Float on air with a second series of the acclaimed short form drama series on BBC iPlayer

A message of hope is what the cast of popular drama short Float are hoping viewers will take from a new series on BBC iPlayer.

Championed by BBC Scotland, Float found a raft of fans when it first appeared on BBC iPlayer in 2021, going on to win awards and garner international attention for the series, portraying rural, smalltown life in Scotland with emotional depth and humour. Now a second series of the queer short form drama is coming to BBC iPlayer on March 29.

And fans of the drama – produced by Scottish indie Black Camel Pictures – will be able to see what happens next in the lives of Jade and Collette as they try to navigate and reconcile life and love within the confines of a small, seaside town. The new 6 x 10 minute episodes will pick up around 18 months on from the first series, revealing the ongoing central love story of Jade, played by Hannah Jarrett-Scott, and Collette, played by Jessica Hardwick.

Says Hannah: “It’s great being back to play Jade again. I hold her very dear to my heart and I’ve a lot of friends who can identify with our journey. It’s just brilliant to be able to play her again. We’ve got some new characters as well and to see how she’s reacted to all these new, different people in her life, it’s amazing.”

Says Jessica: “A lot of series two is set around families and our relationship with our parents and then sees how they – Jade and Collette – refind each other some months on. This time around we’ve got the mothers involved as well, it’s not just the two girls, it’s about families as well. And I think it will hopefully resonate with a lot of families across Scotland.”

Written by acclaimed Scottish screenwriter and playwright Stef Smith, the first series of the short form drama – backed by BBC Scotland and Screen Scotland – received critical praise and garnered multiple industry awards on the festival circuit including Best Short Form Series at Series Mania 2022 and Best Writer for Stef Smith at Series Fest 2022 and at the 2022 RTS Scotland Awards. The series was also snapped up for distribution in France on Canal+.

The story centred around a community swimming pool, with Jade mysteriously returning home from university in Glasgow and taking a job as a lifeguard. Mired in depression, she was thrown a lifeline by her fellow lifeguard Collette, who was also the girlfriend of the pool manager. From this beginning, a love story emerged. While Collette wrestled with this seismic personal change, Jade was also secretly dealing with the consequences of a violent episode in the city when she attacked a man who had been harassing her ex-girlfriend Angie.

At the end of the first series, Collette had declared her love for Jade and parted ways with her boyfriend. Jade had finally confronted her demons and opened up to Collette about her past, but the pressures of the event, its consequences and Angie’s re-appearance were pulling her back to her life in Glasgow.

The second series kicks off around 18 months after the events of the first series. Collette has gone off to university and is visiting home to see mum Kelly, played by Gail Watson, and dad Gerry, played by Andy Clark, and finds her family in crisis. Jade has moved back from Glasgow and is living with her mum Julie, played by Rosalind Sydney, while she attends a court-ordered anger management programme – her last hurdle to true freedom. The love story of Jade and Collette is still very much the beating heart of the second series, and the unique pressures and joys of queer life in a small Scottish town are still central to the drama, with the Firth of Clyde providing a scenic and dramatic backdrop to the series. But life has moved on for Jade and Collette, who are now having to navigate a different level of involvement from family and friends in their relationship with each other, throwing into question whether they can rekindle the spark that brought them together.

The swimming pool, which was a pivotal part of their story in the first series, has been demolished and the wider world of the small town and adulthood features more in Float 2. But fans can be re-assured that this new series includes a welcome return of Jade and Collette’s former fellow pool employees Liam (Jack Stewart), Agnieszka (Polina Sulim), and manager Steve (Ben Presley), while also introducing a major new character, fellow anger management attendee Theo – played by newcomer Isla Campbell, who presents a younger queer perspective, who – with warmth and humour – helps offset Jade’s struggles.

