BBC renews White Gold for Season 2
David Farnor | On 29, Jun 2017
White Gold has been renewed for a second season by the BBC, following a successful run as a box set on BBC iPlayer.
The show introduced viewers to the sex, drugs and often amoral world of the 1980s double glazing boom. Created by Damon Beesley from Fudge Park Productions, the show stars Ed Westwick, Joe Thomas and James Buckley as Essex’s most notorious double glazing salesmen.
The programme debuted as a box set on BBC iPlayer, will episodes available at once for viewers to stream, alongside weekly broadcasts on BBC Two. It reached double the average young (16-34) audience for a BBC Two comedy, resulting in BBC Two’s biggest comedy launch of the year, and the second highest comedy of the year on BBC iPlayer, with over five million requests so far (behind Peter Kay’s Car Share). Now, Shane Allen, Controller, Comedy Commissioning, has ordered another run.
“The reaction to the first series has been terrific, with an enormous audience boost from the iPlayer box set release,” says Allen.
Patrick Holland, Controller, BBC Two says: “I am delighted White Gold is returning to BBC Two next year. The first series was a great new tone on the channel and I can’t wait for the audience to see where Vince’s schemes and capers take us next time.”
The first season sees charismatic but corrupt salesman Vincent Swan (Westwick) face a fall from grace, in his bid for professional glory. Can he rescue everything with one final gamble in a race to placate the tax man? We’ll see the results in the second season, where Vincent and the Cachet Windows team delve deeper into Essex’s criminal underworld.
“In series two, the swindles spread abroad to cover the Spanish timeshare apartment gold rush. Expect to see Ed Westwick in some tight swimming trunks,” teases Allen.
All three stars will return, with production on the next six half-hour episodes to begin later this year, ready for a 2018 release.
Beesley, writer, director and co-founder of Fudge Park Productions, comments: “It’s both an honour and a pleasure to be working with the BBC again on a second series of White Gold. I like to think of it as selling them a series two conservatory to go with their series one patio doors. I’m especially looking forward to watching re-runs of Top of the Pops ’85 for ‘research’.”
“Ed Westwick is enjoying the hell out of the chance to play the slimy Swan, who comes across like Del Boy doing an impression of Frank Underwood,” we wrote in our review of Season 1, which is still available as a box set on BBC iPlayer until 29th July.