Hustle (TV series)

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.[5] Bharat Nalluri, that series' Executive Director, conceived the idea in early 2002 while filming for the first Spooks series was ongoing.[6] Nalluri pitched the concept to Jane Featherstone, managing director of Kudos Film & Television which was the production company behind Spooks, in the back of a taxi while returning from a day's filming.[6][7] Intrigued by the idea, Featherstone recruited Tony Jordan, the lead scriptwriter of the soap opera EastEnders,[8] to develop it into a workable proposal.[9]

Jordan quickly produced some initial script drafts, which Featherstone took to the BBC; Gareth Neame, Head of Drama Commissioning, rapidly approved a six-part series.[5] 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.[5] In creating the first episodes, Jordan drew inspiration from the long tradition of confidence tricks and heists in Hollywood and television, including The A-Team, The Sting and The Grifters (and in a similar vein, the films and TV series of Mission Impossible).[9] Featherstone remarked that "Ocean's Eleven was on around the time Bharat and I first spoke, and I think it helped to inspire us, but really we took our inspiration from a whole catalogue of movies and books... we wanted to make something that had the energy, verve, style and pure entertainment value of those sorts of films"[10] At the same time, the writers attempted to draw on the success of recent blockbusters such as Ocean's Eleven and Mission: Impossible; speaking in an interview in December 2003, Crawford explained that "[such shows] worked because of the interaction within the group – the plotlines were almost irrelevant".[11]

With Hustle greenlit for filming, the production team began searching for actors to play both the main characters and the marks for each episode. The process was initially quite difficult; Crawford described his "immediate thought [as] 'this is so good, how the hell are we going to get a cast to live up to these characters?' ... Tony had created incredibly strong characters, each with their own particular style and panache, but they also had to form a believable, if unusual, 'family' unit".[12] Robert Vaughn, the Academy Award-nominated star of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., was soon suggested as a natural choice to play Albert Stroller, the elderly 'roper' responsible for ensnaring potential marks.[12] After meeting Vaughn over lunch, Crawford "[recognised] straight away that he could bring a whole new dimension to the part of Albert".[12] Vaughn was immediately offered the role, and asked to begin filming the following day.[13]

Jordan's script called for a group of five con artists or "grifters", with a wide range of ages, appearances and experience.[14] The production team cast Adrian Lester, at the time playing Henry V at the National Theatre, as Michael Stone, the leader of the group;[15] Marc Warren as Danny Blue, Stone's younger protégé;[15][16] and Robert Glenister as Ash Morgan, the "fixer";[16] in August 2003. Although having numerous credits in film and on the stage, Lester was an unknown face in television, having had less than two hours' broadcast screen time prior to the first Hustle series.[9][17] Lester explained that he "couldn't imagine playing the same character for years, but Hustle was completely different. In the very first rehearsal we were doing a dance routine and then the next thing I know I'm whacking out several different accents and I just thought, 'I'm in heaven, this is great!'"[17]

Jaime Murray completed the lead actors, playing Stacie Monroe who, as the grifters' only female member, is self-styled as "the lure".[16] Murray, described by one of the Hustle production team as "that rare specimen – a stunningly beautiful actress who can actually act",[18] and who auditioned in platform shoes to match her 5 ft 7in height with Stacie's description as having "legs that go on for miles",[19] was reportedly "terrified" to be working with the more famous actors Vaughn and Lester, saying "when we were filming the first couple of episodes I was absolutely petrified and was convinced that it would be really obvious on screen. So when I watched some of it on tape I was totally amazed that you couldn't see how frightened I really was. I kept thinking, 'Oh my God! I'm working with Adrian Lester and Robert Vaughn. Any time now someone is going to tap me on the shoulder and ask me to get my coat!'"[18]

In addition to the lead actors, the production team recruited a number of actors, both major and minor, to play the marks in each episode; including David Haig, Tamzin Outhwaite, and David Calder.[14][20]

With the cast and crew in place, filming for the first Hustle series took place in London between August and November 2003.[16] The lead actors were given professional instruction in sleight-of-hand and pick-pocketing; "all the tricks of the trade from card-shuffling to stealing watches", according to Lester.[17] The cast found the experience informative; Murray explained, "I realised that most cons are all about diversion – while you're trying to con somebody you're doing something to distract them in the opposite direction so they don't notice and that's exactly how pickpockets work".[18]

