Last Night - No Offence/A Very British Brothel

An interesting night last night on my TV screen thanks to Channel 4. The return of ‘No Offence’ was welcome I enjoyed the first series and an interesting documentary ‘A Very British Brothel’ I saw the first screening last year and this was a follow up so there was two hours before bed sown up.

‘No Offence’ follows a team of detectives from the Manchester Metropolitan Police (a fictionalised version of Greater Manchester Police) in particular keeping the streets of Herculean clean of crime. D.I. Vivienne Deering (Joanna Scanlan) is the boss who chews lightning, craps thunder and is hard as nails on the outside but with a soft inner self-when needed.

In last night’s first of seven episodes, she returns to work after a few months off, and finds herself banging heads with her new boss. She has also as a powerful crime matriarch to deal with. Things come to a head at a funeral of a notorious crime boss whose son is about to be buried. With Deering and her colleagues in attendance there is an explosive and the crime boss manages to escape.

All this means the likely possibility of a gangland war.

Meanwhile her colleagues D.S. Joy Freers (Alexandra Roach) and P.C. Tegan Thompson (Saira Choudhry) sniff out something dodgy about the crematorium owners.

A return visit to the Sheffield massage parlour, ‘A Very British Brothel’ run by a mother and daughter team. Business is booming for the duo. Their ladies can see up to 15 clients a day, and see it all, from a client who likes to have sex in custard or others who turn up wearing knickers. Another wants to play at baby, complete with nappy changing to a guy who pays for one of the ladies to sit on the bed, smoking in lingerie.

The programme also features new recruit Lily who wants to earn money to fund her nursing degree.

'I wasn’t nervous telling my mum at all. My aim is to go to university to do nursing,' she explains.

'I don’t care what people think. As far as I’m concerned I’m an independent business woman financing my own life, my own car, and my own nursing degree.'

There was a lot of chatter on social media during and after the programme was aired, a lot about the custard but it was good to see some interesting talk about the whole brothel and sex work. I personally the government have a real responsibility to legalise and regulate the trade. Sex workers should have a right to a safe work place. I hope Lily gets her nursing degree.

Kath the owner now harbour plans to open a second establishment.