Adding the Third Dimension: Favourite Female TV Characters - Guest Post

I love television.  Some people might be a bit snobby about it as an artistic medium, but I think it’s great.  It has the power to tell a story in incredible detail in several hours over several weeks, or to dip into one for half an hour.  You can get to know longstanding television characters in a way that you never could in a film, or even a book.  They become a part of your life; something to discuss with friends or ponder in the shower.  Television can keep you hanging on the edge of your seat or it can be the entertainment world’s equivalent of a worn pair of slippers and an old jumper.

But one thing television doesn’t always do is give us great female characters.  Lists of favourite television characters (including my own, regrettably) are often dominated by those flawed, comic, brilliant, but male creations.  All too often, sadly, their female counterparts are two-dimensional stereotypes.

So I’ve put together a list of my favourite female characters, who I believe exhibit some of the originality of our favourite male characters.  The list is by no means exhaustive, as it only covers characters from programmes that I’ve watched myself, so I welcome suggestions and recommendations of other shows featuring brilliant female characters!

Daisy Steiner (Spaced)

Jessica Hynes

I don’t often see women like me on television.  Even the brilliant ones often look and dress in a way that is completely alien to me.  Not Daisy Steiner.  She dressed comfortably, in combats and hoodies (and, in defiance of television rules, often in the same outfit in more than one episode, as if she, like us, did not own a limitless wardrobe), wore no makeup and, well, basically looked normal.  She was one of life’s lovable losers: a permanently procrastinating unemployed writer wandering through her 20s fuelled by endless cups of tea.  Her flaws weren't cutesy, nor were they melodramatic – they were wonderfully ordinary; her self-doubt and her laziness.  Daisy’s bumbling naivety and sense of fun make her one of the warmest and real characters in British comedy.

Spaced is available to watch on 4OD.

CJ Cregg (The West Wing)

Allison Janney

West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin didn’t always present women in the best of lights and it is telling that very few strong female characters emerged during his reign as writer and executive producer of the hit US political show.  But in the male-dominated corridors of the White House, Claudia Jean Cregg walked and talked with the best of them.   The only woman on President Bartlet’s senior staff, CJ’s Press Secretary was intelligent, opinionated and funny, nailing one-liners and slapstick with equal aplomb.  She was as witty, tough and driven as any of the men she worked with, and could even match them for a dysfunctional personal life.  Her elevation to White House Chief of Staff in the latter seasons of the show, a role in which she adeptly balanced compassion with political savvy, demonstrated just what a powerful character she was.

I defy you to watch this scene without laughing:

Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

Catherine Tate

Say what you will about Russell T. Davies’ stint at the helm of Doctor Who, but he certainly knew how to write female characters.  And by far and away his best was the super-temp from Chiswick, Donna Noble.  An antidote to the string of youthful companions, Catherine Tate’s Donna brought a sense of maturity to the TARDIS and a welcome respite from all the sexual tension with the Doctor.  Donna was gobby, but compassionate, and wasn’t afraid to challenge the Doctor’s authority.  Always resourceful, Donna possessed a whole CV of transferrable skills to call upon in any situation.  On the surface a comic character, it was painfully clear that all that sass was covering up deep-rooted insecurity, as Catherine Tate deftly conveyed the subtle layers of Donna’s character.  Donna’s fate, to be cursed with returning to her old life and never remembering the Doctor, was so very tragic.

This will always remain one of my favourite Donna scenes:

Leslie Knope (Parks & Recreation)

Amy Poehler

Leslie Knope is a relentlessly positive, devoted public servant.  After a rocky start in Season 1, when it felt like she might become a cliché of a bumbling, incompetent woman, Leslie grew in assurance to move from Deputy Director of Pawnee’s Parks and Recreation Department to Governor of Indiana (which we learn from a flash forward in the series finale).  Leslie is content in her own skin and happy with what she is doing with her life.  She is hard-working, ethical and good at her job – qualities that don't often come together in comic political creations.

Monica Geller (Friends)

Courtney Cox

This might seem an odd choice, and yes, Monica did embody many female stereotypes: thin and glamorous (having overcome her teenage weight problems to become accepted), and obsessed with weddings and babies.  But during my teens, when I first became hooked on Friends, Monica showed me that women could be so much more than those stereotypes.  They could even embrace those qualities that society tried to teach me were unfeminine – competitiveness, obsessive cleanliness and organisation (it’s really just good sense), uninhibitedness (The Routine), control-freakishness, impulsivity and immaturity, and an uncontrollable need to please.  And on top of all that, she was head chef of an upmarket New York restaurant.  Monica – you were neurotic, loud and kind of annoying, but sometimes I cannot deny how alike we are (rules do help control the fun!)

