{ "id": "epw3sdc967", "slug": "business-as-usual", "title": "Business as Usual", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s", "label": "Drama films 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s.yr-1986-1989", "label": "Released 1986 to 1989", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s.yr-1986-1989" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000: Drama films 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s", "label": "Drama films 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Business as Usual is a 1987 British social realist drama directed by Lezli-An Barrett, starring Glenda Jackson, based on the 1983 Audrey White sexual harassment case; it won the 1988 Créteil Grand Prix.", "snippet": "Business as Usual is a 1987 British social realist drama directed by Lezli-An Barrett, starring Glenda Jackson, based on the 1983 Audrey White sexual harassment case; it won the 1988 Créteil Grand Prix.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-1980s.yr-1986-1989", "markdown": "# Business as Usual\n\n**Business as Usual** is a 1987 British social realist drama film written and directed by Lezli-An Barrett, starring [Glenda Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenda-jackson), John Thaw, and [Cathy Tyson](https://www.edgepedia.org/cathy-tyson), about a Liverpool shop manageress who is sacked after confronting sexual harassment and fights for reinstatement through her union.[1](https://www.genderequalitiesat50.ed.ac.uk/timeline/business-as-usual-sexual-harassment-on-screen/) It was based on the real-life case of Audrey White, who in 1983 fought for reinstatement after reporting sexual harassment at a chain of Lady at Lord John boutiques in Liverpool.[1](https://www.genderequalitiesat50.ed.ac.uk/timeline/business-as-usual-sexual-harassment-on-screen/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writers | Written and directed by Lezli-An Barrett, co-written with Audrey White[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/) |\n| Release | September 1987 (UK); October 21, 1988 (United States)[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/) |\n| Running time | 89 minutes[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/) |\n| Production companies | The Cannon Group, Film Four International, Channel Four Films[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/) |\n| Principal cast | Glenda Jackson (Babs Flynn), John Thaw (Kieran Flynn), Cathy Tyson (Josie Patterson)[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/) |\n| Award | Grand Prix, 1988 Créteil International Women's Film Festival[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/awards) |\n| Real-life basis | The 1983 Audrey White case at Lady at Lord John boutiques, Liverpool[1](https://www.genderequalitiesat50.ed.ac.uk/timeline/business-as-usual-sexual-harassment-on-screen/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nBabs Flynn (Glenda Jackson) is the manager of a Liverpool boutique. The harassed clerk, Josie (Cathy Tyson), cannot afford to quit the job she has come to hate.[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-21-ca-4181-story.html) Babs's husband Kieran (John Thaw), a former trade union convener, has been unemployed for three years after his factory closed, and the film follows the different approaches suggested by her unemployed husband and her left-wing son as she takes her cause to the union.[5](https://20thcenturyflicks.co.uk/movie/5884) • [6](https://www.left-horizons.com/2023/03/09/20627/) The picketing of the shop and Babs's fight for reinstatement become a national media event.[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-21-ca-4181-story.html)\n\n## Real-life basis and legal context\n\nBarrett researched legal cases of workplace sexual harassment and interviewed victims and their families while developing the film. The Lady at Lord John case against a Liverpool boutique particularly interested her because it involved union action and support for the victim, and these cases and interviews became the basis for her adaptation and fictionalisation.[7](https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/files/21716246/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_BARRETT_Lezli_An_2017.pdf) Audrey White served as a consultant on the movie.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/business_as_usual)\n\nThe film emerged while the relevant law was still in flux: not until 1986 did Section 4A of the Public Order Act gain coverage of harassment, and Section 5 establish harassment as an offense, and Barrett sought to put on screen a case in which a union was involved.[7](https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/files/21716246/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_BARRETT_Lezli_An_2017.pdf) The Gender Equalities at Work project notes that the film was unusual for its time in highlighting how sexual and racial harassment overlapped for women of color, and the significance of age, low pay, and precarious employment in limiting women's options.[1](https://www.genderequalitiesat50.ed.ac.uk/timeline/business-as-usual-sexual-harassment-on-screen/)\n\n## Production and funding\n\n**A woman-directed debut.** Business as Usual was Lezli-An Barrett's first feature film.[9](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1249/1/WRAP_THESIS_Lehin_2003.pdf) It was produced with co-financing from [Channel 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/channel-4) and Cannon, and Barrett stated that without the co-financing support of Channel 4 her film almost certainly would not have been made.[10](https://pure.port.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/5622449/ThesisdraftFinalEditCorrectedBoundFinal2.pdf) Cannon's investment in the film was part of a total of £1.8 million across only two indigenous British productions, the other being Harry Hook's The Kitchen Toto.[11](https://era.ed.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/970388c7-6f0c-4971-8e53-2892d851feb7/content)\n\nBarrett acted as screenwriter and producer during development, screenwriter and director during production, and producer during release and distribution. Cannon Films went bankrupt weeks before the film's release, and when Barrett tried to place her next projects with British producers she found them unreceptive.