Product: Band of Gold: The Complete First Series
Rating: 5.0
Gritty
These women do not have lives like the "Pretty Woman" movie. Working "the lane" in this working class area is not glamorous or easy. In addition to the usual problems with stingy or creepy clients, judgmental neighbors, the local vice squad and, in some cases, abusive pimps, the women have to worry about a killer who is targeting prostitutes.The drama centers around a group of four women (three prostitutes and a kept mistress who rents out rooms for the prostitutes to use) who befriend Gina, a single mother who turns to prostitution to pay off the loan shark who is threatening her. Just short of the amount she needs for the current arrears, Gina goes on the lane alone and gets into a car with the wrong man. Her murder is the unifying thread in the series.The performances are quite good. The actors more familiar to American audiences are Samantha Morton, who plays a teenage runaway, and Geraldine James, who plays an older prostitute trying to compete with the younger women. Cathy Tyson does a marvelous job as a single mother whose work triggers cleaning binges.I wish the next two seasons (or series in British lingo) were available so I could see what happens next for these women.