S01.E05 - Laura (36)

Series 1, Episode 5: Laura

We’ve been to England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and now we’re in the nation’s capital – London. In the district of Bromley in the city’s south-east. We’re at the council offices, a hive of inactivity, where civil servants do all they can to avoid serving the public in a civil manner. We’re in an anonymous office, looking at a fairly anonymous woman working on a bland file.

She is overweight without being obese, fitting nicely into the ‘well-rounded’ category. Straight brown hair over her shoulders. A roundish face, with dark eyes. She speaks in voice over with a cockney twang to her accent.

“Hello, I’m Laura Norris, and I’m a 36 yr old civil servant from Bromley in Greater London.”

As she is interviewed we cut between shots of her working at her desk, talking to difficult clients on the phone, giving instructions to fellow staff members. She wears what she calls her council face - a sullen, quite negative look. Almost harsh. The model of the hard-nosed public servant. Don’t ask me for anything!

“I’ve been working for the council for longer than I’d like to admit now. The pay is okay, but the job is depressing. Chasing down late payments, referring debts to the local authorities, stuff like that. I spend all day talking to angry people. It’s very frustrating, so I tend to go to my ‘happy place’ whenever I can. I’ll often slip off to the toilets to masturbate during the day, just to relieve the tension. When I do that, that’s when I think about dogs.”

We cut footage of a couple of dogs running around in a public park, and then to Laura walking in that park with a similarly overweight male office worker. Her husband. In these shots she has a quite pleasant smile that really softens her facial features.

“I’ve been married to David for 7 years and he’s a lovely, lovely guy, and I do love him – but ... We don’t have sex much. We used to, but we don’t anymore, not much anyway. And when we do it’s very ‘respectable’. Lights out, under the covers, missionary position. He says he doesn’t want to demean me ... I’ve retreated into sexual fantasies – thinking about stuff and touching myself. I tried to tell him about the things that turn me on ... But he’s such a nicey-nice that he just sort-of pretended I hadn’t said anything.”

Back to images of her at her desk. Clicking at her computer mouse, we can vaguely see the images on the screen are of bestiality.

“I’ve been hanging around internet bestiality forums for a couple of years now, looking at pictures and getting jealous ... Sharing my fantasies with strangers and hoping that I will maybe meet someone with a trained dog, but I don’t know how to break the ice or who to trust. When I saw an advert from the BBC it seemed too good an opportunity to miss.”

David is also interviewed, as are her workmates. They all think she’s going to appear on a show about transformations.

David, “I love her just the way she is. She doesn’t have to change for me.” Disinterested younger female office worker, “She could do with some new clothes. Everything she’s got is pretty boring.” Male office worker, “Is it cosmetic surgery? He could do with some liposuction, maybe do something with her face. Cheekbones or a nose job or something. Some dental work too, whitening her teeth.” Older female officer worker, “I don’t think she needs to change anything about the way she looks or dresses ... I think she takes all of this far too seriously. I think she needs to relax. Lighten up. Have some fun, you know?” Back to David, “Whatever she needs to change her life – I completely support it. I don’t care what it is. If it makes her happy, I want her to do it. Do it twice if she wants to.” He laughs at his generosity.

Laura gives David a hug and kiss goodbye, then gets into her VW Golf and drives north. North all the way to Tyneside. Ready for her ‘life changing experience’.

As she drives North she talks to a fixed camera in the car, providing a running commentary of her thought process. “I don’t understand why it turns me on so much ... I think it’s just because it’s so dirty. So rude. You know, it’s something you shouldn’t do. Ever. Disgusting.”

“First time I watched it, I was like, I was almost throwing up, but I couldn’t stop watching, and I was turned on at the same time. Then all I could think about was ‘what if that was me?’”

“I really like the idea of being that woman. Of being taken by a dog whilst everyone watches. Just being this dirty dirty slag, being used and loving it.”

“I can’t imagine anything sexier, or more erotic, than to be used by a dog, for his pleasure.”

And then she’s on Tyneside, standing outside Pablo’s home, talking direct to our camera. “Hello, my name is Laura Norris, and I want to have sex with a dog.”

And we’re inside the house, saying hello to Pablo, crouching down to say hello and fuss over Rocky. Looking up at camera to say, “Oh, he’s beautiful ... He’s amazing...”

Are you looking forward to having sex with him?

“Yes.” She looks at Rocky, then back at us. “Very much. I think he’s going to give me a good hard fuck!”