Geneva Pattison.
Butterfly, the ITV drama that originally aired in 2018, is coming the TG4 this March. The drama deals with the sesitive topic of a family supporting their transgender pre-teen daughter Maxine (formerly Max) in her fight for acknowledgement of her chosen gender.
The story follows separated parents, mother Vicky (Anna Friel – Pushing Daisies, Marcella) and father Stephen (Emmet J. Scanlon – The Fall, Hollyoaks), as they try to come to an agreement on the best way to approach their son Max’s (Callum Booth-Ford) gender dysphoria. Max’s transition to a girl is initially halted, because of rifts between both parents but, when Max begins to self harm, they realise they must support their child together as a unit.
Stephen realises he must move back to the family home to be there for his son’s transition to daughter. From here, the greatest test of love and support imaginable begins. The greatest division between the parents stems from their opinions on how best to protect Maxine/Max as she now seeks to present as a girl in school. While Stephen still clings to the idea that this is just a phase for his son, Vicky main focus is on keeping her child’s mental health and happiness intact.
On the brink of puberty, Maxine becomes more certain about her gender identity and feels at home in her new skin as a female. However, the people around her still struggle to accept her identity change at such a young age.
This story is one of a family involving three generations, struggling to protect their youngest, while coming to terms with the complex emotions associated with a young family member transitioning. This is a tale for our times, that strives to tell the in-depth truths about the trans community and their struggle for trans visibility, acceptance and understanding from others.
With high profile Irish actors such as Amy Huberman as Gemma, Emmet J. Scanlon as Stephen and Sean McGinley as grandfather Peter, taking main roles in the three part drama series, it definitely classes this as a British/Irish production.
The show is available to watch on TG4, from Tuesday the 8th of March at 10.30pm.
