Mary Queen of Shops is a British television series presented by Mary Portas broadcast on BBC2. The series began with a four-week run starting on 7 June 2007, and returned for a second series of six episodes beginning on 9 June 2008. A third three-part series, titled Mary Queen of Charity Shops, began on 2 June 2009. The show returned for a fourth series on 7 June 2010, featuring various independent shops, rather than just fashion boutiques.
In each episode, Mary Portas troubleshoots her way around the UK on a mission to help turn around struggling fashion boutiques. Mary is a leading retail communications expert and is the founder and creative director of Yellowdoor.
Her aim is to turn the businesses around and put glamour back into shopping.
First, she visits the boutiques while the owners are away. Then she revamps them, gets the shop owners right up-to-date and hopefully helps them to start making money again.
In season 3, Mary takes on other retail shops.