Original title
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Released
6/11/2006
Origin country
GB
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
2
Number of episodes
10
Drop Dead Gorgeous is a British comedy-drama for BBC Three. Set in Runcorn, it tells the story of 15-year-old Ashley Webb, whose life is turned upside-down when she is approached by a spotter from a local modelling agency. Events move at lightning speed and the whole family, including Ashley's fraternal twin sister Jade, are affected. The first episode was shown on BBC Three on Sunday, 11 June 2006 at 10pm, with weekly episodes until the finale, which aired on 2 July 2006. The first series was shown for the first time on BBC One in August 2007, in the run up to the premiere of the second series on BBC Three. The second series began on 16 September 2007 at 9pm, again with weekly episodes until the finale on 22 October 2007. As yet, the BBC have not cleared the series for release on DVD.
15-year-old twins Ashley and Jade are sitting in their local café when they are approached by a model spotter from a local agency. But it’s not the beautiful Jade who gets the nod, it’s self-confessed lanky geek Ashley. Parents Pauline and Terry want to support their daughter and give her the best opportunity – so Pauline goes ahead and makes the call. Within days Ashley is introduced to her agent Murray Priestman, contracts are signed, promises are made, and life in the Webb household starts to change. Pauline’s routine of making dinners at the local school, selling cosmetics, and drinking down the local takes a bit of a battering as she encourages Ashley on her big adventure. Twin sister Jade finds it increasingly difficult to deal with her jealousy, now that life seems to revolve around Ashley. Ashley, meanwhile, once she gets over the initial nerves, seems to be fitting into her new life perfectly. It's not long before she gets the call that could change the fortunes of the entire family forever...
Bookings are flooding in for Ashley, so the next stop is catwalk training in Paris. This includes a swish hotel for her chaperone (and mum) Pauline, who is drinking in every moment of her daughter’s success. Pauline finds herself dealing with press opportunities and PR strategies. Egged on by Murray, she is soon talking a different language to everyone else, especially her canteen colleague Val, who she lets down, badly. Terry goes ballistic when he sees a risqué poster shot of Ashley in the middle of Runcorn. He finds himself asking: In this industry, who can you trust?
The first big cheque arrives for Ashley and everyone gets a chunk of it. There’s enough left over for the girls to send the grown-ups off to a swanky hotel in Manchester while they throw a house party. The party turns into a complete disaster: the house gets trashed, Jade’s boyfriend Darren leaves with arch enemy Cathy Mac, and Jade gets cosy with Ashley’s boyfriend Hardeep. When she wakes the following morning she knows this was a seriously bad move. A knock on the door the next morning brings shocking news for Terry as a tabloid reporter uncovers a secret from his past, bringing public humiliation aplenty for Murray and Pauline. Ashley realises that all this attention and subsequent unhappiness stems from her modelling, so threatens to give the whole thing up.
Ashley’s been invited to model at her first runway show and the entire family, plus selected hangers-on, arrive in glamorous London for the event. A nervous Ashley storms the show, but Pauline’s behaviour is becoming increasingly odd. The next gathering for the Webbs is at Jade and Ashley’s 16th birthday party. Pauline uses the event to declare the birth of "Pauline Webb Management", and her first client is Ashley, which creates World War III between Murray and Pauline. Behind all the smiles and birthday wishes, Jade reveals to Orla her worries about being pregnant with Hardeep’s baby. As secrets start to unravel, a crushed and lonely Ashley accuses her entire family of hating her and moves into Nana’s house and back to Murray’s management. This decision seals a £1m cosmetics contract, making Ashley a very rich, yet very unhappy girl...
Murray gets married to his partner and while on his honeymoon Pauline takes over. Ashley is in the running to be a model for Chanel while her brother and Moonbase are selling pictures of her and her underwear. Meanwhile Tiggsy finds he's only got months to live.
Murray returns from a business trip to discover his flat has been cleaned out and his husband is nowhere to be seen. Jade and Darren start making plans to move into a flat together and Ashley wonders whether she has found 'the one'.
Brutus has been kidnapped and Murray sends Nana in to negotiate his release. Val spends a night to forget with Howard, and Tiggsy has a final drink with his mates in the pub. Terry discovers the truth about Ashley's secret affair.
Murray attempts to keep a lid on Ashley's affair, trying to keep both Terry and Jade quiet and on-side, and puts Ben into hiding. On the day the family say their final farewells to Tiggsy, a grieving clan Webb move into the house of Pauline's dreams with Ashley as landlord, but Ashley's not sure this is the life she really wants.
Terry starts his new night security job and enjoys the attention of a regular evening visitor. Now that Ashley's profile and income are growing, so are Murray's nerves, as other agents start to sniff around her. Pauline makes a terrible discovery that will blow the family apart.
Jade discovers the truth about Terry's affair, and just as Pauline and Terry fight to keep their marriage and their family together a secret from their past comes back to haunt them. Murray is made an offer he can't refuse, and its time for Ashley to decide what she really wants.
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