''Trust'' is a British

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

, produced, written and created by Simon Block, 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, ...

from 9 January until 13 February 2003. The series starred

Robson Green Robson Golightly Green (born 18 December 1964) is an English actor, angler, singer-songwriter and presenter. His first major TV role was as hospital porter Jimmy Powell in BBC drama series '' Casualty'' in 1989. He then went on to portray Fusi ...

, with

Sarah Parish Sarah Parish (born 7 June 1968) is an English actress. She is known for her work on television series including: ''The Pillars of the Earth'', ''Peak Practice'', '' Hearts and Bones'', ''Cutting It'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Mistresses'', ''Merlin'', ...

Neil Stuke Neil Robert Stuke (born 22 February 1966 in Deal, Kent) is an English actor best known for his role of Matthew in the TV sitcom '' Game On'' and more recently for playing Billy Lamb in the BBC legal drama ''Silk''. Career Stuke played Matthew ...

Chiwetel Ejiofor Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor ( ; born 10 July 1977) is a British actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awa ...

Eva Birthistle Eva Birthistle (born 1974) is an Irish actress and writer. She is best known for her role in '' Ae Fond Kiss...'' and since 2015 has starred in ''The Last Kingdom''. She won the London Film Critics Circle British or Irish Actress of the Year A ...

and

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (20 ...

. Only one series was made before the programme was decommissioned by the BBC. ''Trust'' received mixed reviews in the British press, but received better critical acclaim when it was rebroadcast on

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...

in 2004. The series was produced by Box TV Productions.

Plot

''Trust'' revolves around a corporate law team led by partner Stephen Bradley (

), a maverick lawyer who often finds sense in apparently senseless argument. In each episode, the team are presented with corporate clients who require the services of the law firm, often in the handling of critical deals including takeovers, mergers and acquisitions and dissolutions. The series also deals with issues relating to long city working hours, corporate competition, drug abuse in the work place and corporate social responsibility, or the lack of it. The series is set in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

and makes full use of the city's iconic buildings as visual references. Cooper Fozard's offices are portrayed using two separate buildings for exterior shots — Thomas More Square in

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

is portrayed as Cooper Fozard's office building, while roof shots, which often provide breaks within episode stories to focus on series spanning themes, are filmed at 1 Poultry. Other locations have included

The Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

and St Paul's Cathedral. The series makes constant use of aerial photographs of the city, with

Tower 42 Tower 42, commonly known as the NatWest Tower, is a skyscraper in the City of London. It is the fifth-tallest tower in the City of London, having been overtaken as the tallest in 2010 by the Heron Tower. It is the fifteenth- tallest in Lond ...

The Gherkin 30 St Mary Axe (previously known as the Swiss Re Building and informally known as the Gherkin) is a commercial skyscraper in London's primary financial district, the City of London. It was completed in December 2003 and opened in April 2004. W ...

(while still under construction), Shoreditch &

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. It li ...

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

and The Royal Exchange frequently being utilised to set the scene. The title sequence features shots of the City from

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at t ...

, and the title banner is displayed over an ultra-wide angle shot of the Aviva building and

122 Leadenhall Street 122 Leadenhall Street, which is also known as the Leadenhall Building, is a skyscraper in central London. It opened in July 2014 and was designed by the Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; it is known informally as The Cheesegrater because of its ...

in Undershaft.

Cast

as Stephen Bradley; a maverick

partner Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to: Books * ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997 * ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928 * ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart * ''Partner'' (m ...

and team leader of Cooper-Fozard *

as Annie Naylor; lawyer, aspiring partner, and a member of Stephen's team *

as Martin Greig; a talented, openly gay lawyer on Stephen's team *

as Ashley Carter; a talented junior lawyer who often works apart from the team *

as Maria Acklam; a trainee lawyer on Stephen's team *

as Alan Cooper-Fozard; the enigmatic senior partner, known more often as ''The PG'' *

Nick Sidi Nick Sidi (born 22 February 1966) is an English actor. He is the husband of Marianne Elliott and son-in-law of actress Rosalind Knight. He often plays drama or comedy roles on television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a tel ...

as Sammy Samuelson *

Rosie Day Rosie Jane Day is an English actress, director and writer. She is known for her roles as Mary Hawkins in the Starz series '' Outlander'' and Sarah Jessica Parker's daughter in the comedy film '' All Roads Lead to Rome''. She starred as Tina Pem ...

as Emma Naylor *

Dugald Bruce Lockhart Dugald Bruce Lockhart is an Anglo- Scottish stage and screen actor, director and writer. Background and education A member of the Bruce Lockhart family, Lockhart was born in Fiji in 1968, the son of James Robert Bruce Lockhart (1941–2018), ...

as Dougie Baker * Julie Saunders as Serene Green * Sara Houghton as Melissa Chang

Episodes

External links

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trust (Tv Series) BBC television dramas 2000s British legal television series 2003 British television series debuts 2003 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series 2000s British television miniseries English-language television shows Television shows set in London