Saturday 6 October 2012

The Paradise: Series 1 - Episode 1

This series, an adaption of Emile Zola's novel, is about a young woman, Denise Lovett, who tries to make her mark in the country's first department store, known as The Paradise.
The show works well to show the motivations and skill that Denise has, and to create well established main and supporting characters, with expectation of further development throughout the series. Some of the characters, such as store owner Morey, represent the development of the modern age and its interesting to see how these conflict with the 'old class' characters. Furthermore, the story of Denise trying to make something of herself works well to strike an accord with me.

The set up of the series allows for a lot of areas of exploration. These include the social aspects of the time, as well as a the development of consumerism and the battle between departments stores and the small businesses. Although, they do act as a background to the stories that centre around the characters, but they are well highlighted. Moreover, the sets look superb, with obviously great detail and work done on it.

Joanna Vanderham gives a good performance as the smart and kind Denise, will other members of the cast including Sarah Lancashire, Emun Elliott, Matthew McNulty and Elaine Cassidy, also making their presence felt.

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