Material Girl

I'm not convinced by the BBC's new fashion comedy drama, Material Girl. After the first five minutes, I thought I was - convinced it was hopelessly, unsalvageable, awful, that is - though by the end, I'd had a slight change of heart. Seemingly a sort of low-budget British version of Ugly Betty, it offers none of the attractions it should: no wit, no glamour, and absolutely no plausibility.

We started with a frenetic backstage scene at a fashion show. The characters were introduced to us one by one, each as subtle as a crude joke: Ali Redcliffe, the goody two-shoes designer heroine; Marco, the suave straight guy, GQ by way of Next; Davina Bailey, the posh, bitch Grande Dame (played by the fabulous Dervla Kirwan); and Alex, Ali's bow-tied gay best friend. The most peculiar of all is Mitchell, a trilby-glad omnisexual fashion journalist who says things like "les balls, c'est boring" all the while wearing a horrendously dadsy scarf.

The plot is similarly flimsy; good girl Ali loses job and bad girl Davina's, but is rescued by an investment from mysterious Marco, allowing her to set up her own label. While Davina chases superficial celebs to endorse her label, Ali goes for the underdog. Ahhhhh. Along the way, she meets a hunky boy, prompting lots of Bridget Jones-esque angst.

Really, it has very little at all to recommend it, except, that is, strong performances from all the lead roles. And, against all better judgement, I found myself sticking to it. Will I watch it again? Probably not on purpose. But if I happen to tune in by accident, I might just stay there. Guiltily.

Last Night's TV - Material Girl

Oh God... another programme for which the prerequisite in terms of viewer demographics is to have nothing but fluffy pink tumbleweeds floating through your brain accompanied by birdsong and perhaps shiny things. And of course, quelle surprise, it's all about the 'glam' world of fashion and clichés abound; there's the bitchy one, the gay ones, the girl-next-door character and the hunky bloke. It's all very predictable and bit Ugly Betty without the fun.

The first thing that didn't quite fit with Material Girl (BBC1) was that it didn't have Madonna's hit as its title tune. Why namecheck an iconic pop moment and then ignore it? The answer must be money - and as fashion frolics go, Material Girl, for all its catwalk affectations, is more Primark than Prada, an off-the-peg bargain that can only dream of designer exclusives. No harm in that. The fleeting nature of fashion is ideally suited to the frothy flash of Material Girl, the pantomime style tale of Ali (Lenora Crichlow), a Cinderella-type designer who is done down by her wicked ex-boss who steals all the credit for her stunning gowns. You have to take the 'stunning' on trust because everyone keeps saying they are - they looked like a load of old tat to me but then what do I know?

It's stacked to the tips of its nine-inch stilettos with clichés - Ali's best mates are a camp bloke, a ditzy model and a frumpy dogsbody - yet there's something about its cheap and cheerful lipgloss look at life that's curiously endearing. Crichlow manages to give Ali a likeability she probably doesn't deserve, given she's actually a bit of a whinger, but it's Dervla Kirwan as Ali's ex-boss Davina who gives Material Girl some much-needed bite.

In the real world, Kirwan's Davina, a spiteful stepsister to Ugly Betty's Wilhelmina, would have had Ali shipped off to a sweatshop for daring to step out of line. But Material Girl is dealing in flighty fantasy, so its narrative is driven by willing Ali to get one over on the evil old queen. But I hope Davina comes out on top - her bitchy lines are so much more bespoke.

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.

The Beeb has been sitting on fashion comedy-drama (though it's not really either) Material Girl for a good few months now and, as all fashionistas know, the seasons move quickly - if this ever seemed like a good idea, it certainly doesn't now. Lenora Crichlow plays the downtrodden designer who gets regularly trampled on by evil sartorial overlords. But, of course, she's plucky enough to take them on, with a plot involving a war hero and someone who used to be in Hollyoaks. It's as flimsy as a chiffon blouse and a waste of the talent involved.

A new comedy-drama set in the fashion world. Lenora Crichlow, a rising talent also seen this week in spooky house-share drama Being Human, stars as ambitious young designer Ali. Dervla Kirwan provides the villainy as her scheming boss. In tonight's opening episode, after a creative flare-up at Paris Fashion Week, Ali quits to set up her own label based in London's hip Brick Lane.

Scissors at dawn

Fashion, fashion, fashion. It's all I've ever wanted to do!" cries Ali Redcliffe, a young designer and protagonist played by Leonora Crichlow in the BBC's new drama Material Girl, which airs tonight. "Does that make me a bad person?"

Yes, Ali, it does. It irrevocably and overwhelmingly means you will never, ever be one of the nice ones - on TV, at least.

Material Girl: A great song by Madonna but it'd get annoying if you listened to it for an hour, wouldn't it? Yes. So does this comedy drama.

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.

Dervla Kirwan on Material Girl

Dervla Kirwan, the star of new BBC drama Material Girl talks about why getting older is no bar to success.