Set in Bradford, Band of Gold introduced viewers to the miserable world of life ‘on the game’.
It featured four women who had taken up prostitution for differing reasons and wrapped their stories around the hunt for the murderer of young mother Gina Dixon, who had turned to the game to pay off a loan shark.
Carol (Cathy Tyson) was the matter-of-fact, hygiene-obsessed one, happy to be shocking the neighbours; Rose (Geraldine James) was the experienced matriarchal figure who continually failed to start a new life; Anita (Barbara Dickson) was selfish and scheming, and misguided teenage blonde Tracy (Samantha Morton) was a drug abuser.
George Ferguson (Tony Doyle) was Anita’s married boyfriend and the villain who made the girls’ life even more difficult.
By the end of the original six-part series, the foursome had decided to leave the grime of “the lane” and set up their own cleaning cooperative, Scrubitt International.
When the series returned for another six episodes a year later, the girls found it difficult to shake off their past on the lane. A new arrival, a sadomasochism specialist named Colette (Lena Headey), joined the throng and more murders ensued, underlining again the programme’s core message, that prostitution is not a glamorous industry (although, contrarily, Bradford police claimed that the series had been responsible for an upsurge in activity in the city’s red-light area).
A third series, of three two-part stories, arrived in 1997. Re-titled Gold, this time only Rose and Carol remained of the original four girls. Rose now had a job as a community liaison officer, working with the police to clean up the streets.
Band Of Gold‘s theme song, a version of Love Hurts, was performed by star Barbara Dickson.
Carol Johnson
Cathy Tyson Rose Garrity
Geraldine James Anita Braithwaite
Barbara Dickson Tracy Richards
Samantha Morton George Ferguson
Tony Doyle Curly
Richard Moore Bob
Anthony Milner Steve Dixon
Ray Stevenson DCI Newall
David Schofield Dez
Ahsen Bhatti Mr Moore
Philip Martin Brown Colette
Lena Headey Joyce Webster
Rachel Davies Smiley
Darren Tighe Vinnie Marshall
Adam Kotz Brian Roberts
Peter Firth Rabbit
Justin Chadwick Brenda Taylor
Margo Gunn Mrs Minkin
Anita Carey Emma Johnson
Laura Kilgallon Alf Black
David Bradley Paula Graham
Janet Dibley DI Cooper
Fiona Allen Chubbs
David Ross Lloyd
Darren Warner Lisa
Jayne Ashbourne Inspector Henryson
Kern Falconer Mr Smithson
Mark Strong
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