Age Before Beauty (BBC-1 2017, Robson Green, Polly Walker)

Filming starts next week on the new Debbie Horsfield drama Age Before Beauty, a family saga set in a Manchester salon starring Robson Green (Granchester), Sue Johnston (Downton Abbey), Polly Walker (Paranoid) and James Murray (Him).

The six-part BBC One drama, written by Horsfield (Poldark, Cutting It) and made by Mainstreet Pictures, is an exploration of youth, age, instant gratification and long-term relationships set within the beauty industry. At its heart is an unconventional family rife with sibling rivalries and unconventional parenting through the generations.

Also starring in the series are Lisa Riley (Three Girls), Kelly Harrison (The Level),Vicky Myers (The Five) and Madeleine Mantock (Into the Badlands).

Married to Wesley (Murray) for 25 years, Bel (Walker) has spent the last 18 years as a homemaker and mum to their twins, but having just waved them off to university, now has a void in her life. Enter Teddy (Green), brother-in-law and long-time best friend, begging her to step in and rescue the family business – a down-at-heel beauty salon in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Like Bel, it could do with a bit of a face-lift. And possibly a clear-out, since it employs her high-maintenance family: mother Ivy-Rae played by Johnston (Northern Soul fanatic and spray tan technician), sisters Leanne (Harrison – part-time nail technician, part-time personal stylist), Tina (Riley -body artist aka tattooist) and Heidi (Myers – fillers and Botox, Cosmetic Surgery addict) mother to Disney, plump, seven year old wannabe Pageant Queen.

Into the mix comes beautiful 20-something Personal Trainer Lorelei (Mantock) who seems to have caught Wes’s eye… can Bel reconcile the demands of her business, her warring family and the problems in her marriage?

Executive Producer and Joint MD at Mainstreet Pictures, Sally Haynes, says: “It’s a tribute to Debbie Horsfield’s beautifully written characters that we have attracted such a brilliant cast to Age Before Beauty”.

Laura Mackie, Executive Producer and Joint MD at Mainstreet Pictures, says: “We can’t wait to start filming Debbie’s wonderful multi-generational drama with such a fantastic mix of new and familiar faces”.

cast
Robson Green as Teddy
Sue Johnston as Ivy-Rae
Polly Walker as Bel
James Murray as Wesley
Lisa Riley as Tina
Kelly Harrison as Leanne
Vicky Myers as Heidi
Madeleine Mantock as Lorelei

key behind the scenes crew
Debbie Horsfield as Writer/Executive Producer
Laura Mackie as Executive Producer
Sally Haynes as Executive Producer
Elizabeth Kilgarriff as Executive Producer
Guy De Glanville as Producer
Paul Norton Walker as Director

show type
Drama

broadcast from
Currently in production
6×60 minute episodes

network and production companies
BBC One – Mainstreet