Mistresses is a British serial drama television series created by SJ Clarkson and Lowri Glain and produced by Ecosse Films for BBC Drama, Wales that follows the lives of four women and their involvement in an array of illicit and complex relationships.
The series aired in the UK on BBC One from 8 January, 2008 to 26 August, 2010. There are 16 hour-long episodes in three seasons.
Mistresses premiered in South Africa on DStv's BBC Entertainment channel on Tuesday 21 April 2009, at 20h30. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 3 premiered on BBC Entertainment on Sunday 24 July 2011, at 20h00. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are four episodes in the third and final season.
Season 1
Mistresses is a sexy, sophisticated and modern take on the lives of four women and their involvement in an array of illicit and complex relationships.
Mistresses is a contemporary drama which recounts the lives of four 30-something friends who each have a different experience of infidelity and love: devoted mistress; wronged wife; unwitting instigator; bed hopper.
The tangled web of love and deceit envelops all four with life-changing revelations, proving that life is not always greener on the other side.
Katie (Sarah Parish) is a well respected GP and the rock of the group. She has had an affair with a terminally ill patient for the last two years. Yet, despite being the group's confidante, she cannot reveal this burdensome secret to her friends.
Trudi (Sharon Small) is a 9/11 widow, unable to achieve closure as the body of her husband, Paul, was never found. She is trying to bring up their two daughters on her own whilst struggling with her conscience and coming to terms with her desire to move on with her life.
Following a "barren period" lasting several years, Trudi thinks she may actually have been "asked out" and finds herself regressing back to being an awkward teen on a string of disastrous dates with very handsome, single dad Richard (Patrick Baladi).
Siobhan (Orla Brady) seems to be living in wedded bliss with husband, Hari (Raza Jaffery), whilst following a successful career as a lawyer. The only problem is that her sex life has become less about "making love" and more about "making babies".
With the prospect of some red hot passion, and unable to control the frisson of chemistry with flirtatious colleague Dominic (Adam Rayner), she soon finds herself on the precipice of potential self-destruction.
Jessica (Shelley Conn) is a gorgeous, fun-loving, straight-talking commitment-phobe whose insatiable and adventurous sexual appetite makes her attractive to many men and a mistress to many, including her prat of a boss "simple" Simon (Adam Astill).
Her commitment to her friends is unshakable but Jessica shirks at any mention of the c-word in a relationship and marriage is the last thing on her to-do-list in life; an irony that's not lost on her when Simon asks her to organise a wedding for Lisa (Alys Thomas) and Alex (Anna Torv).
Season 2
In the second season of Mistresses, Sarah Parish, Sharon Small, Shelley Conn and Orla Brady reprise their roles as good friends Katie, Trudi, Jessica and Siobhan.
Fans of the first season will see the return of many of the men that kept the four friends' lives in various states of joy and pain.
Patrick Baladi (Richard), Raza Jaffrey (Hari), Adam Rayner (Dominic) and Adam Astill (Simon) have some competition on their hands with handsome newcomers to the hit series including Oliver Milburn (Holby Blue) and Steven Brand (The Scorpion King); and actress Natasha Little (This Life) also joins the cast.
Twelve months have elapsed and Katie, Trudi, Jessica and Siobhan’s friendship remains as strong as ever, despite all their personal trials.
Struggling to learn from their past mistakes, the 30-something women face new dilemmas, though the root of their problems remains the same - men and sex!
Will they ever find true happiness?
After her married lover's death and her ill-advised affair with his son, Katie has sworn off men for good and is trying to make some changes in her life, starting with a new direction in her career.
However, retraining at her local hospital throws Katie into the path of two gorgeous men; heart surgeon Dan (Mark Umbers), who appears to offer a chance of lasting stability and happiness, and Jack (Brand), an old flame who is her new boss and married to Megan (Little).
Surviving the shock of her husband pretending to have perished in the 9/11 disaster, Trudi swaps her $2m compensation money for the arrest of her fraudulent ex-partner and chaotic family bliss with Richard.
But the domestic harmony doesn't last long and she realises that Richard may not quite be the man she thought he was.
It hasn't taken too long for party planner Jessica to rebound from her first bruising encounter with love. Dumped by her married girlfriend, Jessica is with a man who is her mirror image - Mark (Milburn).
It's the perfect arrangement; they're both beautiful, love the high life, fancy each other like mad and have no time for monogamy. However, an open relationship might sound great on paper but is Jessica's life as perfect as she makes out?
Lawyer Siobhan faced the biggest dilemma of all. Finally pregnant after years of trying, her longed-for baby is not her husband Hari's but colleague Dominic's (Rayner), with whom she had a passionate affair.
Siobhan and Hari are trying to rebuild their marriage as Siobhan juggles first-time motherhood, her exacting career and permanent tension, and she's nursing a dark secret that could cost her everything...
Season 3
Some secrets are best kept hidden...
The sexy, sophisticated drama Mistresses is back for a final season. But all has changed, as Katie, Trudi, Siobhan and Jessica are no longer friends.
The drama opens as Katie calls the girls together having not seen each other for five months, before slipping back into the past to reveal what happened.
What could have caused these friends to split?
With the arrival of Katie's glamorous mother, Trudi's difficulty maintaining a healthy work-life balance, Jessica questioning her relationships and the return of the father of Siobhan's baby, there's no shortage of potential conflict within the group.
Back in the present, when one of the girls reveals a secret she has been hiding for the past year, will they see that they're all better off with – rather than without – each other?
The series was written by Rachel Pole, Richard Warlow, Harriet Braun and Catrin Clarke and filmed in Bristol, UK.
Seasons
Series exclusive to BBC Entertainment
Season 1 (6 episodes)
Premiere: 21 April 2009 | Finale: 26 May 2009 | Tuesdays, 20h30
Season 2 (6 episodes)
Premiere: 3 November 2009 | Finale: 8 December 2009 | Tuesdays, 20h30
Season 3 (4 episodes)
Premiere: 24 July 2011 | Finale: 14 August 2011 | Sundays, 20h00