Make-up & mayhem
AGE BEFORE BEAUTY BBC1, 9pm
THIS promising new drama comes from Poldark writer Debbie Horsfield. But instead of 18th-century Cornwall, we’re in modern-day Manchester, in the world of Botox, fillers and cosmetic surgery.
At its heart, it’s a family saga – three generations of one family who all work in a beauty salon, and their unconventional relationships. There are affairs, betrayals, family feuds and a whole lot of intrigue.
If it sounds a bit familiar, there are definite hints of Horsfield’s first foray into BBC drama, Cutting It, a show set in a Manchester hair salon back in 2002, which also starred James Murray.
In fact, the Mirrorbel salon is even located on the exact same street.
There’s a cracking cast assembled – Polly Walker is Bel, the former salon owner who gave it up to be a mum but now, with her twins off to university, finds herself with an empty nest and in need of a project.
James Murray is her husband, Wes, a kitchen fitter who’s soon working on a much younger woman’s interiors, and Robson Green is their beloved best friend Teddy, who seems too good to be true (and is). Sue Johnston plays Bel’s wild-child mum Ivy-rae – the most youthful of them all, despite her age – and Lisa Riley, Vicky Myers and Kelly Harrison play her wildly differing sisters.
After being persuaded to return to work to save the business, Bel soon realises the salon’s not the only thing in her life which might be headed for the scrapheap…