5 Watch forbidden love
GOLD DIGGER Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm WHAT IS IT?
Six-part drama about a woman falling in love with a much younger man, and the effect it has on her already damaged family.
WHAT’S THE STORY?
Julia Day (Julia Ormond) wakes up on her 60th birthday alone – the first she’s spent by herself in the 35 years since she was married to Ted (Alex Jennings), before he left her.
WHAT HAPPENS?
Feeling adrift, Julia’s at a low ebb when she happens upon a young man in a museum, Benjamin (Ben Barnes). The pair get talking and before she’s quite sure what’s happening they’re beginning a whirlwind romance. All that’s left to do – introduce him to her children.
HOW DOES THAT GO?
They are suspicious of this younger man’s motives, and soon start plotting how to remove him.
HOW DO I KNOW JULIA ORMOND?
Ormond is best-known for her film roles, including Sabrina and Legends Of The Fall, as well as her TV work including Mad Men and Howards End.
WRITER MARNIE DICKENS EXPLAINS:
“Gold Digger is a contemporary relationship thriller about second chances, family and betrayal. It tells the story of Julia Day, a woman turning 60, feeling increasingly adrift from her children and like she’s not sure of her place in the world any more.
JULIA ORMOND SAYS:
“This drama has been described as a domestic noir, which I thought was very accurate. There is a grittiness to the tone mixed with moments that feel quite pedestrian and normal, very English – there are lots of cups of tea – but at the same time it becomes quite searing. It doesn’t shy away from the darker things people are dealing with as individuals and, at the same time, there’s this beautiful kind of dance that they’re all doing as family, in terms of what they’re withholding from each other privately, and the private agonies that are going on within. There is also something quite extraordinary about the way Marnie has written the impact of trauma on this family. There is something about trauma and how people deal with it in their lives that has a long-term effect and impact on their ability to love, love themselves and love someone else.”