Golden Child

Six episodes, each approximately 30 minutes in length. ‘Golden Child’ is a heart-warming comedy. Equality and community are central themes. It is centred around a family, who have been forced into bankruptcy and have lost all of their worldly possessions. They move to a house in the Welsh valleys (a former coal mining community). The family are well grounded and the principle reason for this is their daughter, Poppy. Poppy is seven years old and has Downs Syndrome and, like many with this condition, she is full of love and imagination – and also very stubborn. Poppy’s father – Dan – struggles with the loss of his restaurant business and feels guilt at letting down his family. Poppy’s mother – Kath – is more concerned that the bankruptcy almost took Dan’s life; Dan suffered a heart attack through the stress of losing the business. The financial context is what forces Dan, Kath and Poppy to move into a community which is very different to their previous environment. However, even the early indications are that the move is positive; they find people who embrace Poppy rather than look at her as different and find that financial pressures are common to many in their new community. The first episode introduces the viewer to the main protagonists. Kath and Dan have bought a dilapidated property which was once the home of a hoarder. The scale of what they have taken on is almost overwhelming. The episode establishes the family’s financial situation and provides the early indications of the benefits of their new community. It also provides the nexus for what proves to be the ongoing challenge for the family. Poppy finds a coin – a rare gold sovereign. She tries to spend it in a local shop and the existence of the coin is revealed. Her parents struggle to understand how she can have come about the coin. Eventually it is established that Poppy found it in her new bedroom. There is a moment of hope as Dan looks beneath the floorboard for more coins – but to no avail. It was a futile dream – but as Dan tucks Poppy back into bed, the scene finishes with him turning on the bedside lamp, which lights up Poppy’s piggy bank and a picture of a rainbow with a pot of gold (the drawing is referenced earlier in the first episode). The second episode will confirm that Poppy’s piggy bank is full of gold coins – a small fortune. The viewer is then taken on the emotional journey of the family. It starts with the elation that they have effectively ‘won the lottery’. However, this quickly changes as they come to realise they cannot tell anyone about their find – both because it might be claimed by others and they might be accused of trying to defraud creditors during bankruptcy proceedings. Poppy does not understand these subtleties and trying to convince her that she cannot do what she wants with what she considers to be her money, leads to some comical moments. Guilt also starts to play upon Kath and Dan’s emotions. They try and establish whether the man who used to own the house has any beneficiaries. The questioning raises suspicions in others and a couple of people from the community repeatedly make fool hardy and ultimately unsuccessful attempts to find out the true position. The questioning and investigations also establish a long lost relative – and the deeper Kath and Dan look into the life of the former house owner, the more they connect with him and his past (and the incidents which led him to becoming a hoarder). Kath and Dan are torn as to whether or not they should hand over the coins they have found. At first this conflict is a selfish one – a choice between them and a person they do not know. However, the conflict becomes less selfish and more selfless as they come to understand more about the very real financial struggles many in the former mining community face. They struggle with the decision as to whether they should spread the wealth amongst the community which has so readily embraced them and their daughter.