''Hustle'' is a
British television
Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
series starring
Adrian Lester
Adrian Anthony Lester (born Anthony Harvey; 14 August 1968) is a British actor, director and writer. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the Lo ...
,
Robert Glenister
Robert Lewis Glenister (born 11 March 1960 in Watford, Hertfordshire) is an English actor. The son of the television director John Glenister and the older brother of actor Philip Glenister, his roles include con man Ash "Three Socks" Morgan in ...
and
Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; the ...
. Created by
Tony Jordan
Tony Jordan (born 21 July 1957) is a British television writer. He was listed as the number one television screenwriter in the United Kingdom by ''Broadcast'' magazine in 2008 and among British broadcasting's top twenty in ''The Stage'' in 200 ...
, it was produced by
Kudos Film and Television, and broadcast on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
in the United Kingdom. The show premiered on 24 February 2004, and ran for eight series, with its final episode aired on 17 February 2012.
The show's premise is on a group of
con artist
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
s who specialise in "long cons" – extended forms of deceptive frauds that require greater commitment, but offer higher rewards than simple
confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...
s. The show's most notable qualities are plots that involve behind-the-scenes action that the viewers are unaware of until near the end of an episode, along with fantasy scenes and occasional breaches of the
fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
by the main actors.
The show achieved consistently high viewing figures throughout its eight-year run and was received favourably by critics.
Premise
Each episode's plot focuses on a team of grifters who conduct the art of the "long con", often targeting a "
mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fi ...
" whose activities are immoral and/or illegal, or whose character retains a fundamental negative personality with others they dislike, or who they make suffer, while adhering to the credo that "you can't cheat an honest man".
[ Although conmen, the team display a moral, honourable code within their team, which include sometimes helping others who have been victims of their mark, often with anonymous financial compensation to them, and never stealing anything that doesn't belong to them, instead borrowing them for the con and then returning them afterwards. For each mark, the team focuses on background research to uncover any issues they may face as well as a weakness in them that they can exploit, such as a passion for something they love, or an issue they are facing. Once they have a plan, the team set up a scenario, employ a "convincer" to rope in their mark, and then hit them with the sting in which they take them for a sizeable amount of cash, within the tens of thousands, before conducting a "blow-off" to ensure the mark will not come after them, either because they won't if they have to admit to conducting something illegal, or because the team has convinced them it will be impossible to do so.][ Although episodes feature stand-alone stories and are not referenced in later episodes, some series have featured sub-plots that occur during its broadcast, or make reference to events that occurred in previous episodes. In one such example, the first half of the third series features a sub-plot in that the team manages to pull off some long cons despite nearly suffering misfortune, which they later resolve after one of the characters determines what was causing them to suffer such bad luck.
What makes ''Hustle'' unique among crime dramas is two notable qualities used within its episodes. The first notable quality is that each episode's plot tends to have an element of mystery surrounding it, usually in the form of misleading story elements – what viewers may believe to be happening within the episode, will eventually turn out to be not the full story. An example of this is that the viewers could be led to believe that a con has gone wrong towards the end and that the team has failed, only to witness that the mark has still been conned of money by them. Such a plot device is balanced out with a series of scenes that helped to explain about what happened, in the form of events that occurred "behind-the-scenes" of the con. The second other notable quality is the use of stylish fantasy scenes in a number of episodes, in which the characters perform actions that are out of context and sometimes unrealistic, but is used to help with conveying an episode's plot to viewers or what a character is thinking about in regard to a certain situation. One such example of this can be for the scene to suddenly be stopped in mid-action, and the main characters being able to freely move around and interact with each other, and possibly anything else within the frozen scene. In some episodes, the main characters break the ]fourth wall
The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
to either give a subtle, discreet physical tell to alert the viewers of what they are up to (e.g. a small smile), or to give an explanation to viewers about certain aspects they are doing or the situation they are in.
Characters
* Michael "Mickey Bricks" Stone (Adrian Lester
Adrian Anthony Lester (born Anthony Harvey; 14 August 1968) is a British actor, director and writer. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the Lo ...
– Series 1–3, 5–8) – the lead 'inside man', Mickey is an ambitious and intelligent conman, known for being a world-renowned long-con expert with a careful eye for detail and ensuring that every part of his plan is covered, including a back-up plan for when things go wrong. While smart, his success has given him a considerable ego that he is unbeatable, while he has a severe dislike of being told what to do. He firmly hates the system that benefits wealthy people who are immoral, corrupt and greedy, which stems from the emotional trauma of watching his father dying prior to the retirement he had worked hard for all his life. During the show's first two series, the writers made notable implications that Lester's character had previously had romantic relations with Stacie, and during the fifth and sixth series, created romantic tensions between him and Emma Kennedy. He was initially married to another woman, but divorced her during the first series. Lester departed from the show after the third series, with his character written out as a result, before returning to take part in the fifth series, staying with the show until the end of its final series.
