Whoever thought we would be doing this again? #BerenaDeservedBetter was born out of anger and rage at a storyline that promised representation and degenerated into… Well, we all saw the result. We thought Berena deserved better than it got. Looking back, we were probably quite bloody-minded about it. It mattered. It still does. We needed […]
Author: #BDB
Broken representation and our broken hearts, for eternity

What is left to say, other than my heart is still broken? And a little bit of it even breaks for the loss of Serena – a double loss, the first one 14 months ago when she lost sight of the lion within, and the other on 21 January 2020, when she walked away physically. […]
Long live Bernie Wolfe

Bernie Wolfe is dead. Fans the world over, from the UK to India, Dubai, Canada and New Zealand, are mourning the loss of our Big Macho Army Medic. Major Berenice Griselda Wolfe was truly an international phenomenon. Her first appearance in Holby City was in “Serenity” on February 2, 2016. She left Holby to join […]
Problems of perception

This past weekend, I saw an exhibition of articles depicting lesbians in mainstream New Zealand magazines at the Lilac lesbian library here in Wellington. The articles were on display side-by-side in rows over two walls, and covered everything from Ellen and Portia dating; celebrity weddings and MP affairs; KD Lang and Cindy Crawford’s (in)famous Vanity […]
Statement: Holby City’s use of the Bury Your Gays trope is condemnable

The BDB Collective and their allies condemn the hospital drama Holby City’s use of the lesbian death trope despite earlier backlash, and the calculated harm caused to an audience particularly at risk of mental health vulnerabilities. We ask that the producers of the show engage with the fans and provide an explanation as to why it was thought necessary to feature this damaging story arc, especially since the character of Bernie Wolfe (played by Jemma Redgrave) had been written out in December 2018.
Hope can be a dangerous thing

(This article contains spoilers for the first four books of the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard.) These past six months, I’ve been reading the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. It began as a way to get closer to Berena without watching Holby City after the emotional turmoil of December – Catherine Russell plays […]