Lust… and mistrust! BBC strikes gold with this racy new drama: CLAUDIA CONNELL reviews Gold Digger
Gold Digger
BBC 1
Rating: 
No good ever follows when a film or television drama opens with a scene of a woman in a white dress on her wedding day.
In this case the bride was Julia Day, a 60-year-old grandmother, who was about to marry Benjamin Greene, a man about half her age – a union that her family vowed to sabotage.
‘Daughter, wife, mother. The roles I chose… and then you came along and exploded it all,’ said Julia in the opening scene last night before throwing down her engagement ring and driving off. From that moment, it was fair to assume that Gold Digger, the BBC’s torrid new drama, will not have a happy ending.
Julia Ormond (Julia) and Ben Barnes (Benjamin), who starred as Prince Caspian in the film adaptation of The Chronicles Of Narnia, have sizzling chemistry (pictured together on screen)
The first episode ends with Benjamin rehearsing his groom’s speech, an evil glint in his eye as he says ‘…and what’s yours is mine’ (Julia Ormond and Ben Barnes pictured in the new series)
The action then jumped back a year to reveal the story of how the sexy and intelligent but bored and unfulfilled Julia met the mysterious Benjamin, who claimed to be a 35-year-old copywriter.
You could hardly blame her for wanting a little excitement in her life. Her husband of 35 years had dumped her for her best friend, while her three grown-up children were selfish and unpleasant.
Leo, her brat of a youngest son, forgot her 60th birthday, Della, a failed stand-up comedian, missed her flight home for the big day, while Patrick, her lecherous lawyer eldest son, was stuck at work.
No wonder Julia left her fabulous Devon home to spend the day – and night – in London alone. On the train journey the camera homed in on the furrows in Julia’s forehead, her mumsy size-14 figure and liver spots on her hands.
The message – unsubtle though it may have been – was clear: This was a mature woman who looked her age. No Botox or fillers here.
Written by Marnie Dickens, who was behind the BBC’s gripping kidnap series Thirteen, this promises to be a drama that breaks taboos (pictured Nikki Amuka-Bird and Alex Jennings in the new series)
Julia headed to the British Museum, where she once worked, and it was there she met Benjamin. They flirted over a display of 6th century artefacts before he asked if she fancied a drink.
‘I’m not some weird stalker,’ promised Benjamin, something only a weird stalker would say.
Before you could say ‘early bird special’ Julia and Benjamin were in a pub where they played a game of ‘the worst thing I’ve ever done’. Had they played it 24 hours later Julia would have been able to say: ‘Taken a bloke young enough to be my son back to my hotel.’
The next morning the smitten pair walked along London’s South Bank and Julia bought Benjamin an expensive watch.
And there lay the premise of the six-part series: Was Benjamin genuinely interested in wealthy Julia or was he merely a gold-digger?
It’s no surprise which side her horrible children came down on.
‘My kids are going to love you,’ said Julia before the world’s most awkward family dinner. Over lobster, Patrick interrogated Benjamin and concluded he was a conman.
Drama, sexual intrigue and the promise of dark secrets ahead, the series got off to a captivating start (pictured Jemima Rooper in the new series)
There was certainly something creepily odd about Benjamin. He dressed in designer clothes yet never appeared to go to work. He had no social media footprint and was vague and shifty when quizzed about his background. Against the backdrop of Julia and Benjamin’s ‘love’ story was the suggestion of something dark and sinister that had occurred in the Day household years ago.
Written by Marnie Dickens, who was behind the BBC’s gripping kidnap series Thirteen, this promises to be a drama that breaks taboos – with an older, sensuous woman at the centre of the story.
Julia Ormond (Julia) and Ben Barnes (Benjamin), who starred as Prince Caspian in the film adaptation of The Chronicles Of Narnia, have sizzling chemistry. In their first sex scene, Julia is shy and turns the light off. By the time we get to a steamy shower scene, however, all such timidity has vanished. The actors went on (platonic) dates to deepen their connection. Some dates!
The first episode ends with Benjamin rehearsing his groom’s speech, an evil glint in his eye as he says ‘…and what’s yours is mine’.
Drama, sexual intrigue and the promise of dark secrets ahead, the series got off to a captivating start, and will be dissected at dinner parties up and down the country.
It earns a gold star from me.
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