The Power of Parker

The Power of Parker is a British television comedy series. Created and written by Sian Gibson and Paul Coleman, and starring Conleth Hill as businessman Martin Parker in Stockport in 1990, trying to juggle his debts, his wife, and his mistress. Gibson also stars, along with Rosie Cavaliero. The series aired weekly on BBC One from 28 July 2023, with all six episodes released on the same day on BBC iPlayer. The series was released on DVD on 4 September 2023. It was renewed for a second season in May 2024.

Synopsis
In Stockport, 1990, Martin Parker (Hill) has a complicated life with personal issues and business debts but things could get worse if his mistress Kath (Gibson) and wife Diane (Cavaliero) team up to bring him down.

Cast

 * Conleth Hill as Martin
 * Sian Gibson as Kath
 * Sheila Reid as Gladys
 * Rosie Cavaliero as Diane
 * Steve Pemberton as Sandy
 * George Costigan as Dougie
 * Rhiannon Clements as Bev
 * Austin Haynes as Ryan

Production
The series is written by Paul Coleman and Sian Gibson. Coleman came up with the idea and asked Gibson to write with him. It is set in Stockport, near Manchester, in 1990. Gibson was in Manchester as a student in the 1990s. Cavaliero also studied in Manchester. Lead actor Hill was also in Manchester in 1990, filming the TV show Medics. Gibson has described the series as a “suburban Fatal Attraction. The show was commissioned in 2022 under the title Undoing Martin Parker and was filmed in Stockport in early 2023.

Broadcast
The series first aired on 28 July 2023 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Reception
Lucy Mangan in The Guardian wrote: "this comedy-drama wishes it was a Victoria Wood show". Rachel Cooke in the New Statesman described it as “comic perfection”, but that with its 1990 setting and jokes about “Anneka Rice and Juliet Bravo”, it may be “only half comprehensible to anyone under 45”. The Newspaper i described how the show’s “costume designers have had a ball with some truly horribly 1990s fashions.”