An affair to REMEMBER!

ROSIE CAVALIERO, CONLETH HILL and SIAN GIBSON on the love triangle at the heart of their 1990s-set comedy

- STEVEN PERKINS

THE POWER OF PARKER

FRI, 9.30PM, BBC1 COMEDY (BOX SET, BBC iPLAYER)

Sparks are set to fly as the wife and mistress of an electrical-goods salesman battle it out in BBC1’s nostalgic new comedy The Power of Parker.

Set in 1990, the six-parter follows self-made businessman Martin Parker (played by Magpie Murders star Conleth Hill), who owns a chain of shops around Stockport and fancies himself as a local celebrity.

However, his questionable financial dealings have put his empire under threat and he’s soon left with no choice but to evict his lover, Kath (Car Share’s Sian Gibson, who also co-wrote the series), from the flat he’s set up for her.

Feeling betrayed, a drunken Kath decides she won’t be going quietly – setting the scene for the unravelling of Martin’s life as his wife, Diane (Gentleman Jack’s Rosie Cavaliero), finally twigs what he’s been up to.

‘My friend Paul Coleman came up with the idea,’ says Sian. ‘He wrote a part for me, and said, “Do you want to help me write it?” I’m good friends with Conleth and Rosie, so we thought of them immediately. Paul and I were so pleased everyone agreed to be in it!’

The star-spangled cast list also includes Benidorm favourite Sheila Reid as Kath’s friend Gladys, and Happy Valley’s George Costigan as Diane’s dad Dougie.

Here, Conleth, 58, Rosie, 55, and Sian, 46, introduce us to their characters…

DIANE 

ROSIE CAVALIERO on her role as a social-climbing housewife