Bargain Shop Wars review – cheap clothes, even cheaper editing

This docu-soap about a new chain of clothes shops ruins its natural comedy by not knowing when to cut

Good news for the National Popular Factual Television Staccato Orchestra and their violin section peopled entirely by musicians with sore fingers from all the incessant plucking. Their almost uninterrupted work to provide every single British documentary series of the past 10 years with a jaunty soundtrack continues apace with Bargain Shop Wars (ITV). The docu-soap series follows the launch of new clothing chain Pep & Co as they roll out 50 new stores across the country in 50 days.

Owned by the former boss of Asda, Andy Bond, and managed by Adrian Mountford, the ex-head of clothing at Sainsbury’s, the ambitious new business aims to rival bargain retailers such as Primark with a fast turnover of disposable fashion at rock-bottom prices. From this first episode, the impression given is that at least some of the clothes are made in UK factories, as cameras follow production of the Susanna dress: a marl grey synthetic shift that clings to every bump and retails for £10. The design team think it’s reminiscent of something Susanna Reid would wear on breakfast television, hence the name. If other similar business models famously rely on cheap foreign imports from factories of questionable working conditions, perhaps we’ll hear how Pep & Co are avoiding this in a future episode. But for the first instalment it’s brushed under the industrial carpet tiles in favour of light-hearted banter on the shopfloor.

At the Corby branch, manager and former traffic warden Sue is a perfectionist who puts pressure on herself and her staff to succeed. When company boss Andy visits to inspect the store, his brow concertinas beneath his golden thatch of hair as he points out missing stock in the children’s section.

Such is the speed of storytelling in this 23-minute instalment (not including ad breaks), mere seconds pass between MD Adrian rather unapologetically telling a customer that they don’t sell menswear and him admitting at a board meeting that they probably should sell menswear. He opted for home furnishing instead but the cushions aren’t shifting and Andy’s brow is now so creased it looks as if it was designed by Issey Miyake.

It isn’t made clear how long the stores have been open and the editing often feels like a lucky dip, throwing up scenes randomly with no real coherent attempt at a narrative arc. We’re in Coventry, then Corby, then Cwmbran to eavesdrop on two chatty middle-aged sisters nudging and teasing each other over what to buy. This is the only moment where the programme briefly splutters to life: a properly charming snatch of dialogue, slightly played up for the camera but ultimately offering more humanity in a single snippet than the rest of the episode put together. They clearly couldn’t decide where the focus should be and just pointed the camera at everything.

Back at HQ, the decision to sell men’s clothing is swiftly followed by boxes arriving at a warehouse, strangely dated posters, posed by check-shirted male models being unfurled on the factory floor and bemused shop staff making room for the suddenly arrived new stock.

“I’m not going to let this fail,” says Sue in Corby as she straightens some leopard-print blouses and sets about reorganising her kingdom to make way for the 10ft tall window hangings depicting the leaping lumberjacks in all their glory. “Why are they all jumping?” says one manager at a meeting in Coventry, gazing at the promotional pictures for the new menswear range.

Cut back to Corby where a woman stands in a warehouse inspecting the same images. “The new posters are dividing opinion,” says John Thomson’s good-natured voiceover. She looks down at the picture as the male model beams back at her hovering in mid-air. The pause is perfect, then she makes a noise of pure uncertainty: “Hmmmm.” That’s where the editor should have cut. But the clip runs on and she verbalises her doubts, cocking up the timing and ruining the natural comedy that was already there.

I always come back to The Armstrongs when watching these shows. Fergus O’Brien’s masterful BBC2 series about “U-fit, Coventry’s third-largest double-glazing firm” is now 10 years old and although often copied, it has never been bettered. To find the natural comedy in a situation and stand far enough back to let it play out is harder than it looks, and the camera doesn’t always feel as though it’s even looking the right way in Bargain Shop Wars. It’s truly a shame when programmes are produced in this box-ticky fashion without any apparent interest in finding the real narrative gold. Wherever there are people, there’s a story, but on the evidence of episode one, the story here is nowhere near engaging enough to live up to its title.

Contributor

Julia Raeside

The GuardianTramp

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