# Band of Gold (1995)

> A group of women who work and live in Bradford's red-light district try to build better lives for themselves and their children.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/8426

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 18
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, crime
- Created by: Kay Mellor
- Network: ITV1
- Cast: Geraldine James, Cathy Tyson, Barbara Dickson, Samantha Morton, Tony Doyle, David Schofield, Rachel Davies, Richard Moore
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111890/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, unsentimental, bleak, warm, wry

## Synopsis

Band of Gold (1995-1997) is a British drama series created by Kay Mellor and broadcast on ITV, produced by Granada Television. Rose Garrity (Geraldine James) and Carol Johnson (Cathy Tyson) lead a group of women who live and work in Bradford's red-light district, with Anita Braithwaite (Barbara Dickson) and Tracy Richards (Samantha Morton) among the other principal figures. The engine of the show is the struggle to earn money, protect children and keep a fragile circle of friends intact while men, police and rival businesses press in from every side. Episodes are built from the pressures of work, family and betrayal rather than a single case, and the series runs for three seasons of six episodes each, with the third series continuing under the name Gold and carrying only a few characters from the first two. Its setting is 1990s northern England, a working class city where vice and ordinary domestic life share the same streets. The tone is gritty and unsentimental, yet warmed by loyalty and humour between its women. Fans of Cracker, Shameless and Queer as Folk will find resonance in its British realism and its frank portrait of marginal lives.

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