I learnt my best dance moves from the Gellers...

Dana Scully (The X Files)

Gillian Anderson

When the producers of the X-Files originally conceived the character of Dana Scully, they imagined a tall, blonde, sexy bombshell.  Instead they got Gillian Anderson: 5 foot nothing, with mousey hair (that would be died red for the show) and an ill-fitting suit.  But when she read opposite David Duchovny at her audition, the chemistry between the two actors was instantly apparent.  FBI Special Agent Scully, a medical doctor with a degree in physics, managed to remain sceptical in the face of Mulder’s belief in extra-terrestrial life for a large part of the sci-fi series.  She was unflinching in the face of danger and conducted her work, including all manner of disturbing autopsies, with a calm authority.  Since the X-Files first aired in 1993, Scully has even been credited with encouraging women to forge careers in STEM subjects.

Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons)

Voiced by Yeardley Smith

For twenty five years now, girls have been able to grow up watching Lisa Simpson, one of television's greatest feminists.  She’s a member of MENSA, an awesome jazz saxophonist, a science and nature nerd, maths prodigy and all-round child genius.  Lisa may not have the impish charm of her older brother or populist appeal of her father, but she is far more inspirational.  She is never afraid to be different, has the courage of her convictions and has strong views on the role that girls and women should have in society.  Yet despite her sometimes precocious worldly wisdom, she is in no hurry to grow up.  When a new girl, Alex, arrives at school with perfume and mobile phones, Lisa struggles with her desire to fit in, but ultimately comes to the conclusion that she’s happiest as she is.  “We've only got nine, maybe ten years, tops where we can giggle in church and chew with our mouths open and go days without bathing,” she declares. “We'll never have that freedom again."  Amen to that, Lisa!

Sue White (Green Wing)

Michelle Gomez

Sue White was completely bonkers.  No, really; completely and utterly, off-the-wall crazy.  As Staff Liaison Officer for East Hampton Hospital, she was full of crushing put-downs, bizarre non-sequiturs, wholly inappropriate responses and a worrying lack of attention to her actual job (“Take this, ‘Dealing with Difficult People’, and f*ck off!”)  What else can you say about Sue White?  There has never been any character – male or female – on television quite like her, and there probably never will be again.

Sue White on religion:

Margo Leadbetter (The Good Life)

Penelope Keith

The Good Life may have centred on Tom and Barbara Good’s attempts at self-sufficiency, but it was always their stuck-up next door neighbour Margo who stole the show for me.  With her iconic seventies’ outfits and immaculately coiffured hair, Margo was an unashamed middle class Conservative snob.  She ordered around her long-suffering husband Jerry and despaired at the actions of her neighbours.  Although, by her own admission, she had no sense of humour, she certainly knew her rights and and her place in society.  When The Good Life first aired in 1975, Margaret Thatcher had just become leader of the Conservative Party, and Margo is very much a woman of that era – assured, resolute and independent, whilst maintaining a healthy respect for the old housewifely traditions of suburbia.

Geraldine Granger (The Vicar of Dibley)

Dawn French

Back in the 1990s, when lovable clergywoman Geraldine Granger first bounced onto our screens, the ordination of women vicars had only just been approved and was a controversial topic.  Despite this, The Vicar of Dibley was never a controversial show, and although the villagers were initially discomforted by their new female vicar, Geraldine was able to win them all over with her charm, her sense of humour and her devotion to the Christian faith.  Her character helped normalise women vicars in Britain, as well as bringing a sense of humanity to the clergy.  She had a weakness for chocolate, a healthy sexual appetite and an extremely positive acceptance of her wonderful voluptuous curves.  In the end though, what makes us love the Vicar is exactly what the people of Dibley love about her too – her kindness and big-hearted attempts to do good in the lives of the people she cares about.

Sarah Lund (The Killing)

Sofie Gråbøl

The character of Inspector Sarah Lund took the dysfunctional, maverick male detective stereotype and turned it on its head. With her distinctive knitwear and uncommunicative manner, Lund spends long periods of the Danish murder mystery drama staring into the middle distance with a slight frown as she mulls over the latest grisly murder on her plate. There are no histrionics with Lund; no passionate outbursts – she is an emotionally guarded introvert who battles her demons in private. Against conventional gender roles, Lund struggles with family relationships and seems untroubled by her social isolation, much as many of her male counterparts do. She truly is a rarity in the world of television crime drama.