Diane Gabbott: List of her artwork

[Tammyfan]

….why the heck does the school allow [Evie] to get away with murder at all?

The fact that Evie's aunt is revealed to be none other than the wealthy Mrs Wilkes, who spoils her "lovely Evelyn" rotten, is way too soft with her and doesn't discipline her in any way, won't hear any ill of her and believes any old rubbish she says, might have something to do with it. Or why Evie is such a nasty piece of work. Makes you wonder how different things would be if the Wilkes' business crashes, they go bankrupt and find themselves living on the estate or something. I also find it odd that Mrs Wilkes goes to the Greys, who live on the estate, to show off her "expensive junk". Why doesn't she show it off to her husband or someone in her social class?

I agree Shirley is a must for a reprint volume. It's the best psychological and emotional drama story in Tammy. Our discussions show how impressive its structure is. It has so many layers we keep peeling back and discovering nuances, even smaller ones like the police officer who saves Shirley and characters who don't even appear (Mr Wilkes, the headmaster and the social worker) but you can still feel the impact they make on the situation one way or other, that add whole new dimensions to the story. Also adding to the psychological and emotional stresses that overwhelmed the protagonists in the story is the coma itself. Everyone's agonising over whether or not the coma's permanent and screaming, "Trisha, please wake up!" Fairground of Fear was another of Gabbot's best stories, so it's a strong candidate. Circus of the Damned is possible. I like Donna Ducks Out too, but I doubt it will make it to a reprint volume.

[Tammyfan]

Oh, I just checked the story again. It's "Wilks", not "Wilkes".

I love the changed Mrs Wilks at the end. Not just how she looks physically, but in her personality as well. You sense she's a better person in both senses of the word. In the early episodes of the story Shirley's mum said she hated being nice to that "awful" Mrs Wilks but had to because she was the boss's wife, but now I think Mum is going to enjoy Mrs Wilks' company.

Evie probably won't change much from being a nasty person, but at least her bullying is tamed and we don't think she'll be harassing Shirley again. But I still think she wasn't punished as much as she should have been. If the headmaster had taken a firmer line and expelled her for stealing the teacher's money - or at least made sure she was firmly watched in case of more wrongdoing - he could have saved Shirley from what she suffered at Evie's hands. But he didn't and so added his bit to the growing trouble.

[Goof]

I love the changed Mrs Wilks at the end. Not just how she looks physically, but in her personality as well. You sense she's a better person in both senses of the word. In the early episodes of the story Shirley's mum said she hated being nice to that "awful" Mrs Wilks but had to because she was the boss's wife, but now I think Mum is going to enjoy Mrs Wilks' company.

Evie probably won't change much from being a nasty person, but at least her bullying is tamed and we don't think she'll be harassing Shirley again.

I find it fascinating how well this aspect of the ending works. Normally I can be a bit allergic to realistic drama stories where everything magically comes out right at the end. Shirley’s truth-telling did damage herself and other people, and it would be false to have all that brushed aside with a wave of a wand. Here, the writer makes it work because the process is so well thought through.

Mrs Wilks was a silly, vain woman who, as the boss’s wife, was not used to hearing the truth about herself. Shirley’s brutal honesty forces her to face up to her self-delusions. Shirley’s courageous shopping of Evie (and it was brave, Shirley knew what she was in for when she did it) challenges the other girls to follow her in standing up to Evie’s threats, and in the end they do. On the other hand, the shoplifting charge, which is the worst injustice of the lot, isn’t magicked away – it takes a dedicated social worker to ferret out the truth and the matter is still left in some doubt at the end. Also, although Mrs Morris can hardly fail to change her tune after Shirley has revived Trisha, there’s no suggestion that the experience has changed her. If it were to happen again, she might well overreact again. Most of all perhaps, there’s no instant reconciliation with the swimming team. Shirley has to earn their trust by showing that she’s learned her lesson.

I totally agree about the quality in depth of this story. Looking back, I think it probably had a lot to do with my initial enthusiasm for girls’ comic stories, because it was one of the first serials that I read. I began by buying annuals, and it chanced that one of the first of these was Tammy 1986, where Shirley is reprinted.

[Tammyfan]

Another well thought-out ending in Tammy is Sister in the Shadows. I won't go into all the details, which can be read here https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/?s=sis ... he+shadows. Essentially, it is a bullied girl, Wendy, who is constantly compared to her elder sister Stella and expected to live up to her impossible heights of success and winning at everything. It's resolved with a three-part story arc that, rather than everything transformed for Wendy overnight with a happy ending, leaves readers on a hopeful ending that things will now improve for Wendy, but only time will tell.

