Mary Queen of the High Street

No stranger to controversy, this new series shows Mary Portas sticking her head above the parapet, as she fights for Britain’s failing high streets. With over 100 shops closing a week, is it high noon for the high street? Mary thinks not, so she took on the challenge of coming up with a 28-point plan, the Portas Review, to help breathe new life into the high street. She always knew there was no quick fix and it would be far from easy, but she also knew that getting communities involved in Town Teams, and passing some power back to local people, was at the heart of any possible solution. What she didn’t expect were the rash of press headlines, bust-ups and the frustrations aplenty. There are now 400 towns and Town Teams across the country putting Mary’s ideas into practice. This three-part series tells the story of three of them.