Written by “What It Feels Like For a Girl was easily one of the most acclaimed new series of 2025 in the UK, universally praised for its complex, enthralling narrative and powerful performances… Ellis Howard earned special praise for his central performance, receiving a Best Actor nomination at the 2026 TV BAFTAs.” – Collider
”a stunning visual time capsule and a heartwarming coming-of-age story that’s worth watching on as many continents as you can stream it on!” – Them.us
“Paris Lees has given us a valuable trans story in “What It Feels Like for a Girl” that doesn’t beg for pity or ask for applause. It simply demands to be seen on its own terms. The story is based in truth and we’re fortunate to be able to see it.” – Bay Area Reporter
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Andy Reynolds at andy@popularpublicity.com
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Queer UK Drama Series What It Feels Like for a Girl Launches on Prime Video in the U.S.
Press Release Summary / Blurb
Based on the acclaimed memoir by trans writer and journalist Paris Lees, What It Feels Like for a Girl is a bold, funny, and unapologetically raw coming-of-age drama set against the UK’s chaotic early-2000s club scene. Starring BAFTA-nominated Ellis Howard, the eight-part series follows teenager Byron as he escapes a bleak working-class town and finds belonging among a chosen family of outsiders, dreamers, and troublemakers. Hailed by GQ as “the most interesting thing the BBC has made since I May Destroy You,” and nominated for five 2026 BAFTA Awards, the series is now streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.
Read star Ellis Howard’s June 8 Deadline Hollywood interview here.
Full Press Release
New York, NY, June 1, 2026 – New York, NY, June 1, 2026 – Produced by multi-award-winning Hera Pictures (Hamnet, Mary & George, Temple) the BAFTA-nominated BBC drama series, What It Feels Like for a Girl is inspired by the memoir by British writer and journalist Paris Lees. Starring BAFTA nominated Ellis Howard, the series is a wild, anarchic Y2K coming-of-age story that – following its 2025 debut in the U.K and Canada – has now launched on Prime Video for U.S. audiences.
The eight-part series was adapted for television by Lees. Lead director was BAFTA Nominated Brian Welsh (Black Mirror, Beats), alongside Ng Choon Ping (Femme) and Marie Kristiansen (Delete Me). The series recently received five 2026 BAFTA nominations, including Best Limited Series, Best Writer (Drama) for Lees, and Best Leading Actor for Howard following it’s critically acclaimed premier on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three.
It’s a new millennium — Madonna, Moloko and Basement Jaxx top the charts, and there’s a whole world to explore. But teenager Byron is stuck in a small working-class town that hasn’t been the same since the coal mine shut in the ’80s. Sick of mam, sick of dad, sick of being beaten up for “talkin’ like a poof”.
Sick of everyone shuffling about like the living dead, going on about kitchens they’re too skint to do up and marriages they’re too scared to leave. Byron needs to get away, and doesn’t care how. Life explodes in a rush when Byron escapes to kinetic underworld and discovers premier podium-dancer-cum-hellraiser, the mesmerizing Lady Die.
Byron is adopted into Lady Die’s hilarious and chaotic family of trouble-makers — “The Fallen Divas”. Between them, they beg, steal and skank their way on a rollercoaster ride of hedonism at the heart of the UK’s early-2000s club scene.
The party can’t last, though, and when Byron is seduced by bad-boy Liam, a shocking encounter occurs that will change life forever. Joyful, frank and packed with memorable characters, What It Feels Like for a Girl is a journey of love and danger, self-discovery and self-destruction. Because to find yourself, sometimes you need to lose yourself.
The series stars Ellis Howard as Byron alongside Laquarn Lewis, Hannah Jones, Jake Dunn, Laura Haddock, Michael Socha, and Hannah Walters and recently received five 2026 BAFTA nominations, including Best Limited Series, Best Writer (Drama) for Lees, and Best Leading Actor for Howard.
Writing on Instagram following the nominations, Lees said: “I’m from a council estate. I’m trans. I’d never written for TV before. As far as I’m concerned, to be nominated alongside writers I deeply respect — and who’ve been doing this for decades — is a win in and of itself.”
“I am so excited that our Queer fairytale What It Feels Like For A Girl is landing on Amazon Prime at the start of Pride Month. There has never been a more important time to champion working-class queer stories on screen, and I’m incredibly proud of what we made. I hope US audiences fall in love with Byron and the Fallen Divas the same way British audiences did. Hold on for a wild ride!!!”
– Ellis Howard (Byron), What It Feels Like for a Girl
Critical Response
British critics have noted the show’s unusually frank portrayal of queer and trans life, particularly its focus on working-class experience and flawed, deeply human characters.
In a review for The Independent, critic Nick Hilton described the series as “a raw, engaging case for optimism,” writing that it presents “the messy, uncertain, self-destructive, poignant life of a teenager” while capturing both “universal” coming-of-age themes and the transgender experience.
GQ called the series “the most interesting thing the BBC has made since I May Destroy You,” praising its “unerring honesty” and commitment to “both joy and grit.”
An extensive feature in i-D described the show as “salacious, freeing and funny,” while highlighting its refusal to sanitize queer life or working-class struggle. Actor Howard told the publication: “It’s not the point of art to be a penicillin for society.”
The series has also drawn attention for centering trans voices onscreen and behind the camera during a period of heightened political and media hostility toward trans communities in both the UK and U.S.
In an interview with The Guardian, Lees said: “Let’s have some real messy stories about real shit that happens.”
What It Feels Like for a Girl is now streaming on Prime Video in the United States and is included with a Prime membership.
What It Feels Like for a Girl
“Exploring self-discovery and self-destruction; it is a new millennium and there is a whole world to explore, but Byron is stuck in a small working-class town that has not been the same since the coal mine shut down in the 80s; he needs to get away.”
Streaming on Prime Video
1 Season, 8 Episodes
Prime Video link: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0GHESLCAM2UAW9W7XGW63N1T7C/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
About Paris Lees (Creator, Writer)
Paris Lees is an English author, journalist, presenter and campaigner. She topped The Independent on Sunday’s 2013 Pink List, placed second on the 2014 Rainbow List, and received the LGBT Positive Role Model Award at the 2012 National Diversity Awards. Lees was the first transgender columnist for Vogue and the first transgender woman to present shows on BBC Radio 1 and Channel 4. Her debut memoir, What It Feels Like for a Girl, was published by Penguin in 2021 and adapted into a television series in 2025. – Wikipedia. The series streamed in the U.K. and Canada in 2025 before launching in the U.S. on Prime Video in June 2026. Photography Stuart Simpson at Penguin Books
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