6 days ago
'Why Jordan Gray's new trans sitcom Transaction is so important'
Jordan Gray has created, written and stars in Transaction, which follows a chaotic trans shop worker and her experiences at work. (ITV)
Watching ITV's new sitcom about Liv, a trans woman who raises hell in a local supermarket, I found myself actively disliking Jordan Gray's protagonist, especially at first. And it turns out that's kind of the point.
As the creator of Transaction said herself once in a chat with Gay Star News: "Trans people are just people, some people are just d**kheads – ergo: some trans people are just d**kheads too."
In both the original 2020 miniseries and her new sitcom that it inspired, Liv is Gray's "attempt to represent a regular tit-for-brains, not some tragic hero." She adds, "I was getting bored of seeing us represented as either poor suffering saints or hypersexualised villains." Two episodes into season one, it's clear that Liv is neither.
Transaction features an unlikeable character at the centre, which is kind of the point. (ITV)
With Tom, her long-suffering bestie in tow, Gray's lead is rude and obnoxious to everyone at her new job, from Nick Frost's keeno manager to Francesca Mills's even keener subordinate. But with a "vag load" of pro-trans protestors rallying outside, Simon knows he can't fire Liv without making things even worse for himself.
Said protestors are only there in the first place because he accidentally used the words "Ladyboys get out!" in a disastrous marketing campaign for the shop. And now they're out for blood.
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Free to do as she pleases then, Liv immediately orders her boss Simon to remove any phallic food shaped like her own unwanted genitals before going on to terrorise her colleague Millie for being too nice, and therefore, "a psycho." When asked to actually do something at work, Liv's go-to is that she'd rather "be at home pleasuring [herself] to a VHS of Cats."
Liv isn't the most sympathetic protagonists, especially when she does things like accidentally trick her co-workers into raising money for gender reassignment surgery. (ITV)
Relatable, but even so, Gray's protagonist isn't exactly the most sympathetic figure. She even tricks the others (accidentally) into raising money for a gender reassignment procedure Liv doesn't actually want herself. Gray describes her creation as "a monster" (via The Guardian), and she's right to do so. But with Liv, it's not all chaos and snarky one-liners.
Amidst the bedlam, there are also some glimpses of humanity, such as when she calms down the protestors with an old adage my own nan used to share fondly: "Opinions are like arseholes… They're worth exploring." Plus Liv's friendship with Tom means much more to her than she makes out too, even if she did forget his birthday and continues to annoy him endlessly at work.
With a "vag load" of anti-trans protestors speaking so cruelly about trans people online these days, it's refreshing and even important to see someone like Gray provide space for trans people to be a bit messy on screen beyond those "saintly" or "villainous" archetypes she touched on earlier. In doing so, she doesn't just poke fun at bigotry, but also liberals who might unfairly put trans people on a pedestal just because of their identity.
While some shows decide to depict transgender people in more flattering light, Transaction gives them room to be messy. (ITV)
While Clean Slate went down the wholesome route and What It Feels Like For A Girl chose anarchy, Transaction melds the two for its own unique take on what it means to be trans in 2025. The fact this exists on ITV of all places is in itself an accomplishment, as they're not exactly known for pushing the envelope in ways that Channel 4 and even the BBC have done before.
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It would have been far easier for ITV to go down a much more likeable route, or avoid commissioning a trans-fronted sitcom at all in these volatile times. But there's something special to be found in that moral tension, as Gray herself pointed out in that aforementioned chat with Gay Star News:
"Being trans – or anything other than straight white cis – means that the audience is already primed with a certain amount of social tension. And tension is literally the fuel of comedy. We manipulate which direction that tension travels in (ie in or out of the body) to get the reaction we want."
That "reaction" might not always be one of fondness. In fact, you don't have to like Liv at all. But if you do dislike her, make sure it's because she's "a d**khead", and not because she's trans.
Transaction premieres on ITV2 on Tuesday, 24 June.
