Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Seven-year-old Jess is removed from her peculiar Pentecostal home and sent to school.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1990) is a British miniseries adapted from Jeanette Winterson's novel, produced for BBC Two and written in three 55-minute episodes. Charlotte Coleman plays Jess, an adopted girl raised in a fervent Pentecostal household in a northern English town, whose devoted mother is played by Geraldine McEwan. When Jess is removed from that rigid home and sent to school, her bright certainty collides with a larger world that does not share her faith or her emerging sense of self. Kenneth Cranham appears as the zealous Pastor Finch, a figure of church authority whose doctrine shapes every corner of the family's life. The engine of the story is a young girl's struggle to hold onto belief while discovering who she truly is, with each episode moving between childhood memory and the present. Told in a retrospective, lyrical manner, the miniseries blends sharp comedy with aching loneliness and quiet defiance. Its 1970s English setting, with its chapel halls, school corridors and cramped domestic interiors, gives the drama a tangible working-class texture. Fans of Heartstopper and Brideshead Revisited will find resonance in its portrait of faith, first love and the cost of belonging. A tender, bittersweet piece of British television drama, it rewards viewers who enjoy intimate coming of age stories.

Critics broadly received the adaptation positively for its emotional honesty and the performances at its center.

• Mum's the Wordcoming of age story of a young girl within a rigid religious community, intimate family drama tone
• Brideshead Revisitedreligious upbringing and faith-driven family dynamics explored through a young protagonist's perspective
• Heartstopperqueer coming of age and resistance to a repressive church-shaped upbringing

Release Date

1990-01-10

Episode runtime

55 min

Rating

7.7 / 10 (27)

What is Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit about?

A young girl raised in a fervent Pentecostal household discovers the wider world and her own identity when she is sent to school.

What is Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.

What did critics think of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit?

Critics broadly received the adaptation positively for its emotional honesty and the performances at its center.

Which shows are like Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit?

Shows with a similar feel include Mum's the Word, Brideshead Revisited, and Heartstopper.

How long is Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit?

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit: 1 season, 3 episodes.

Is Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit still running?

No, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit has ended.