only to find Kitty with a male lover whom whe intends to marry.

Nan leaves.  She can't go home, she can't stay with Kitty, and so she rents a room of her own.  No longer employed, she has to find the money for her room and board somehow.  Dressing up as a boy one night, Nan gets propositioned.  Soon she has a new profession; giving manual and oral gratification to older men, who think she's a male, in the alleys of London.  But Nan still has further to sink before she can try to attain happiness.

This show could have been horrible.  It deals with issues that are difficult to portray.  But the excellent cast and director see to it that titillation isn't the shows raison d'etre.  Rachael Stirling is excellent as Nan.  She manages to make the changes Nan goes through seem natural and logical, not just change for the sake of advancing the plot.  Keeley Hawes is equally interesting as the smart lady who meets the world on her own terms.

Though the script is filled with many memorable lines, and does a great job of telling Nan's story, it does have some problems.  The movie does get very melodramatic at times.  Much too often for my tastes.  And while I was interested in Nan's story, it was more to see how it turned out rather than for any empathy I felt for her.  I have a strong feeling that women, of any sexual persuasion, will be able to relate better to Nan's trails and tribulations than I did.

While this show is mainly about a girl becoming a woman, it is also deals frankly with  lesbianism.  There are sex scenes that include nudity above the waist.  If these are topics that you don't enjoy watching, this isn't the DVD for you.

Audio:

The two channel audio track fits the movie nicely.  The sound is surprisingly full and rich.  The background noises of the street come through nicely, and the dialog is clear and crisp.  There is no noticeable hiss or other major defects.

Video:

This is an anamorphically enhanced widescreen presentation.   The video quality is very good.  The colors are vivid and accurate, and it has good contrast.  It is easy to discern details in the darker scenes, and the daytime scenes are not too bright.  There are some minor digital compression artifacts in the backgrounds occasionally, but not anything that would take away from the story.

The Extras:

The bonus features on this disc include a Photo Gallery, and text filmographies of the cast.  The most interesting extra tough is the 10 minute interview with Sarah Waters (who wrote the book the series was based on) and Andrew Davies (who wrote the screenplay.)  They talk about the differences between the book and the television show (mainly pacing,) and a little bit about the production.

Final Thoughts:

Even though this was a TV miniseries, the main focus of the story is on a lesbian woman, and there are sex scenes with nudity.  If that doesn't bother you, this disc may be worth checking out.  The acting in this series, as it is for many British dramas, was top notch.  Though the series did dip into melodrama on more than one occasion, the dialog was very natural and effective.  A fine entertainment.  Recommended.