Pleasureland
Pleasureland is a 2003 Channel 4 feature-length television drama focusing on a group of teenagers in Liverpool who feel pressured to grow up. Written by Helen Blakeman, directed by Brian Percival and produced by Kudos, the makers of the BBC One espionage series Spooks.
The drama was based on the John Adams opera Pleasureland and was filmed on location in Liverpool as part of the Channel 4's Adult at 14 season.
Plot
A modern tale of teenage sex, Pleasureland is the story of Jo, a 14-year-old Scouser, who wakes up one day and decides she has to change her virgin status. In fact, she makes a promise to herself: 'I, Joanna Mosscroft, aged 14, year nine, almost year 10, promise me, Joanna Mosscroft, to have sex.' She is also motivated to have sex because it seems as if that is what all of the girls at school seem to be talking about. Thus, she feels pressured to lose her virginity. With that, she sets off on a rollercoaster journey of first-time-for-everything. Jo soon becomes embroiled in a world of sex, drugs and betrayal.
Awards
- Royal Television Society Awards 2003 – Network Newcomer on Screen Award – Katie Lyon
Award nominations
- Royal Television Society Design and Craft Awards 2004 – Photography – David Katznelson (DOP)
- Royal Television Society Awards 2003 – Network Newcomer Behind the Screen Award – Helen Blakeman
- BAFTA Awards 2003 – BAFTA Craft New Writer Award – Helen Blakeman