- Radio Times
- Review by:
- Alison Graham
Plucky Denise rallies the disconsolate independent traders on Tollgate Street and comes up with a plan to take on the might of The Paradise. How about a co-operative, she suggests, with the men pooling their resources to win custom from the department store.
But spoilt brat Katherine Glendenning arrives at The Paradise with her posse and sets blazing trends. Where she leads, others follow, as the sheep-like ladies of this unnamed town quickly buy whatever Katherine buys, including some hideous black fabric that causes a sensation.
It’s the penultimate episode of Bill Gallagher’s soft drama and it’s yet another perfect ball of TV candy floss spun from the twin delights of romance and shopping. It’s such a sugary confection, there’s really no point in the murky subplot involving creepy Jonas, which has obviously been grafted on to give a smidgen of “edge”. But it’s superfluous.
About this programme
7/8. Denise is no longer employed at the Paradise and takes her ideas to the Tollgate Street Traders, hoping to increase their profits and compete against the power of the department store. But with the shopkeepers bickering among themselves, she resorts to subterfuge against her former employers. Katherine attempts to make her presence felt, but with Moray's feelings toward Denise growing, she has to act fast to secure her man, while Pauline sets out to seduce a befuddled Sam. Joanna Vanderham, Emun Elliott and Elaine Cassidy star.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Lord Glendenning
- Patrick Malahide
- Katherine Glendenning
- Elaine Cassidy
- Charles Chisholm
- David Bamber
- Denise
- Joanna Vanderham
- Edmund Lovett
- Peter Wight
- Pauline
- Ruby Bentall
- Clara
- Sonya Cassidy
- Sam
- Stephen Wight
- Moray
- Emun Elliott
- Carruthers
- Cliff Burnett
- Jackson
- Ian McLaughlin
- Buldock
- Darren Beaumont
- Jonas
- David Hayman
- Dudley
- Matthew McNulty
- Miss Audrey
- Sarah Lancashire
- Arthur
- Finn Burridge
- Able
- Paul Nicholson
Crew
- Director
- Marc Jobst
- Producer
- Simon Lewis
- Writer
- Katie Baxendale
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