The Paradise

The Paradise is a British television costume drama series co-produced by BBC Studios and Masterpiece (1971). The Paradise (2012) premiered in the United Kingdom on BBC One on September 25, 2012 and premiered in the United States on PBS on October 6, 2013. The series is an adaptation of Émile Zola's 1883 novel 'Au Bonheur des Dames' which relocates the story to North East England (Zola's novel itself is a retelling of the story of Aristide Boucicaut, the Bellême-born founder of Le Bon Marché).

A second series was commissioned by BBC One in late October 2012 and was broadcast on 20 October 2013 on BBC One.

On February 12, 2014, the BBC confirmed that 'The Paradise' would not return for a third series. It cited that the program had lower figures than other relatively new dramas such as Death in Paradise (2011), Sherlock (2010) and Silk (2011). Furthermore, its ITV rival Mr Selfridge (2013) was performing better.

Late in Season 1, the Glendenning family purchases freehold rights to the properties on which the Paradise and neighboring businesses stand, and in Season 2 the family has turned out Moray from the store and contemplate selling it. Although the legal relationship between a business tenant and freeholder is complex, purchasing the freehold (ownership of land and structures) is not the same thing as purchasing a business on the property. Though the Glendennings may have attempted to oust Moray or the Paradise by breaking the lease, they would not automatically own the business once they bought the freehold, as is portrayed here.

Featured in The Wright Stuff: Episode #17.185 (2012)