When Russell T Davies’ twin series Cucumber and Banana aired at the start of the year, there was one headline among the threesomes and golf-club murders that was quietly significant. Bethany Black, a minor recurring character as Helen, became the first transgender actor to play a transgender character in a British TV serial.



If we’re experiencing the tipping point in trans acceptance and visibility, the UK has lagged somewhat behind the US, where Laverne Cox has become the breakout star of Orange Is The New Black. But Black (Bethany, that is) was not to hold her title very long (she needn’t worry, her star is on the rise, with an upcoming role in Doctor Who – playing a cis woman). Last month, BBC2 launched a new sitcom that’s looking quietly revolutionary. Boy Meets Girl centres on the awkward love affair between early twentysomething Leo (Harry Hepple) and Judy (Rebecca Root), a trans woman who is pushing 40. And it’s already shaping up to be the breakout comedy of the year.

Naturally, given the subject matter, Boy Meets Girl was always going to have “groundbreaking” stamped on its forehead. Indeed, the show originated from a talent search by All About Trans and the BBC Writer’s Room, with the specific aim of finding positive portrayals of trans characters. The prize offered just £5,000 for the winning script, but newcomer Elliot Kerrigan’s warmhearted pilot quickly found itself commissioned for a series. It isn’t hard to see why.

Naturally, a show that’s actively promoted as “the UK’s first transgender sitcom” isn’t going to avoid issues completely. And of course, the implications of Judy’s gender on the relationship and on her and Leo’s families is front and centre. The show tackles the despair of being trapped in the wrong body, bullying, awkward humour about people being afraid to ask certain questions – at one point last week Judy demonstrated to Leo the logistics of her transition by pulling the coat sleeve off his arm inside-out, to which Leo answered, pricelessly, “yours isn’t tartan on the inside, though?”

Meet the families… Peggy (Janine Duvitski), Jackie (Lizzie Roper), Leo (Harry Hepple), Judy (Rebecca Root), Anji (Vineeta Rishi)), Pam (Denise Welch), Tony (Nigel Betts), James (Jonny Dixon). Photograph: Matt Squire/BBC/Diverse

But Boy Meets Girl shines because that isn’t the only story. It’s barely even the main one. The show plays with Odd Couple tropes all right, but more through the pair’s age gap than anything else. Indeed, Harry’s reaction to discovering Judy’s secret is winningly non-plussed, and it plays entirely along with Harry’s main character trait, which is being adorable. And that is the true measure of Boy Meets Girl; its optimism and unashamed sentimentality.

It is reliably cosy, its closest cousin being Gavin and Stacey, or even the long-running 1980s romcom Watching. And you would be hard-pushed to find a more likable ensemble on television right now. Leo’s family comprises Denise Welch as gently sadistic mum Pam; Nigel Betts as reliably put-upon Dad Tony and Jonny Dixon, probably the star of the show, as hilariously inappropriate brother James. In Judy’s corner is Lizzie Roper as sister Jackie, cursed with an overactive libido and underactive self-esteem; and the legendary Janine Duvitski as her mother Peggy – “wired to the moon” as Pam describes her with an eye roll to the heavens. All of them are wonderful, embodying the tenderness of families gently sniping at each other.

At the halfway point tonight, the game somewhat changes, and things start to get serious, not necessarily in a good way. But even in its darker moments, Boy Meets Girl can’t help making you smile. And progress never felt so reassuringly old-fashioned.

Boy Meets Girl continues 9.30pm, Thursdays, BBC2