BBC to Produce Boy Meets Girl, Revolutionary Sitcom Starring Transgender Actor

According to The Guardian, the BBC has begun filming Boy Meets Girl a fresh, new sitcom starring trans actress Rebecca Root.

The show, in which Root stars as Judy a 40-year-old transwoman in a relationship with a 26-year-old man, was a risky proposition. Not only does it star a transwoman, but Ms. Root is also 45. In the past, Boy Meets Girl would never have made it into production, let alone mainstream television--the show will air on BBC2 later this year. The show was commissioned after its script, by Elliott Kerrigan, won the Trans Comedy Award in 2013.

"I think it is a real step forward," says executive producer Sophie Clarke-Jervoise. "I just think people really just don't know much about this. The idea that a trans woman might be in an everyday heterosexual relationship without it raising comment - I don't think that is something that people really think about.

Root will share the screen with UK heartthrob Harry Hepple--of Misfits fame--and Denise Welch, who famously appeared in Waterloo Road and Coronation Street.

"It's been a challenge, because we really want to get it right, and we've taken advice from members of the trans community, but it's mainly been very interesting," said Clarke-Jervoise.

"For the characters in our sitcom, we are picking up from the point of view of a family who has never really had anything to do with a trans person, so they don't know the terminology, and hopefully as they learn, it will be an educational process for the audience as well."