By Rosalind Gibb

Last updated 11:36, Tuesday, 13 May 2008

Roll on summer 2008. Weeks of blue skies, sunshine and sweltering temperatures. Or perhaps not, this being Britain. But one thing we can look forward to is the long-awaited Sex and the City film.

Cue smiles from most girls and groans from most boys (I’ve yet to meet a guy who likes SATC – I think it makes them feel insecure about their own sexual prowess).

I remember watching a couple of the early episodes and being unimpressed by the tacky technique of getting characters to talk to the camera and the seemingly shallow storylines. I didn’t try it again for a couple of years – what a mistake that was!

When I rediscovered SATC, I found it had everything you could want in a TV programme: drama, plenty of bittersweet moments, dry humour, fabulous one-liners and brilliant characters.

Here were real women, albeit leading fabulous lives in Manhattan, but that was part of the fun. They weren’t conventionally beautiful but knew how to shine, and showed there is more to life than the traditional pattern of settling down, getting married and having kids.

SATC surprised and sometimes shocked, and consistently pushed the boundaries of what could be discussed on TV, or indeed between friends. Those with an eye for fashion or a fetish for shoes were treated to the latest Jimmy Choo heels.

There was a character to appeal to everyone: kooky writer Carrie; sweet, optimistic Charlotte; witty career woman Miranda; and sex-mad Samantha who usually got whatever she wanted.

Ultimately, Sex and the City was a celebration of friendship. We followed the group as they comforted and supported each other, amid laughter and tears, through the joy of true love, the pain of separation, marriage, pregnancy, a miscarriage and breast cancer.

Whether the film will live up to the hype remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: those New Yorkers will at least brighten up a rainy summer’s day.