1 min read
Manchester provides the suitably stylish backdrop for a hotly-anticipated new BBC ONE drama set in the beauty industry.
Written by acclaimed local screenwriter Debbie Horsfield, Age Before Beauty was filmed in and around the city’s bohemian Northern Quarter, which became home to the fictional Mirrorbel Beauty Salon during filming in summer 2017. Other locations include The Principal Hotel and Revolucion de Cuba.
The six-part drama follows the machinations of an unconventional family played by a stellar cast, including Robson Green, Sue Johnston, Polly Walker and James Murray. Other cast members include Lisa Riley, Vicky Myers, Kelly Harrison and Louie Threlfall.
Horsfield says Age Before Beauty provided an opportunity for her to explore the growth of the anti-ageing side of the beauty industry since her acclaimed 2001 hairdressing drama series, Cutting It.
“The anti-ageing side of the beauty industry had exploded in those intervening years so we thought it would be interesting to explore the impact on three generations of one family by using it as the backdrop to our saga,” she says.
“Age Before Beauty explores the expectations we have and the ‘rules’ we create about what people are ‘allowed’ to do at any given age.”
Born in Eccles and still living in Manchester, Horsfield has more recently been working on the hit TV series Poldark.
Age Before Beauty is on BBC One, at 9pm, from Tuesday, 31 July.
For more from the Age Before Beauty cast, watch Visit Manchester’s interviews with Louis Threlfall, who plays Tyler, Kelly Harrison, who plays Leanne Roxton, and Vicky Myers, who plays Heidi Regan.
