Paris Lees's Trans Memoir What It Feels Like For A Girl to Be Adapted by BBC

The BBC has ordered an eight-part series based on What It Feels Like For A Girl, the acclaimed memoir by trans writer and journalist Paris Lees.

The 2021 memoir explores Lees's life before transitioning from the perspective of a fictional character named Byron.

The series, which shares the book's title, is being produced by Hera Pictures for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer. Filming will begin in 2024.

"It's a new millennium - Madonna, Moloko and Basement Jaxx top the charts, and there's a whole world to explore," BBC's official description reads. "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."

It continues: "Life explodes in a rush when Byron escapes to Nottingham's kinetic underworld and discovers the East Midlands' 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," reads the synopsis.

Lees took to Twitter to share her excitement about the project, writing, "You have no idea how hard it was to keep my mouth shut about this... I'm working with a creative dream team to develop What It Feels Like for a Girl as an 8-part series for the BBC and I cannot wait for you to see what we're cooking up!"

Lees will serve as writer, creator, and executive producer on the series alongside director and executive producer Chris Sweeney (The Tourist).

"I’m excited, hysterical...but most of all I’m just having so much fun bringing this universe to life in a visual medium. It’s a primal scream - from the depths of a council estate - against a world that would prefer people who don’t fit the norm didn’t exist. But we do and we’re not going away, we’re not apologizing and we’re not shutting up," she said in a statement.

In 2018, Lees made history by becoming Vogue's first transgender columnist. She was also the first trans woman to present for BBC Radio 1 and Channel 4.