[12](https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/21716246/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_BARRETT_Lezli_An_2017.pdf) The film's female direction and production team were noted as unusual at the time and even now.[1](https://www.genderequalitiesat50.ed.ac.uk/timeline/business-as-usual-sexual-harassment-on-screen/)\n\n## Cast and reception\n\nThe cast also included [Mark McGann](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-mcgann), Stephen McGann, Craig Charles, Stephen Dillane, and James Hazeldine.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/) • [12](https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/21716246/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_BARRETT_Lezli_An_2017.pdf) Glenda Jackson, who entered Parliament as a Labour MP in 1992, made this picture the second-to-last film of her career, quipping on set that she was rehearsing for her forthcoming job in Parliament.[12](https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/21716246/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_BARRETT_Lezli_An_2017.pdf)\n\nKevin Thomas, reviewing for the Los Angeles Times in October 1988, called the film an unsparing account of what it was like to be working-class in Thatcher's England, praising Jackson's \"crisp, warm portrayal of Babs, complete with Liverpudlian accent\" and Barrett's handling of racism, police brutality, and anti-labor policies alongside sexual harassment.[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-21-ca-4181-story.html) [Hilary Mantel](https://www.edgepedia.org/hilary-mantel), writing in [The Spectator](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-spectator), judged that the film suffered from \"a fatal lack of tension\".[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/business_as_usual) The film's gross in the United States was $28.0K.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/business_as_usual)\n\n## Legacy\n\nThe film won the Grand Prix at the 1988 Créteil International Women's Film Festival.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/awards) It was later purchased as part of the MGM classic collection and more recently by the digital classic cinema distributor Park Circus, and it was selected for screening at festivals including Montreal, Melbourne, Sydney, London, Edinburgh, Los Angeles, and Berlin.[12](https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/21716246/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_BARRETT_Lezli_An_2017.pdf) Critics have placed it in the British social-realist tradition centered on working-class women's stories, and it has been used as a case study of how women organized industrial action and how their involvement was perceived by men.[9](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1249/1/WRAP_THESIS_Lehin_2003.pdf) The Gender Equalities at Work project describes it as a film that challenged the dominant narrative about sexual harassment and highlighted women's diverse voices and experiences.[1](https://www.genderequalitiesat50.ed.ac.uk/timeline/business-as-usual-sexual-harassment-on-screen/)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Business as Usual: 'sexual harassment' on screen, Gender Equalities at Work, University of Edinburgh](https://www.genderequalitiesat50.ed.ac.uk/timeline/business-as-usual-sexual-harassment-on-screen/)\n2. [Business as Usual (1987), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/)\n3. [Business as Usual (1987) - Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092711/awards)\n4. [Kevin Thomas, \"Humor and Anger in 'Business as Usual'\", Los Angeles Times, October 21, 1988](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-10-21-ca-4181-story.html)\n5. [Business as Usual (1987), 20th Century Flicks](https://20thcenturyflicks.co.uk/movie/5884)\n6. [Mark Langabeer, \"Film Review: Business as Usual\", Left Horizons, March 2023](https://www.left-horizons.com/2023/03/09/20627/)\n7. [Lezli-An Barrett, PhD thesis, University of Western Australia, 2017](https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/files/21716246/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_BARRETT_Lezli_An_2017.pdf)\n8. [Business as Usual, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/business_as_usual)\n9. [Lehin thesis, University of Warwick, 2003](https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/1249/1/WRAP_THESIS_Lehin_2003.pdf)\n10. [Laura Mayne, \"Channel 4 and British Film: An Assessment of Industrial and Cultural Impact, 1982-1998\", PhD thesis, University of Portsmouth, 2014](https://pure.port.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/5622449/ThesisdraftFinalEditCorrectedBoundFinal2.pdf)\n11. [Edinburgh thesis on Channel 4 and independent production](https://era.ed.ac.uk/server/api/core/bitstreams/970388c7-6f0c-4971-8e53-2892d851feb7/content)\n12. [Lezli-An Barrett, \"The Pyjama Girl\", PhD thesis, University of Western Australia, 2017](https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/21716246/THESIS_DOCTOR_OF_PHILOSOPHY_BARRETT_Lezli_An_2017.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1980s › Released 1986 to 1989*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/business-as-usual", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/business-as-usual.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Business as Usual\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/business-as-usual. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Business as Usual](https://www.edgepedia.org/business-as-usual)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/business-as-usual](https://www.edgepedia.org/business-as-usual). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Business as Usual\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/business-as-usual. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Business as Usual is a 1987 British social realist drama directed by Lezli-An Barrett, starring Glenda Jackson, based on the 1983 Audrey White sexual harassment case; it won the 1988 Créteil Grand Prix." }