User Reviews

Peoples' main problem with this show was the 'liberal' way it dealt with Jacqueline Wilson's book series of the same name. Yes, the actresses portraying Ellie and Magda are different to how they are described in the books - Ellie in the TV series is a slim, pretty, bohemian red-head as opposed to the dumpy and slightly dowdy brunette of Wilson's books, while Magda has changed from a sexy white girl to a sassy black girl - but the important thing is that the characters remain the same. Ellie is still witty, insecure, imaginative and ever-so-slightly-acidic, Magda is still sweetly shallow, confident, boy-crazy and glamorous, and Nadine remains a cynical, slightly downbeat and suitably vampiric glam goth (an interesting aside is that the Nadine character is the least complained about due to the physical similarities between book and TV character and yet I myself thought that her portrayal in the TV series was by far the least convincing - much too nice with none of the bitchy, snappy, rock-chick angst that made Nadine such an intriguing picture in the books.) This series is funny, entertaining, moving and sharp despite its differences with the books and this is down to the fact that the story has been 'glammed up' for the screen - so aside from the cuter Ellie we also miss out on the crucial eating disorder story line of Girls under Pressure (which is severely sanitised and crammed into one episode) and the darker elements of Wilson's books - drugs, adolescent sexuality and underage drinking - are similarly scrubbed over. However, this is of course to make the show suitable for a potentially very young audience, and I would still recommend it as light, feel-good viewing.

Apart from the names nothing in the show is anything like the books. and the worst thing of all is Ellie! She is meant to be plump with frizzy hair and glasses, a little weird and obsessed with art. She wants to be as pretty and popular with boys as her two best friends are and this idea that she is ugly leads to anorexia (which incidentally is left out in the show. Nadine actually does look like she's meant to - and although Magda is not blonde she is still glamorous and boy-mad which is her character. It didn't really matter what Magda looked like as long as she was glamorous though - unlike Ellie's case where it really mattered.

So basically if you're going to watch the show specially just because you like the books it's not worth it but if you have nothing else to do for half an hour it's not awful TV.