Several members of the cast described Hustle's filming schedule as incredibly hectic. Vaughn said that "[the role] was offered to me, and I was told to get on a plane an hour after I got the phone call and start shooting the following day."[13] Speaking in 2009 after filming four series of the show, Lester explained that "when we start shooting Hustle we film two episodes concurrently, with the scenes out of sequence. Knowing where you are in the intricate plots at any one moment is... challenging".[21] Murray, by contrast, claimed that the hardest scene to film was from the fourth episode, when Danny loses spectacularly to Stacie in strip poker and ends up entirely naked. "It was the toughest scene for me of the entire six months we spent filming the series... Stacie is supposed to be calm, cool and collected... she looks down, checks him out and casually and suavely makes a comment. I kept looking down, dissolving into fits of laughter and was almost unable to deliver my line. So all you'll see is me laughing".[22]

Although the programme typically contains few non-trivial stunts or dramatic special effects, the first episode includes an example of Ash Morgan's favourite con, known as "The Flop": having previously received a fractured skull in a bar brawl, Morgan deliberately steps in front of moving cars and exaggerates the accident. Although not actually hurt, X-ray scans show his fractured skull, and the driver's insurance company pays out a compensation claim.[23] Glenister balked at doing the entire stunt himself, saying "I got a stunt man who did all the smashing against the windscreen stunts but I did everything else... We all like doing the stunts involving driving fast because it's boy's-own stuff but when it comes to the dangerous stunts I'm quite happy to leave it to someone else!"[23]

The first episode of the series of Hustle was broadcast on BBC One on 24 February 2004,[5] driven by a strong advertising campaign organised by Abbott Mead Vickers,[24] surrounding its slogan, "The Con is On", the same name as that of the initial episode's title.[25] The programme was an immediate success, attracting over 6.7 million viewers,[26][27] and attracting favourable reviews (see below). Before the first series had finished airing, the BBC had sold rebroadcast licences to TV channels in twelve countries, including Italy,[28] Norway,[29] Germany,[29] Israel, Russia and the Netherlands.[30] Anita Davison, Commercial Director for BBC Worldwide, claimed that "The series [had] all the hallmarks of a huge international hit".[30] The series was later licensed to broadcasters in India and South America.[31] In 2016 BBC Persian aired it in Persian language for Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Filming for the second Hustle series took place in mid-2004, again in and around central London. Lester described the second shoot as "much easier" than the chaotic first series. "On the first series we didn't know each other... we were trying to work out what roles we were going to play and the scripts were still being written as we were shooting it; it was all a case of finding out what exactly Hustle was going to be.. second time around it was much easier, much quicker... when we were reading the script you could really hear the other actors doing their lines because you knew kind of how they were going to do them..."[2] With the success of the first series, Hustle's team of writers were able to be more inventive in creating new plots for the second six-episode run, including issues some of the characters had to deal with, and stories which could keep the audience guessing until the end.[33]

The programme retained all of the lead actors from the first series; guest actors appearing in the second run included Lee Ingleby, Fay Ripley,[34] and Robert Llewellyn.[35] The second series was broadcast on BBC One from 29 March 2005,[36] to a first-night audience of 6.7 million.[37]

In the wake of the equally successful second series, the BBC took Hustle to the American market, securing a licensing deal with AMC.[38] In addition to exclusive broadcast rights to the first and second series in the United States,[38] AMC also took the position of co-production partner on the third series,[39] already in pre-production, with the option to take the same position on a fourth series.[39] The BBC described the move as "Securing the right platform... essential for a series to succeed in the competitive US market...".[38] The first two series premiered in the US in January 2006 on AMC[40] The BBC also secured new licensing deals with broadcasters in Australia and New Zealand.[41][42]

Capitalising on Hustle's international success, the BBC created a spin off series, The Real Hustle, which premiered on 10 February 2006.[43] The documentary follows three genuine hustlers – a magician and professional gambler,[44] a glamorous actress,[45] and a professional sleight-of-hand artist and crooked gambling consultant[46] – as they pull short-cons on unsuspecting businesses and members of the public. The BBC described the series as an attempt "to reveal how the scams work so that the viewer can avoid being ripped off by the same con".[47]

