Customer Reviews

Band of Gold: The Complete First Series

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

This is one of the best British series I had ever seen. I was sick to see they have a second and third series, which they have not made available on region 1 to be viewed in U.S. I hope maybe one day it will become available. I adore British movies and the British series, and Band of Gold series 1 is at the top of my list. If you love suspense you'll love this show.

Band of Gold takes the viewer into the world of prostitution, and what drives women into that life. As murders begin to occur many fingers are pointed toward many individuals, from those on high to those one step from the gutter. I felt such a sense of pity for these ladies, but admired their fortitude and how they were so loyal to each other. I look forward to additional series.

for the people that would like to buy Band of Gold season 2 and 3 Play.com has it . I have watched all seasons when it was on television and it is the greatest

Intelligent if slightly awkward melding of a gritty, sad drama of life of the street for working class
prostitutes, and a somewhat more melodramatic and soapy (if sometimes quite tense) serial killer
thriller.

Unlike `Klute' where the world of hustling and thriller melded seamlessly, here there is a bit more
schizophrenia between the elements. For me, the crime sections, while sometimes effective, were
also quite familiar, and felt like TV and movies I'd seen many times before, whereas the portrait of
the day to day lives of hustlers felt like much more interesting and less often explored in a
non-exploitive way. The killings and investigation feel oddly grafted on.

There are actually two more seasons of this series, but we only got this first 6 part mini-series here
in the states.