An enjoyable, sexy & sassy drama (Mistresses)

Member Name: Great_reviewer07

Product:	Mistresses
Date:	27/03/09 (189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good acting, gritty storylines

Disadvantages: Some weak storylines

Mistresses is a TV drama shown on BBC1 that started early last year and ran for 6 episodes. The second series has just finished.

Mistresses revolves around 4 female friends all in their 30's and 40's. The show follows their lives as they go through relationships, children, death & everything in between!

The show consists of four main characters:

Katie Roden played by Sarah Parish. Sarah Parish is probably the most recognisable actress out of the group (well the only one I recognised anyway) she appeared in the drama series Cutting It a few years back & also had a small part in the Kate Winslet film The holiday. Katie Roden, in the first series is a well respected GP. Her friends all think that she's been single for a while but in reality she's having an affair with one of her patients, this isn't just a simple love affair though, not only is the man in question married but he's also terminally ill. Katie grants his wishes by helping him to die. When he passes away she's left to grieve in secret, however his son finds out about the affair & comes to his local GP looking for help in finding him. Katie panics, knowing that she risks losing her job if people find out about the affair and what she did for her lover. Katie tries to help him, obviously knowing that she's leading him up the garden path but the two bond and eventually start an affair of their own. All that's left is for Sam to discover that it's Katie who was sleeping with his Dad...

In the second series, after losing her job because of the affair Katie becomes an intern at a local hospital in which she meets Dan, a good looking heart surgeon. The two begin a relationship & Dan seems like the perfect guy. The only problem is Jack, Jack is another surgeon at the hospital who also happens to be Katie's first love from 20 years ago, Jack's married with kids but that doesn't matter to him as he's never truly gotten over Katie and now he has another chance, so will Katie give into temptation?

Trudi Malloy played by Sharon Small. She's appeared in Dear Frankie & About A Boy. Trudi is a busy Mum to two young girls, her beloved husband was tragically killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and years on Trudi is still not over it. Paul was the love of her life. Trudi has only just received compensation for her husband's death, something which she's not interested in but it's a substantial sum of money and her friends persuade her to keep it. Trudi begins receiving prank phone calls, something which she dismisses as kids at first but when they keep happening she becomes convinced that Paul's still alive although her friends convince her that she's imagining things. Trudi later meets a woman who informs her that she & Paul were having an affair in America when he died and that they have a son together, she believes that she's entitled to half of Trudi's compensation. Trudi reluctantly agrees but when she follows the woman she finds out that her husband Paul is infact still alive and well, he faked his own death so he didn't have to deal with leaving his wife & kids and could also claim the compensation. Trudi needs to decide what to do, whether to call the police or take him back into her & her daughter's lives.

In the second series Trudi is still in a relationship with Richard and the two end up getting engaged. This is until she finds substantial amounts of money missing from Richard's bank account & when she innocently asks where it went he gets suspiciously snappy with her. However when she follows him she finds out where the money is really going and is shocked to say the least. Richard had claimed that his wife had run off & left him but that wasn't exactly the truth & Trudi discovers to her dismay.

Siobhan Dhillon played by Orla Brady. You'll recognise her from Shark, Revelations & Proof. Siobhan, in the first series is happily married to Hari, they've been together for 10 years are currently trying for a baby although they're having difficulty. When the results comes back that Hari will find it hard to conceive it shatters both their worlds. Siobhan is a successful lawyer and when she becomes a bit too close to comfort with her colleague Dominic things get messy when she lands up pregnant. What are the chances that it's Hari's?

In the second series Siobhan & Hari are still together but their relationship is rocky to say the least. Hari is still finding it hard to forgive Siobhan for her infidelity, the two don't even share a bed anymore. It's not long before Siobhan's up to her old tricks again, one night stands with men she doesn't know and will never contact again afterwards, that is until she sleeps with the wrong man who turns out to be her new client at work. Although that isn't the only twist in the tale...

Finally there's Jessica played by Shelly Conn, you'll recognise her from Dead Set, Party Animals & Raw. Jessica is the youngest of the group & the most wild. She doesn't do relationships. She's known as a bit of a man-eater. Jessica is a wedding planner and when she's put in charge of organising a lesbian wedding she discovers that she may not be as straight as she thought she was as she finds herself falling for Alex.

In the second series Jessica is back to men and is marrying millionaire businessman mark. The two are very similar in that they love one night stands. The two agree that they'll have an 'open' relationship but when that becomes too much for Jessica she tries to convince Mark that they only need each other. Monogamy doesn't come naturally to him, however he does love her and tries his best, of course with a few slip ups along the way.

When Mistresses started last year for the first series I was immediately hooked, the storylines were strong and the acting was great, you really felt for all the characters. I think the best storyline in the first series was Trudi's it was a shock to me when her not so dead husband walked passed her and you could really all the emotions that she was feeling. I do feel that the other three stories were a tad predictable, especially Siobhan's but that doesn't make them any less entertaining and I would highly recommend this to anyone.

I've heard lots of comparisons to Sex & The City but I personally think this is completely different. Yes it's about 4 middle aged women & their relationships but I think the similarities end there. To begin with Sex And The City is a comedy whereas Mistresses is a drama series. The story's are a lot stronger and more involved whereas SATC focuses more on the sex and comedy.

I did feel that the first series was stronger than the first one, the storylines seemed to be better thought out and more involved. I feel that in series one Trudi was given the best storyline by far as I had been trying to guess what was going to happen after she got the money, my money was on Richard so I'm glad that they went in another direction.

Series two is still a cut above a lot of other drama series but unfortunately it didn't quite have that special something that the first one did. I feel that the first series had more effort put into it and could have taken a lot longer to write the storylines whereas series two only had a year and I think that was part of it's downfall, it feels a bit rushed. I think that in series two Siobhan had the best storyline, when the man she sleeps with turns up at her office you can feel her angst towards him and I think Orla Brady plays her character brilliantly. The twist in episode five was really good and also very unexpected. In the last episode everything seems to come to a conclusion way too quickly, part of the reason for this is that there was only 6 episodes, I feel that if they increased it to 8 or maybe even 10 they could have spaced it out a bit better without having to condense four storyline conclusions into an hour. I think it's a shame that this show is only given 6 hours to work with when there's dreadful programmes like Doctor Who on TV that seem to run endlessly.

I've heard that there's going to be a third series of Mistresses next year which I'm genuinely looking forward to however I hope that the girls are given better storylines to work with next time and the number of episodes is increased. Another thing that I feel would give this programme a new lease of life would be better looking males!

The acting is good and the four female leads have excellent chemistry with each other, you really believe that they're close friends and when you see them laughing and joking it reminds you of your own friends.

I think that a lot of people have brushed this show under the carpet by calling this a Sex And The City rip-off which I think is wrong. This programme isn't just aimed at middle aged women either, I'm 19 and I thoroughly enjoyed it and I know that my Dad watches this too so it can be one for the men too!

I'd highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good gritty drama that contains unexpected twists and turns.

Series one is available from play.com for only £6.99 which contains all 6 episodes and contains a 'Making The Documentary' special feature.

Series two is available from play.com for £12.99, it's released on the 30th so you can pre-order it. However if you want to buy both series together you can, the box set of series one & two will cost you £17.99 which really isn't a lot compared to some box sets. I would highly recommend going for the two series box set.

Summary: A must-see