I WASN’T really sure what to make of the BBC’s new drama Gold Digger at first.

It all seemed a bit hackneyed and lazy and not a little bit stereotyped.

We have an ageing, but still attractive woman on the brink of 60 thrown over by her husband in favour of her best friend and needed less and less by her selfish and quite frankly unlikeable three children.

She is also extremely wealthy.

Enter from stage left the much younger but extremely attractive younger man who will sweep her off her feet and inveigle his way into her life much to the disgust of her family.

Everyone is very unhappy. No-one smiles.

Except Ben, the much younger man, because he is doing very well for himself thank you very much.

I almost didn’t bother continuing to watch.

It all seemed a bit obvious and cliched.

Is it too much to actually think a younger man might fall in love with an older woman ?

It certainly happens the other way round without anyone batting an eyelid.

Anyway - the kernel of mystery which surrounded all the twists and turns was enough to keep me going, desperately wishing it would not become a hysterically over dramatic mess by the end.

And without giving too much away, for those doing it old style and tuning in each week and not greedily binging on the iplayer, I am glad I ploughed on.

Because it actually becomes more of a study about human nature, forgiveness and how events can both shape us and our future lives without us actually realising.

So stick with it - and also get Netflix if you haven’t already so you can watch all of the Crown including the third series which recently arrived in its regal entirety.

Who cares if any of the conversations depicted here behind the gilded walls of Buckingham Palace et al actually ever took place.

Is the Queen actually incapable of crying, as suggested in the episode I watched the other day (hopefully not too much of a plot spoiler there)

Did she and Princess Margaret really plot, as children, to swap the royal lineage so the younger sister took to the throne instead ?

We will probably never know since, sensibly, there is no word from the Royal family confirming or denying.

But there are some excellent representations of our recent history none-the-less and a conveyor belt of top notch performances from some of the best actors currently working in television and film.

They must have been lining up for a chance to take part yet just a few years ago the entire show was considered a bit of a gamble having cost something like a million pounds per episode for the first series and a second commissioned before anyone knew if the first was any good.

Even if you don’t particularly buy into the idea of the Royal family, this is definitely worth a watch because while it tells their story it definitely asks as many questions as it answers and gives a broad view of all of the players.

Each episode really is like a film in itself - sometimes with one of those little postscripts explaining how something played out.

And, of course, Olivia Colman again steals the show as the now middle-aged Queen Elizabeth, continuing to wrestle with the huge responsibility of being sovereign.

Surely her Oscar will be buddying up with another BAFTA next year ?