SOME SECRETS ARE BETTER LEFT HIDDEN IN THE PROVOCATIVE NEW DRAMA MISTRESSES

-U.S. Premiere on BBC AMERICA-

Part drama, part thriller, Mistresses is a sexy, sophisticated, and modern take on the lives of four friends with one thing in common � infidelity. Going beyond lipstick and cashmere with its provocative and honest plot lines, Mistresses stars four of the UK's leading actresses � Sarah Parish (Viva Blackpool), Sharon Small (About a Boy, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries) Orla Brady (Shark, Nip/Tuck), and Shelley Conn (Innocence).

Set in a world where friends have become the new family, Katie, Trudi, Siobhan and Jessica are four thirty-something women who met at college and are still good friends, but whose lives have taken very different turns. Each has a different experience of infidelity and love: devoted mistress, wronged wife, unwitting instigator, bed-hopper. Their tangled web of love and deceit envelops all four friends with life-changing results. Mistresses premieres Friday, February 20, 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, all following episodes will premiere Fridays 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Katie (Parish) is a well-respected doctor and the rock of the group. She had an affair with a terminally ill patient for the last two years and crosses even further professional boundaries when he asks her to make a huge sacrifice. Yet, despite being the group's confidante, she cannot reveal this burdensome secret to her friends.

Trudi (Small) is a 9/11 widow, unable to achieve closure as the body of her husband, Paul, was never found. She is trying to bring up their two daughters on her own, while struggling with her conscience and coming to terms with her desire to move on with her life. Following a 'barren period' lasting several years, Trudi begins to date and finds herself regressing back to being an awkward teen on a string of disastrous dates with handsome, single dad Richard (Patrick Baladi, The Office, Bodies).

Siobhan (Brady) seems to be living in wedded bliss with husband, Hari (Raza Jaffrey, MI-5), and has a successful career as a lawyer. The only problem is that her sex life has become less about 'making love' and more about 'making babies'. With the prospect of red-hot passion and an inability to control the sexual chemistry with her flirtatious colleague Dominic (Adam Rayner), Siobhan soon finds herself on the precipice of potential self-destruction.

Jessica (Conn) is a gorgeous, fun-loving, straight-talking commitment-phobe whose insatiable and adventurous sexual appetite makes her attractive to men and a mistress to many, including her boss, Simon (Adam Astill). Her commitment to her friends is unshakable, but Jessica shirks at any mention of the 'c-word' in a relationship and marriage is the last thing on her 'to do' list in life � an irony that is not lost on her when Simon asks her to organize a wedding for Lisa (Alys Thomas) and Alex (Anna Torv).

From dizzy highs to extreme lows, from excitement and happiness to torment and loneliness, the friends are on an emotion fueled journey with no signposts, and are struggling to hold it all together.

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