General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Riches

Riches is a British drama television series created and written by Abby Ajayi, following the wealthy Richards family as its two branches fight for control of a black hair and beauty empire after the death of the patriarch. The six-part series was produced by Greenacre Films in association with Monumental Television and commissioned by ITV in partnership with Amazon Studios.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Format	Six-episode British family drama, created and written by Abby Ajayi¹
Production	Greenacre Films with Monumental Television; commissioned by ITV in partnership with Amazon Studios¹
Release	Prime Video 2 December 2022 (US and other territories); ITVX 22 December 2022; ITV1 from 30 June 2023³^•⁴
Lead cast	Deborah Ayorinde (Nina), Hugh Quarshie (Stephen Richards), Sarah Niles (Claudia), Emmanuel Imani (Simon)¹
Central business	Flair & Glory, a black hair and beauty company built by Stephen Richards over 20 years¹
Reception	Metacritic metascore 75; Rotten Tomatoes season 1 rating of 100% from 17 reviews⁵^•⁶
Fate	Cancelled by Prime Video after one season, announced 1 December 2023⁷

Spoilers

Premise

The drama centers on Stephen Richards (Hugh Quarshie), a self-made millionaire described as one of the UK's most successful Black businessmen. Over 20 years he has built Flair & Glory into the market leader in black hair and beauty, a multi-million-pound cosmetics empire. When Stephen suffers a stroke, his estranged children from his first marriage, Nina (Deborah Ayorinde) and Simon (Emmanuel Imani), return from New York, where each has established a business career. Stephen's will unexpectedly leaves the controlling interest in the company to Nina and Simon rather than to his second wife Claudia (Sarah Niles) and her adult children Alesha (Adeyinka Akinrinade), Gus (Ola Orebiyi), and Wanda (Nneka Okoye), setting the two factions against each other for control of the business.¹^•⁸

The supporting cast includes Brendan Coyle as Gideon, Stephen's trusted advisor and confidante; Hermione Norris as Maureen Dawson, his long-standing PA; and CJ Beckford as Andre. British model Jourdan Dunn plays Davina in her acting debut.¹^•⁹

Production

The series was commissioned for ITV by Head of Drama Polly Hill. Nadine Marsh-Edwards and Amanda Jenks executive produced for Greenacre Films, the female-led independent company they founded, with Alison Owen and Alison Carpenter executive producing for Monumental Television. Yvonne Francas produced, and the directors were Sebastian Thiel, Abby Ajayi, and Darcia Martin; Ajayi wrote all six episodes and directed the fourth.¹^•⁴ Filming began in London and New York in early 2021 and continued during the COVID-19 pandemic, with restrictions that at times allowed only the director or showrunner in the casting room while others joined by video.¹⁰^•¹¹

Amazon Studios boarded the project in 2021 as co-producer for the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Nordics, and Sub-Saharan Africa, with Prime Video carrying the series in those territories. Banijay Rights handled international distribution on behalf of Greenacre Films.²^•¹

The production emphasized representation behind the camera as well as in front of it: all three directors were Black, three heads of department were people of color, and trainee and shadow positions funded by ITV, Amazon UK, and Skillset went to people from diverse backgrounds.¹¹

Themes and intent

Ajayi has said she wanted to tell a story about a successful Black British family, using the black-owned hair and cosmetics empire to explore contemporary questions about power, identity, and black ambition while keeping the drama grounded in relatable relationships such as sibling rivalry and blended-family conflict.⁸ She cited American family-business dramas such as Dynasty and Dallas as influences, and described the show as a story about a family who prove that money can buy many things but not always happiness.¹² Reviewers and the cast drew comparisons with Succession, though Ajayi distinguished the two, noting that Riches shares the sibling rivalry but is a different kind of show.¹³^•¹⁴

Release and reception

All six episodes premiered on Prime Video on 2 December 2022 in the US and other international territories, and exclusively on ITVX in the UK from 22 December 2022, before a linear run on ITV1 began on 30 June 2023.³^•¹⁵^•⁴

Critical response was favorable. The season holds a Metacritic metascore of 75, with six positive reviews and one mixed.⁵ The Guardian's Rebecca Nicholson called it "soapy, slick and thoroughly enjoyable," comparing its register to Empire meets Dynasty meets Footballers' Wives.¹⁶ The A.V. Club praised the pacing of the six-episode run, and Variety noted the series' sharply observed family dynamic.⁵ Rotten Tomatoes records a 100% Tomatometer for season 1 from 17 reviews and an audience score of 81%.⁶

Cancellation

Prime Video did not proceed with a second season. Creator Abby Ajayi announced the cancellation in an Instagram post on 1 December 2023, writing that she "still had many more stories to tell." The six-episode first season remains the series' only run.⁷

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Family and relationship drama › Family and domestic drama › Family sagas and household dramas

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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