* Albert Stroller
'' Hustle'' is a British television comedy-drama series made by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom.
Michael Stone
''Michael Stone'', (Played by Adrian Lester) who uses the alias ''Mickey Bricks'', was the show's principa ...
(Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; the ...
– Series 1–8) – the 'roper', Stroller is a semi-retired, legendary 'old-school' grifter, who has a fondness for gambling and cheating at cards, frequents many private clubs, has professional friendships with hotel concierges, and specialises in identifying potential marks and ensnaring them. Vaughn's character is mainly portrayed as a mentor and grandfather figure, responsible for training Mickey to be who he is. Despite his experience, he has served time for his crimes, doing so again after the fourth series until the midpoint of the fifth series. Although his backstory puts it that he began his life as a grifter by conning his former employers at a shoe factory and spreading his proceeds among his former co-workers before leaving the States, the third series revealed that he served in the US Army during World War II, while the seventh series revealed that he had a daughter from a previous relationship.
* Ash "Three Socks" Morgan (Robert Glenister
Robert Lewis Glenister (born 11 March 1960 in Watford, Hertfordshire) is an English actor. The son of the television director John Glenister and the older brother of actor Philip Glenister, his roles include con man Ash "Three Socks" Morgan in ...
– Series 1–8) – the 'fixer', Morgan is a resourceful, all-round grifter, capable of finding and setting up locations and securing people, items and websites that are needed to help with convincing a mark that the con is anything but, and gifted at impersonating various people ranging from anything such as elderly pensioners and utility workers to sophisticated upper-class businessmen and politicians. Part of his character includes his love of conducting 'the flop', thanks mainly to an old skull fracture he obtained in a bar brawl, passing it off as a fresh injury. During the first series, the writers had him doing the short con with a female partner who suffered brain damage as a direct result; although this was written to have an impact on his character, the plot device was rarely used again in later series. Glenister is the only actor in the show to have appeared in every episode of the show, with the writers later giving his character a lead part in the eighth series on a story that Lester wrote and directed.
* Stacie Monroe
''Hustle (TV series), Hustle'' is a British television comedy-drama series made by Kudos (production company), Kudos Film & Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom.
Michael Stone
''Michael Stone'', (Played by Adrian Lester) who uses the P ...
(Jaime Murray
Jaime Erica Murray (born 21 July 1976) is an English actress. She is known for playing Stacie Monroe in the BBC series '' Hustle'' (2004–2012), Lila West in the Showtime series ''Dexter'' (2007), Gaia in the Starz miniseries '' Spartacus: ...
– Series 1–4, Guest in Series 8) – a charmer, Monroe specialises in using her sex appeal to manipulate potential marks, assisting Morgan in acquiring what is needed, and conducting short cons to help raise funds for the long con they are performing. While extremely intelligent and accomplished, she prefers not to be involved in a romantic connection with another man since her ex-husband left her and took all their life savings with him; this plot device was explored further during the second series. Throughout her appearance between the first and fourth series, the writers created romantic tensions between her and Blue. After she and Warren decided not to return for the fifth series due to scheduling conflicts, her character was written out of the show as a direct result, though the writers later wrote her back in as part of the show's finale after Murray agreed to reprise her role.
* Danny Blue (Marc Warren
Marc Warren (born 20 March 1967) is an English actor, known for his British television roles. His roles have included Albert Blithe in '' Band of Brothers'', Danny Blue in '' Hustle'', Dougie Raymond in ''The Vice'', Dominic Foy in '' State ...
– Series 1–4, Guest in Series 8) – a seasoned short-con artist, Blue is somewhat brash but enthusiastic and imaginative, often wishing to prove he has the talent to pull off long cons and dreaming of being the best grifter in London. As part of his backstory by the writers, Blue's family were mostly crooks who were somewhat dishonourable; none of his family are shown, except for his grandmother, whom he deeply loves. During the first three series, he was relegated to the role of second 'inside man' and being taught what he needed to know about the long con, maintaining a firm rivalry with Mickey with a petty competitive nature between the two, though with each of them respecting the other. After Lester departed from the show, the writers upgraded Warren's character to the leader of the team, with the whole series focused on the development of Blue in his new role. Like Murray, Warren decided not to return to the show for the fifth series due to conflicts in his schedule, and thus his character was written out of the show, though he later agreed to reprise his role as his character, alongside Murray, for the show's finale.
