Copyright 1997 The Scotsman Publications Ltd. Scotland on Sunday July 6, 1997, Sunday Spectrum; Pg. 9 Warrior woman Channel 5 Has Finally Chosen Well - A Camp, Sexy, Action-Packed Fantasy Series With Bags Of Attitude, Writes Tom Lappin SADDLE a series with the dread epithet 'camp' and it tends to have a short shelf-life. The C word implies style over substance, a refusal to take itself seriously that swiftly palls on the essentially literal medium of TV. Just occasionally though, a show can be so flamboyantly over the top that its extremes become its raison d'etre and it tips over from campness into the more lucrative realms of a genuine cult. Wild Palms never quite pulled it off, Xena: Warrior Princess does so effortlessly. Already aired on Sky, the American-made fantasy adventure series reaches a wider audience from next Saturday on Channel 5. If trends in the States, where the show pulls in bigger audiences than Star Wars or Baywatch, are any indication, the channel could soon be enjoying its first substantial hit. When you first clap eyes on Xena: Warrior Princess your jaw drops and just keeps dropping. Set in a Hollywood Ancient Greece populated by centaurs, Cyclops (Cyclopses? Cyclopi?) and Californian he-men, with dialogue along the lines of "so you really knew Oedipus, wow, what was the guy like?" the show cheerfully steals its backdrop and its sense of anachronistic fun from those Sixties Ray Harryhausen movies. But that's not the point. Across this canvas sprawls the mighty Xena, played by the strapping and brilliantly named New Zealander Lucy Lawless. Clad in her metallic Wonderbra and a skirt made of leather thongs, Xena somersaults through the air, clamping her muscular thighs round the scrawny necks of undeserving blokes, bellowing out her trademark war yodel, sneering at the feeble threats of mere menfolk, her soft words strictly reserved for faithful sidekick Gabrielle ( Renee O'Connor). On the surface Xena is a brilliant example of a character designed to please everybody. A scantily-clad, raven-haired action heroine isn't going to disappoint that section of the male audience currently ogling Anna Kournikova's lithe limbs at Wimbledon, but on the other hand a female protagonist who regularly proves herself tougher, smarter and wittier than men has a genuine feminist appeal. As it turns out Lawless plays Xena with such gleeful panache that you soon stop worrying about the sexual politics. To hear her talk about the character, you know the actress is more than half in love. "The devil's in her gut, and the angel's in her heart," she says, "and her head has to get the two together. Her gut reaction is fight not flight. She realises there's a need for her redemption, but she doesn't recognise that she has to change. I like the way the audience thinks it knows her better than she does. The audience feels closer to her than she does to herself. She's a good person who doesn't think she is. I love her just as she is. I'm astounded when people say she's moody or grim." Xena started out as a mere supporting player in the parent show, Hercules - The Legendary Journeys. Lawless's character proved so popular that the producers Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert (they of Evil Dead notoriety) gave her her own spin-off. In an uncharacteristic piece of Hollywood stupidity they attempted to cast an American in the role but Zeus struck down the Yank with a nasty illness and Lawless was allowed to reclaim Xena, turning her into what Vanity Fair described as "a dominatrix the whole family can enjoy". All America loves Xena, but the series has a particularly high profile among female viewers, suggesting a fondness for a female character who is the exact opposite of a hair-flicking Jennifer Aniston sweetie. US TV critic Joe Queenan is in no doubt that Xena is a Good Thing . "Sure I admire Lawless's aerodynamic achievements," he says, "but the real reason I like the programme is because she makes such an impressive role model for girls like my 12-year-old daughter. Because at heart the message of the show is 'Men are jerks. If you want to get ahead in this world buy an axe.'" Lawless herself puts it more gently: "There are a lot of people out there who have suffered from some kind of abuse - women, gays, kids, and they all relate to Xena. She's always fighting the good fight. I have met a heap of women that seem to be incredibly inspired by the show, and not inspired to be like Xena, but inspired to be themselves. They use the word empowered. And it's good for little boys to see a strong woman in a starring role, a multi-dimensional character." Note that Lawless slipped in 'gay' there. Unusually for a syndicated American series Xena: Warrior Princess has not only refused to play down its homosexual overtones, it has positively encouraged them. The internet buzzes with discussions on the show's "Sapphic subtext", and indeed you don't have to look far for examples of same-sex tendresse between Xena and Gabrielle. They are forever caressing each other's hair, pulling off each other's boots, kissing each other's cheeks or engaging in giggling skinny-dipping sessions. When Xena has a male love-interest it's invariably with some ulterior motive (information or power). When Gabrielle has a boyfriend he always ends up dead (usually courtesy of Xena). All of which has had sapphically inclined viewers acclaiming the first lesbian heroine of a major drama hit. There's nothing so overt of course but Xena: Warrior Princess (with a producer, Liz Friedman, who is gay), perhaps breaks new ground in being aware of the importance of courting homosexual viewers rather than alienating them. "Sure, the gay thing is there," confirms co-creator Robert Tapert. "Certainly there is that belief that Xena and Gabrielle are having sexual relations." Lawless cheerfully acknowledges the show's gay following. "We are aware and we're not afraid of it. This is a love story between two people. What they do in their own time is none of our business." Channel 5's opening episode finds Xena trying to atone for some bad girl behaviour in her past, meeting up with Gabrielle, and indulging in some terrific fight sequences. "Xena doesn't apologise," says Lawless, oozing Antipodean attitude. "She doesn't accept that being a woman is a disadvantage in this world. Neither do I." You've got to feel sorry for that Cyclops.