Rupaul’s Drag Race has been at the forefront of bringing drag into the mainstream in North America, but this year they’ve expanded the franchise into a market where drag is already public and well-established: the U.K.
In North America, Drag Race has been criticized for promoting a narrow slice of the real-life drag community as “good drag.” This was much more pronounced in earlier seasons, when contestants were docked for not wearing corsets or nails, and the goal set by the judges was clearly to look “fishy” (as much like a hyperfeminine cisgender woman as possible). In recent seasons, looks have been judged more on completeness and strength of concept, but the finished, femme aesthetic still reigns supreme.
By contrast, U.K. drag is influenced by the U.K.’s history of pantomime and the fact that pubs in the U.K. are more family-friendly than North American bars and clubs. In the U.S. and Canada, the first drag queens who entered the mainstream usually styled themselves as “female impersonators” to be more comprehensible to audiences unfamiliar with drag, but U.K. drag queens have never been widely subject to that expectation. U.K. drag tends to be more about comedy and original songs than the lip syncs and pageants that are American drag staples.
The debut season of Drag Race UK seems to have a mix of queens who go for a more traditional pub show performance and queens who go for the glamour and polish American fans have come to expect, arguably thanks to ***Rupaul’s Drag Race. But, if the queens have been told to tailor their performances both on and off the runway to meet the expectations of American fans, it doesn’t show at all. Not only has the drag been different, but so have the queens.
In the age-old tradition of British things with American equivalents, Drag Race UK is way more relaxed, to the point that it’s messing with the format. The show was clearly cast the same way as the original; the season opened with some familiar sacrificial lambs — for example, Scaredy Kat was 19 when the season was filmed, had been doing drag for less than a year, and didn’t make it past the second episode. However, it’s obvious that the editors have had trouble setting up the dramatic arcs that they usually use.
Traditionally, one or two contestants in a season have been singled out with a villain edit, getting deliberately framed as antagonistic, especially toward another queen who receives a more favourable narrative and a strong storyline; usually this second queen is the favourite to win. The idea of the villain edit has been contentious, with judge Michelle Visage vehemently denying that editing is responsible when queens come out looking bad, but it’s something that fans have picked up on, and it’s something that’s been distinctly absent this season. In fact, there has been less conflict in general.
In episode four, Baga Chipz and Divina De Campo were both planning to impersonate former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for one of the most anticipated challenges of every season: the Snatch Game. Snatch Game mimics an old-fashioned panel show with each queen doing improv comedy while impersonating a specific public figure. It’s a crucial challenge, and in American ***Drag Race, vying for the same character as somebody else is framed as grounds for a fight to the death with one person clearly in the wrong. In ***Drag Race UK, Baga asserts that she’d be the better Maggie — and then Divina agrees, chooses to be Julia Child instead, and gives Baga the costume she had been planning to wear before they give each other a kiss on the cheek.
Similarly, the remarks that get the shade sound effect, indicating that someone has said something catty, wouldn’t even make it into the American show.
That being said, Drag Race UK is no less entertaining than the original. It’s nice watching people have fun, and if you mostly enjoy Drag Race for the one-liners and the costumes, you won’t be disappointed. The U.K. queens are every bit as talented, funny, and creative as their American counterparts, and they’ve kept up with the show’s steep learning curve. If you’re not yet a Drag Race fan, and the drama and flamboyance of the original is intimidating, you can still get in on the ground floor of Drag Race UK; it’s sure to ease you in.