* Billy Bond ( Ashley Walters – Series 4) – a young rookie, whom the writers devised to take on the role of Warren's character for the fourth series – astute, with a talent for short cons, though his backstory reveals him to have prior involvement with drug-dealing and street gangs. Despite his past, he is a likeable character among his peers, with a deep respect for Blue and a passion to learn what he needs to about the long con. While Walters decided not to return for the fifth series, the writers wrote off his character without any explanations of what became of him afterwards, though speculation by fans is that he joined with Blue and Monroe in the States; while Walters' character did not appear for the show's finale, it is unclear whether the production staff asked him to reprise this role again.
* Sean Kennedy (Matt Di Angelo
Mario Angelo S Constantinou (born 1 May 1987), professionally known as Matt Di Angelo, is a British actor and singer, best known for his role as Dean Wicks in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. He also portrayed Sean Kennedy in the BBC drama s ...
– Series 5–8) – a talented young man and one half of a duo along with his sister Emma, Sean originally inspired to be an actor, but later chooses to be an understudy of Mickey and learning to be the 'inside man', with additional mentoring by Morgan. He was created as a replacement for Blue, after Warren chose not to return for the fifth series, and his backstory shows him to be eager yet overprotective of his sister while having a firm hatred of his father for abandoning his family when he was young; the emotional impact further increased when he and his sister were put into foster care after their mother died.
* Emma Kennedy (Kelly Adams
Kelly Diane Adams (born 16 October 1979) is an English actress. She has played leading roles in a number of British television series: Mickie Hendrie in the BBC One medical drama series '' Holby City'' (2004–2006) and ''Casualty'' (2005); Emm ...
– Series 5–8) – a talented woman and the brains behind the duo made up of her and her brother Sean, Emma endured to be the stronger of the Kennedy children after they were put into foster care. Like Di Angelo, Adams' character was created by the writers as a replacement for Murray, after she chose not to return for the fifth series, with her character having the same role as Monroe. In her backstory, alongside having no love for her father, she originally held a previous relationship during her childhood and maintains a firm dislike for men who are sexist, being skilful at drinking games.
* Eddie (Rob Jarvis
Robert S Jarvis (born 1965) is an English television and film actor. He is best known for his roles as Eddie in ''Hustle'' the long running BBC series, Graham Shand in ''Luther'' and as Russell Posner in ''Emmerdale''. From the Wirral, he is fre ...
– Series 1–8) – the owner and proprietor of a local London bar frequented by the team for socialising and planning cons, Eddie is somewhat gullible and at times deluded over his skills and is rather shy when talking to women he likes, yet he maintains respect for Mickey and the others and adopts an attitude of ignorance of what they are doing, sometimes helping out if needed. Despite the team playing tricks and short cons on him, usually to get out of paying drinks or winning money from him, the team hold a deep affection for him and occasionally help him out when he's in trouble.
Production
Conception
''Hustle'' was largely born from the same production team that created and popularised the early series of ''Spooks'', a similarly styled drama series first broadcast in 2002. Bharat Nalluri
Bharat Nalluri (born 1965) is a British–Indian film and television director.
Personal life
Nalluri was born in India. He moved to England at a young age with his family and grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he attended the Royal Grammar ...
, that series' Executive Director, conceived the idea in early 2002 while filming for the first ''Spooks'' series was ongoing. Nalluri pitched the concept to Jane Featherstone, managing director of Kudos Film & Television
Kudos is a British film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Amazon and Netflix and its productions include '' Tin Star, Humans, Broadchurch, The Tunnel'', ''Grantchester, Ap ...
which was the production company
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...
behind ''Spooks'', in the back of a taxi while returning from a day's filming. Intrigued by the idea, Featherstone recruited Tony Jordan
Tony Jordan (born 21 July 1957) is a British television writer. He was listed as the number one television screenwriter in the United Kingdom by ''Broadcast'' magazine in 2008 and among British broadcasting's top twenty in ''The Stage'' in 200 ...
, the lead scriptwriter of the soap opera ''EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
'', to develop it into a workable proposal.
Jordan quickly produced some initial script drafts, which Featherstone took to the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
; Gareth Neame, Head of Drama Commissioning, rapidly approved a six-part series.
Featherstone assembled a production team that had considerable overlap with the ''Spooks'' crew, including Simon Crawford Collins as producer and Matthew Graham as co-writer.