Classic UK Series “The Book Group” Is a Refreshing Drink Amidst a Bisexual Drought

Bisexuals have had somewhat of a raw deal. For starters, they have to check twice as many boxes on the “Interested In” portion of their Facebook profiles. Twice as many! Exhausting!

But they're also very underrepresented when it comes to film and television. And with no new episodes of Torchwood (possibly the very pinnacle of bisexual-related TV) until summer 2011, viewers looking for shows with bisexual characters have pretty slim pickings to choose from at the moment.

But thanks to the wondrous contrivance known as Hulu, we have access to The Book Group, a little-known early-2000s UK sitcom with a very unusual bisexual character.

The Book Group takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, and follows a group of literary enthusiasts who meet up weekly to discuss books, though the show is more about their sordid, often bizarre personal lives. The group is diverse in its personalities: there's uptight American import Clare, arrogant, heroin-addicted Barney, and the hilariously overdramatic Janice.

And then, there's Rab.

Rab

Though portrayals of bisexual men throughout history are sparse to begin with, what few characters we've seen have often been depicted as charmingly flamboyant, exceptionally promiscuous deviants, pathological killers, or all of the above.

But The Book Group's Rab (played by Derek Riddell, whom you might recognize as Christina's husband from Ugly Betty) is a definite departure from that stereotype. He's a directionless soccer hooligan (er, sorry, football hooligan) and he's anything but charmingly flamboyant.

The Book Group is a show about people with flaws, and Rab has plenty of those.

For starters, he's closeted, and remains so for just about the entire series (no slow burn Rileyesque coming out story here). And (minor spoiler alert) he's having a secret affair with Jackiea star football athlete (and later, with that same athlete's wife). And on top of all that, he's crass, unambitious and not particularly bright.

But in spite of all this, Rab remains one of the show's more appealing characters. He's passionate and protective of his friends, and even though his bisexuality isn't made apparent to most of the other characters, we do see him grow increasingly comfortable with his own sexuality.

We also see his butt (sort of). So there's that.

If you can cope with the more negative characterizations (and with some incredibly thick Scottish accents), The Book Group is definitely worth watching, and with the entire series available on Hulu, you've got no reason not to at least give it a try.