Another realistic ending was Day and Knight (Princess II/Tammy) https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/2018/0 ... ight-1984/. There's no automatic forgiveness for bully Carrie Knight from the stepsister she bullied, Sharon Day. Sharon doesn't want a bean of her, but she eventually realises she doesn't have much choice because of how it's affecting their parents. So she gives Carrie a second chance, but she comes around to it slowly and reluctantly, which is a nice change from the glib "forgive and forget in an instant" we see so much in girls' comics.

[Tammyfan]

I totally agree about the quality in depth of this story. Looking back, I think it probably had a lot to do with my initial enthusiasm for girls’ comic stories, because it was one of the first serials that I read. I began by buying annuals, and it chanced that one of the first of these was Tammy 1986, where Shirley is reprinted.

And from there you were totally hooked on the story, eh?

I read the original run and was hooked on it too. Shirley was replaced by Linda's Fox https://jintycomic.wordpress.com/?s=linda%27s+fox, which went on to be another of my favourites as it dealt with one of my fascinations, wrongful convictions. The portrayal of the wrongful conviction in the story was realistic: a man falsely convicted on, from the sound of it, the word of an informant and no corroboration whatsoever. Believe it or not, it happens more often than you think. Later I learned the artist wrote the story as well.

Although Mrs Morris can hardly fail to change her tune after Shirley has revived Trisha, there’s no suggestion that the experience has changed her. If it were to happen again, she might well overreact again.

The whole story was a cautionary tale about the dangers of overreacting and not let runaway emotions cloud your judgement. Mrs Morris, Shirley, her parents, Mrs Wilks and Mr Wilks were all guilty of it and between them turned the aftermath of an accident into something far worse than what it should have been.

[Tammyfan]

Shirley’s courageous shopping of Evie (and it was brave, Shirley knew what she was in for when she did it) challenges the other girls to follow her in standing up to Evie’s threats, and in the end they do.

Yes, it was brave, but it was not courage that drove Shirley to do it, it was her excessive guilt complex and taking truth-telling to extremes. If it hadn't been for that, she would have kept quiet like the other frightened girls. In the previous episode we hear Evie cut one girl's clothes to pieces while she was swimming, and from the sound of it, it was because she tried to stand up to her.

I'll bet lack of sleep added to Shirley's overemotional responses and lack of clear thinking. She can't have slept well since Trisha's accident, and it was another reason why she fell asleep on that dangerous cliff.

[Tammyfan]

On the other hand, the shoplifting charge, which is the worst injustice of the lot, isn’t magicked away – it takes a dedicated social worker to ferret out the truth and the matter is still left in some doubt at the end.

Maybe the girls, once they started standing up to Evie, were able to help in some way. For example, if the social worker made enquires at Shirley's school the girls could have told her a few things. At least Hannah, who was more forgiving towards Shirley, would have done so. And once the girls were reconciled with Shirley, maybe they could have put their heads together to help, such as tricking Evie into an admission of guilt and having a secret recorder handy. Or maybe a witness came forward. You never know.

It would have been nice to have had an extra episode to show us the social worker, what she's trying to do, and some of that "long story" Dad cut short by merely telling Shirley the social worker might be able to get the verdict reversed. A closing panel showing Shirley cleared of the charge would have made for an even happier ending, but it might have been a bit pat. Maybe ending the shoplifting saga on an open note was better.

I remember a sequence in "Penny's Place" (Bunty) where the school bully tries to frame one of the protagonists on a shoplifting charge by planting an item in her bag because she has a grudge against her, but she forgot about the security camera, which caught her out. Pity the shop in Shirley Grey didn't have any, which was probably why Evie chose it.

[Tammyfan]

I wonder if the writing of Shirley Grey was connected with "Visions of Happiness", a Strange Story appearing 3 January 1981. It was a month before Shirley herself started, but she would have been waiting in the wings. It's nearing midnight New Year's Eve 1979, which has been an annus horribilis for the protagonist and her family. The worst of it was a wrongful shoplifting charge when a bad girl fooled her into accompanying her up town. She proceeded to shoplift and left the protagonist carrying the can, uh, stolen dress in her bag. Sounds familiar? Our protagonist decides to run away, but as she passes a TV shop midnight strikes. As the chimes ring out, the TV screens show her 1979 woes undergoing a complete reversal in 1980. After seeing this she goes back home, and no sooner has she walked through the door when they all start coming true, just like magic, including the bad girl making a confession and the police agreeing to drop charges. Sadly, Shirley's shoplifting conviction can't be magicked away like that.

[Goof]

It's a curious coincidence. Maybe the Shirley writer did see this story and borrowed the shoplifting incident. But what a contrast otherwise! An all-out feelgood splurge for the Christmas hols - Dickens with TVs!

[Tammyfan]

Also, although Mrs Morris can hardly fail to change her tune after Shirley has revived Trisha, there’s no suggestion that the experience has changed her. If it were to happen again, she might well overreact again.

