Olivia Hallinan | Charlotte Coleman

Comparing Sweet Sugar to the Wholesome Orange
In my last post I mentioned Oranges are not the only Fruit which was a book written by Jeanette Winterton published in 1985. In the BBC television drama of the same story the main character Jess, a teenage lesbian was played by Charlotte Ninon Coleman. The story was not just about a homosexual girl coping with adolescence but also the strict religious regime of her adoptive family. The story appears similar to Sugar Rush but is considerably different in all aspects. Charlotte Coleman and Olivia Hallinan have shared similar career paths although following different time lines. It is interesting to note that both of their mothers were also actresses. Coleman is the daughter of Anne Beach. Olivia Hallinan’s mother is an actress who runs an acting school in west London. Charlotte Coleman and Olivia Hallinan both started out making children’s television programmes and expanded into theatre, film and mainstream television work. Charlotte Coleman played the character of Scarlett in the box office hit “Four Weddings and a Funeral”. Sadly Charlotte Coleman died from an asthma attack 14^th November 2001, aged 33.

It goes without saying that both girls played similar characters in mainstream television drama programmes. It may be a coincidence that producers gave Kim Daniels similar red/orange coloured hair in Sugar Rush. I hoped that this might have been a conscious tribute to Charlotte Coleman and her portrayal of Winterton’s Jessica, but it is more likely to be just a colourful coincidence. The connection with oranges in the programme is quite intriguing. When Jess is in hospital her adoptive mother brings a huge string bag of oranges and drops them quite aggressively onto the bed. In another scene there is a huge stack of oranges clearly visible on a table in the background. Oranges appear to be very symbolic and important to the theme of this story. Sugar Rush is considered to be controversial but in my opinion it only ever reflected aspects of society in a static way. Oranges are not the Only Fruit was more dynamic and challenged preconceptions and the ignorant intolerance of some religions to homosexuality. It was written with a dry sense of humour that brought Jess and the other characters to life.

If you have never watched Oranges are not the Only Fruit it is possible to find it on video website YouTube. A kind soul has posted the entire film chopped into several parts to keep the file size smaller. You will need a good internet connection speed to view these video clips on your computer. It is an excellent piece of television despite the rather heavy religious overtone. Despite the more serious approach this drama is quite a powerful work and is used in university courses for the purpose of studying literature. I hope this helps explain my opinion and why I believe Sugar Rush should not be labelled controversial in a modern society.

The respective books from which both these dramas evolved are very different. In fact Julie Burchill’s Sugar Rush is not such a good book, and many people feared the television version could be poor as a result. It was the adaptation of the book by Katie Baxendale, Jane English and Liz Doran that made it into an award winning series. In contrast Jeanette Winterton’s book is an excellent piece of work and she wrote the television version. I feel that I have achieved my aim to simply expand on my previous comment and reveal the similarities between these two characters.

Well, this post was more about Charlotte Coleman than Olivia Hallinan but it serves as a useful comparison and emphasises my point about Sugar Rush not being the first drama programme to cover this subject. I think that both made great television and helped to break down a few barriers, changing the way people think about a few things.