As with the first series, Float 2 was entirely filmed on the west coast of Scotland. Key locations include Helensburgh, Gourock, Greenock and Inverkip. The real demolition of the former Helensburgh leisure centre also features in the second series, providing a deft allegory for the characters as they move forward in life. (In real life the leisure centre was demolished as part of an upgraded redevelopment of the facilities.)

Stef says: “It was important for me to take the story on because so many people warmed to Jade and Collette and we knew people wanted to see what happened in their lives…I wanted to see what happened to them. And it was important to have them at the centre of a terrific ensemble cast, to see them with their friends, to have the input of their families and especially their mothers and to see this love story in the context of the wider community in a small town. Hannah and Jessica mesmerise as Jade and Collette but the dynamic for the whole cast is amazing. And newcomer Isla Campbell is terrific – it is their first TV role and they are brilliant.”

Adds Jessica: “I hope that when people watch the second series, they feel a bit more in love with these characters, because I think we’re all very raw in this series…”

“There’s a lot of self-discovery and growth in the characters that Stef has so beautifully written and put together. And I hope that people can take that away with them (from the series) that there’s always a little bit of hope in something that maybe you thought wasn’t going to happen.

“There is a little bit more of a feeling for the small town where Jade and Collette grew up, where perhaps unlike cities, not everyone has the ease of language to discuss people coming out and that is very much part of my character’s story and her relationship with her mum and it is beautifully explored in this new series. Often dramas focus on teenagers dealing with these issues, but series 2 is taking this on and showing people in early adulthood in their twenties and that is something we don’t often see on screen. But it is sensitively handled in terms of all the characters, portraying people just trying to come to terms with changing circumstances whether they are queer or not.”

And Hannah added: “I really love Float because there’s not really much trauma surrounding the circumstances of Jade and Collette getting together… there’s emotion and my character has her own stuff going on, but ultimately it is a love story and for me that is super important. Gay life can sometimes be associated with harrowing events in dramas and while people do have their struggles, love is very much part of the life. We show love is the central thing.”

“It is really nice to represent that for young queer people because it is scary coming out when you are young, especially in a small town. It almost creates a level of claustrophobia – everyone knows you and you can’t get away from that – and for Collette in Float that is very clear. She can’t even be herself in the local pub…her mum works behind the bar. But Float shows it all on a human relatable level – where hope and joy are part of the mix alongside what can be emotionally difficult times – and I really hope we give that message out to the queer and the wider community.”

“I hope the viewers can take away just another beautiful series of connection..people connecting.”

Float was commissioned by BBC Scotland in partnership with Screen Scotland and is a key feature of BBC Scotland’s multi-platform drive to develop and commission content for young under-represented audiences in Scotland. It continues BBC Scotland’s commitment to portray contemporary Scotland and the lives of audiences across BBC platforms, including the recent acclaimed short film drama short Dog Days, set in Dundee, about a homeless man battling the odds to get his life on track, which was also shown on BBC iPlayer.

Gavin Smith, commissioning executive for Scripted and Entertainment at BBC Scotland added: “This project developed out of a pilot through BBC Writersroom Scotland and has gone on to develop into a beautiful and brilliantly crafted drama. The first-class script and performances in the first series of Float struck a chord with our audiences and received critical acclaim internationally which was fantastic to see. We are extremely proud of the drama and delighted to be commissioning and showing a second series and we’re looking forward to the audience finding out how life has treated Jade, Collette and the gang since we last met them in series one.”

Kieran Hannigan, Head of Scripted at Screen Scotland, said: “The second series of Float reunites audiences with Jade, Collette, their families and friends, and offers an authentic and moving portrayal of young people in Scotland today. We’re delighted to have supported Black Camel and all the talent on and off screen to make Float such a powerful series.”

Asked to describe the series in three words, Hannah said: “Love, laughter and discovery,” and Jessica said: “Love, family and friendship.”

Float is a Black Camel Pictures production for BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer. Arabella Page Croft executive produces and directs. Bjorn Hanson produces.

The first series is available to watch on BBC iPlayer with the second series also available on BBC iPlayer on March 29.