In the final episode, we get some hint that Shirley still has lessons to learn about overreacting too. She's mulling over the "lives [she's] ruined" with her excessive truth-telling. Come on, Shirley, it did hurt them, but it wouldn't have gone as far as to ruin their lives. Anyway, Shirley soon discovered that time and growing understanding and sympathy for her did wonders, and now she's got helpers like Trisha, Hannah, the doctors and the social worker to help her clear up the mess. As with "Sister in the Shadows", Shirley ends on a hopeful ending, with things starting to come right, but only time will tell if it will be a happily ever after.

[Tammyfan]

It's a curious coincidence. Maybe the Shirley writer did see this story and borrowed the shoplifting incident. But what a contrast otherwise! An all-out feelgood splurge for the Christmas hols - Dickens with TVs!

Perhaps it was the same writer. Both stories would have been prepped weeks in advance of their publication. I might put up scans of this Strange Story when it's time to look at New Year themes in January 2026.

Come to think of it, Grange Hill may have been an influence on this one. There's an episode in 1979 where Cathy Hargreaves (the same surname as the girl in the story) goes off the rails, and the nadir comes when she falls in with a bad lot called Madeline Tanner. But she doesn't realise it until Madeline takes her up town, where she proceeds to shoplift. When the store rumbles the theft and gives chase she slips the stolen item into Cathy's bag, tells them Cathy did it and to look in there. Cathy is fortunate in that the school believes her as they know Madeline has a record. Later, Madeline gets expelled for helping a gang steal bikes at the school.

Tammy seemed to have shoplifting and remand homes (a fate Shirley fears will happen to her) on the brain. Perhaps it was a carryover of My Terrible Twin (1979) (Lindy is paroled from a remand home after serving time for shoplifting, only to fall foul of a shoplifting frame-up at the end of the story) and the 1979 Bella story, where our favourite gymnast is wrongly convicted and sent to a remand home.

[Goof]

Come to think of it, Grange Hill may have been an influence on this one.

Tammy seemed to have shoplifting and remand homes (a fate Shirley fears will happen to her) on the brain.

The influence of TV on these 70’s and 80’s comics seems to me to be rather an underexplored area. After all, we’re talking of a period when there were only three or four TV channels, and a quarter or more of the UK population might watch the same few programmes each night. It’s hardly surprising that trends in TV drama shaped the nature of girls’ comic stories.

The appearance of school soap serials is the most obvious sign of this, but there’s a more pervasive influence as part of the increasing realism of the stories, especially where they deal with poverty, inner city violence, marital breakup and similar social problems. I mentioned before the way the police are characterised, which seems to have been changed for good by Z Cars and the like. Shirley I think shows it in several ways. The awareness of gang-dominated no-go areas in the poor parts of cities, the importance of social workers, who were partly replacing teachers and police as problem solvers for abused or anti-social children, the unresolved shoplifting conviction which leaves a question mark over the ending, and perhaps most significantly the shoplifting incident itself. It’s an example of how involvement with crime, which would at one time have been the ultimate disgrace for heroines, has become more commonplace. Although the conviction is a terrible injustice and stigma for Shirley and a horror for her parents, it’s accepted by other people as a normal incident of life in a way that probably wouldn’t have happened a decade or so earlier. Even Mrs Morris (of all people) shows sympathy for Shirley at the end rather than running a mile from this “criminal” family. The storyline of Bella says it all - one of the most popular heroines of the period spent a large part of her life dodging the coppers. Trust Tammy to lead the way with this trend!

[Tammyfan]

The influence of TV on these 70’s and 80’s comics seems to me to be rather an underexplored area. After all, we’re talking of a period when there were only three or four TV channels, and a quarter or more of the UK population might watch the same few programmes each night. It’s hardly surprising that trends in TV drama shaped the nature of girls’ comic stories.

Ah, you have reminded me that at the time there were only two TV channels in my country and it was not until 1981 or so that our household a colour TV set for them. We did not even have a third channel until 1989. Now we have a multitude of channels, both free watching and paid.

[Tammyfan]

Although the conviction is a terrible injustice and stigma for Shirley and a horror for her parents, it’s accepted by other people as a normal incident of life in a way that probably wouldn’t have happened a decade or so earlier. Even Mrs Morris (of all people) shows sympathy for Shirley at the end rather than running a mile from this “criminal” family.

Says her. Five episodes earlier she was bitching at Shirley and her parents over the shoplifting charge.

[Tammyfan]

"Journey into Fear..." from Misty is another serial where a question mark is left hanging over the ultimate fate of charges against protagonists, in this case Jan Fraser and her brother Kevin. Jan was actually convicted of earlier charges, but being cleared will be even harder than it was for Shirley. Their defence is...it was the power of an evil car, which dragged them both into a Bonnie and Clyde-style run. What court in the world is going to believe that? Their only hope is the police seeing the car move by itself will make them "more understanding".