Pick of the week

GIRLFRIENDS

WOMEN ON THE EDGE

A fine example of what the late Band Of Gold and Fat Friends writer Kay Mellor did best, this six-parter follows the complicated lives of a trio of lifelong fiftysomething friends, played by Miranda Richardson, Phyllis Logan and

Zoe Wanamaker (above). Sue (Richardson) teeters elegantly on the edge as her high-flying career comes under threat, Gail (Wanamaker) weathers divorce and a wayward adult son, and Linda (Logan) has a husband who is literally lost at sea. What unfolds is a heady concentration of the crises many women face later in life – romantic, professional, financial, familial – and it’s all presented with a tragi-comic spin that shows middle age in all its messy and unpredictable glory. Best of all, it’s a celebration of the wisdom and resilience that comes from female friendships.