Britain's increasingly hostile environment for trans people never ceases to depress. So here's a welcome shot of raucous, rebellious optimism: What It Feels Like for a Girl , the new BBC series inspired by transgender writer Paris Lees ' best-selling memoir of the same name. Lees adapted the book herself for TV, which shows in its unerring honesty, and its equal commitment to both joy and grit.

It isn't just a trans coming-of-ager, although Byron's (Ellis Howard) gender transition does come overtly into play midway through the series. When we meet them, they are 15 and growing up in provincial Nottingham circa 2000, relentlessly bullied for being feminine and, as most people in their orbit assume, gay. They live with their dad (Michael Socha), a no-nonsense “boys don't cry” sort o

See Full Page