Michael Landes

Review: Surviving Christmas with the Relatives

The feature is a twee British production that ticks the boxes, yet unfortunately fails to deliver anything particularly new when competing in the unforgiving market of Christmas movies.

Another adaptation of Imogen Edwards-Jones Babylon books, this one "peeks up the skirts" of the fashion industry - and finds it's wearing no knickers. The story is your typical fairy tale. Talented young designer Ali Redcliffe (Leonora Crichlow) works for Davina Bailey (a splendid-looking Dervla Kirwan, all red lipstick and pearls), an international fashionista who has no qualms about taking the credit for her staff's hard work. Eventually, Ali teams up with Marco (Michael Landes), a mercurial entrepreneur with a dodgy reputation, and sets herself up in direct competition to Davina. I think we can all see where this is going. It's glamorous, bitchy, frothy and utterly shallow. Kirwan does her best to out-ice Meryl Streep's glacial performance in The Devil Wears Prada and everyone else does their best to look ravishingly gorgeous. So... Hotel Babylon with Manolo Blahniks on.

Remember last year when the BBC revealed it was making a sister show to Hotel Babylon, based on author Imogen Edwards-Jones book Fashion Babylon? This is the result, although the channel has wisely renamed the show.

Because while Hotel Babylon was a guilty pleasure - and tackier than melted tar - the first episode of this sparky comedy drama is something for the cast and crew to be proud of.

It centres on fashion designer Ali Redcliffe (Being Human's Lenora Crichlow) who when we meet her is working for the fabulously ghastly diva designer, Davina Bailey (Dervla Kirwan) - imagine a British sister of Ugly Betty's manipulative Wilhelmina crossed with Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

Fed up when Davina stabs her in the back yet again Ali quits and, with the help of a Mr Moneybags, starts up her own label.

Ali is an instantly likeable character so you wish her well. But she's soon caught between doing the right thing and being a success.

Helping - or hindering - her along the way are a string of wonderful characters, including her unscrupulous business partner, Marco (Love Soup's Michael Landes), a light-fingered, gum-chewing receptionist and a trio of friends. And, of course, her former boss - who is incredibly peeved by her protege going it alone.

We're talking Prada handbags at dawn, darlings.

Blog Review

So how would Love Soup continue now that Michael Landes (Gil) has left? The idea that Alice had another soul-mate out there whose life mirrored hers was too ridiculous to contemplate, and so the writer has put his faith in Tamsin Grieg and essentially made this her own show. So without 'the gimmick', is Love Soup still worth watching? Actually, yes.