POWER struggles

HUGH QUARSHIE on a high-stakes saga about a family feud

- JUDY EWENS

RICHES
NEW FRI, 9PM, ITV1 DRAMA (BOX SET, ITVX)

Boardroom battles, sibling rivalries and long-buried secrets are the heady mix of ingredients in ITV1’s glossy new drama Riches, which follows a dysfunctional family as they fight among themselves for control of a multimillion-pound hair-and-cosmetics empire.

The six-parter sees Holby City favourite Hugh Quarshie star as patriarch Stephen Richards, the secretive and mercurial founder of firm Flair & Glory. When he dies unexpectedly, Stephen’s second wife, Claudia (Ted Lasso’s Sarah Niles), assumes their three pampered adult children, Alesha, Gus and Wanda, will inherit the business.

But to her shock and fury, Stephen leaves the leading Black beauty brand to Nina and Simon, his hard-working but estranged daughter and son from his first marriage, who live in New York. The pair fly to London to take up the reins of Flair & Glory, and so begins the feuding and backstabbing!

Here, Hugh, 68, sets up the series...

What can you tell us about your character, Stephen?

He's a self-made man with very humble origins; he started on London transport and worked his way up to the boardrooms of the international business community. He's got drive, ambition and discipline.

I suspect that in his past there was a ruthless streak, but having made all the money, there's a certain amount of remorse, which has left him thinking, 'What is really valuable in life?"

Is he wondering if his achievements were worth it?