The Paradise (Tue, 9pm, BBC1)Drawing from the ‘Downton’ well, the Beeb’s latest costume drama is even more comforting and snuggly than the adventures of stuffy Matthew, Lady Mary and company. Set in 1875, this finds country mouse Denise arriving in the Big (Northern) City for a job at her uncle’s humble draper’s. But the shop is right across the street from one of those giant, new-fangled department stores, The Paradise, which is crippling his ...
more The Paradise (Tue, 9pm, BBC1)Drawing from the ‘Downton’ well, the Beeb’s latest costume drama is even more comforting and snuggly than the adventures of stuffy Matthew, Lady Mary and company. Set in 1875, this finds country mouse Denise arriving in the Big (Northern) City for a job at her uncle’s humble draper’s. But the shop is right across the street from one of those giant, new-fangled department stores, The Paradise, which is crippling his business, which in turn means that he cannot hire his neice. Instead, Denise is taken on by the big store, where she catches the eye of the dashing owner Moray, getting up the nose of her new colleague Clara and possibly scuppering the grand plan for Moray to marry wealthy Lady Katherine and secure the store’s financial future. Joanna Vanderham, seen in Martina Cole’s ‘The Runaway’, is the tough but sweet heroine, Emun Elliott the bounderish shop owner, Sonya Cassidy the sniping co-worker and Elaine Cassidy the rich aristo. Everyone gives good costume in this eight-part drama from ‘Lark Rise To Candleford’ writer Bill Gallagher.
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