WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL – Miniseries (2025)

Based on journalist Paris Lees’s namesake 2021 memoir, What It Feels Like for a Girl follows 15-year-old Byron (Ellis Howard) as they struggle to find their identity in their small hometown. Born to teenage parents (Laura Haddock and Michael Socha), Byron questioned their identity from a young age. It’s only when they escape in the early-2000s to Nottingham and join its vibrant nightlife that Byron discovers themselves and the worst of life.

After moving to the big city, Byron becomes friends with a group of trans and queer people called ‘The Fallen Divas’. Lady Die (Laquarn Lewis), Sticky Nikki (Alex Thomas-Smith), and Dirty Damian (Adam Ali) help the lone teen feel confident in themselves and their sexuality, but they also introduce them to a seedy world of drugs, casual sex, and booze.

Byron’s only 15 when they discover sex work, a man handing them a fiver after a trip to a toilet cubicle together. They soon learn that they enjoy the way it makes them feel, even though to an outsider, it’s clearly abusive. They quickly turn to sex work to earn enough money to fund their hedonistic lifestyle, finding power in the act of transactional relationships. What It Feels Like for a Girl balances how Byron uses sex as a form of self-discovery and the repugnant actions of the men who are purchasing underage individuals to experiment with their own sexuality. As confident as this behaviour makes Byron, the show never glamorises what is essentially statutory rape.

Byron gets allured by the hardcore party lifestyle as they start a romance with bad boy Liam (Jake Dunn). As they get caught up in this world, they begin to lose themselves even further in crime and get too wrapped up in a petty feud with frenemy Sasha (Hannah Jones). It all culminates when they ascend from petty crimes and robberies to something much more dangerous.

Being queer in the 21st-century hasn’t always been easy, and the community isn’t always pride parties and rainbow flags. What It Feels Like for a Girl is refreshingly frank in its portrayal of the queer and trans characters. They all feel like real, flawed human beings who are going through trauma and complications they are too young to know how to truly handle.

What It Feels Like for a Girl is a story about someone struggling to find their identity in their teens, but it’s not solely a trans story. While it’s based on trans writer and activist Paris Lees’s memoir, it’s essentially a coming-of-age tale about a marginalised group who seek comfort and income in the wrong places. It’s more universal than the original byline may have you believe.

Perhaps it does Lees’s own personal history a disservice by minimising Byron’s journey to become a trans woman. First and foremost, What It Feels Like for a Girl is a coming-of-age story about a group of people poorly treated by society who don’t have the right outlet to express themselves. Byron’s realisation of their trans identity isn’t at the forefront of the narrative, with themes of gender subtly woven throughout. It’s a very deliberate choice by the writers to have Byron questioning their identity as something that is always there yet never at the forefront. The show shines a light on the nagging feelings of gender identity that sit in the back of the mind of a young person like Byron, but it’s something they struggle to put into words. Remember, the language behind transitioning was not as commonly used or known about 20-plus years ago.

While What It Feels Like for a Girl tells Byron’s story in a linear narrative, lead director Brian Welsh peppers the series with visual motifs to mixed success. The dream states and hallucinations aren’t always successful, especially the repeated visual of a black horse following Byron. Some of the trippier, drug-induced moments could have been pushed further, and the bizarre embraced. What is more effective is cutting in clips of trans Big Brother winner Nadia Almada when Byron is at their lowest. It’s also a damning reminder that 2004 Britain was more welcoming to trans women than the current climate.

With eight episodes, What It Feels Like for a Girl struggles with pacing. Some parts of Byron’s life fill up episodes, while others speed through sections of their history. It can be a struggle to know how much time has passed between episodes and scenes. The show feels like it’s broken up into parts, and not all sections of Byron’s life are evenly addressed.

This series is at its best when it’s unapologetically raw and uncomfortable. It’s the type of show that television networks have tried to shy away from. While it’s glossy and hedonistic, with the lead characters prancing around in skimpy neon costumes and dancing along to early-2000s pop music, it’s also incredibly dark. The camera focuses for too long on the sordidness, forcing you to watch scenes that most shows cut away from.

The writing never wants you to idolise this wayward youth, but it also knows they aren’t victims. Byron isn’t the most likeable leading character; in fact, there are no good or bad guys in this show. Byron’s caring grandmother (Hannah Walters) is the only person who walks away a good person. Byron is smart but often uses their intelligence to be condescending and acerbic. Byron’s mother tries her best with her son, but she’s way out of her depth as a teen mother who resents her child for taking away her youth.

It’s not all misery; there’s also an immense amount of queer joy. Before it all goes wrong, it’s a delight watching Byron find themselves amongst a group of people who actually get them. There’s no better feeling than finally finding your tribe after years of feeling alone. The script has some real comedy, especially the dynamic between The Fallen Divas and their frenemies at the club. What It Feels Like for a Girl also perfectly recreates the carefree hope of early-2000s nightlife, in all its bright, neon hedonism.

By having the story of Byron’s transness as a secondary narrative, What It Feels Like for a Girl humanises the characters. These people are more than just trans; they have their own personalities, dreams, goals, and insecurities. Byron’s downfall isn’t because of their sexuality and gender; it’s because they trusted the wrong person. It could be a story involving any working-class person of any gender, sexuality, and race. It’s the type of story the UK needs now, considering current attitudes towards parts of the LGBTQ+ community.

UK | 2025 | 8 EPISODES | 16:9 HD | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

writers: Paris Lee, Georgia Christou, Sarah Simmonds, Paul Williams & Mika Onyx Johnson (based on the memoir by Paris Lee).
directors: Brian Welsh, Ng Choon Ping & Marie Kristiansen.
starring: Ellis Howard, Laura Haddock, Hannah Walters, Michael Socha, Laquarn Lewis, Hannah Jones, Adam Ali, Alex Thomas-Smith, Calam Lynch, Jake Dunn & Dickie Beau.