All five of the lead actors again reprised their roles in the third series, which featured guest stars including Richard Chamberlain,[48] Linford Christie, Sara Cox and Paul Nicholls.[49] The series premiered on 10 March 2006,[50] running until 14 April. The second episode, featuring Danny and Mickey running naked through Trafalgar Square,[51] attracted a viewing audience of 6 million.[52] Lester described the scene as one of his most embarrassing moments on-set, saying "you forget just how many phone cameras there are... we thought [the Square] was fairly deserted, but as soon as someone shouted 'Action' there was a tour bus behind us and the whole top deck suddenly started filming".[53]

With the backing of AMC, a fourth series of Hustle was virtually guaranteed, and by late 2006 it was clear that the cable network was taking a commanding role in the show's development.[54] Despite the increased funding AMC provided, which allowed the writers to set episodes in Las Vegas and Los Angeles,[55] the series was quickly mired in casting concerns. The BBC confirmed Adrian Lester's departure in September 2006, elevating Marc Warren's character to the lead role and casting Ashley Walters as a new member of the group.[56] The BBC was quick to dispel any suggestion that Lester's resignation was connected to the shift in production focus, stating "it is a shame that, due to his current filming commitments, Adrian cannot join us this time round...",[56] while Lester explained his action as "need[ing] to do something else, be associated with something else".[57] However, Lester also admitted that he felt that the series "just got a little bit too 'light'".[57] Guest stars in the series included Richard Arnold as himself, Frances Barber as Clarissa, Mark Holden as Bouncer, Rob Jarvis as Eddie, Vinette Robinson, Malcolm Sinclair, and Elizabeth Tan as Lu Choi.

Series Five debuted on 8 January 2009 with the return of Adrian Lester, the departure of cast members Marc Warren and Jaime Murray, and the arrival of Matt Di Angelo and Kelly Adams as their replacements. With the return of Lester's character, Mickey Bricks, Ashley Walters's Billy Bond was removed. The series resumed production in the summer of 2008; in addition, the title sequence that had been used in the last four series was changed with a new animation sequence and a much more electronic and contemporary version of the theme tune.[3]

Series Six started 4 January 2010.[58] All of the fifth series cast returned with production that moved to Birmingham,[59] despite the show retaining its London setting. The series once again consisted of 6 episodes.[60] Lolita Chakrabarti (Lester's real-life wife) made a guest star appearance as Museum Curator Nishika Baboor in this series' third episode, "Tiger Troubles". Other guest stars in this series included Indira Varma, Daniel Mays, Mark Benton, Simon Day and Danny Webb.

The seventh series of Hustle began airing on 7 January 2011.[61] All main cast members from series 6 reprised their roles.[62] This was the second series to be filmed in Birmingham, the fourth in HD and the third series featuring all of the current cast. Episode 2 was partially set in Birmingham when the gang follow a crooked woman's trick to the city. Guest stars in this series included Anna Chancellor, Angela Griffin, David Harewood, Clive Swift, Hannah Gordon, Claire Goose, Denis Lawson, and Roger Lloyd-Pack. Series 7 was the most watched series yet, with viewing figures reaching 7.2 million.

The eighth series started airing on 13 January 2012 on BBC1 at 9 pm after being pushed back from 6 January. Creator Tony Jordan said that it would be the last series for at least a while;[1] later, the BBC announced that there would not be a series 9. Guest stars featuring this series include Sheila Hancock, Martin Kemp and Paterson Joseph and former Liverpool footballer Ian Rush.[63] Peter Polycarpou[64] and John Barrowman[65] also revealed on Twitter that they had guest roles in series eight. This was the third series to be filmed in Birmingham, the fifth in HD and the fourth series featuring all of the current cast.[63] Adrian Lester directed an episode, in which Mickey is kidnapped.[63] Other cons see the team take on the world of slimming pills and pull off a gold heist. Jaime Murray and Marc Warren returned to their roles as Stacie Monroe and Danny Blue, respectively, for the final episode.

In June 2006, 20th Century Fox acquired the film rights to Hustle;[69] a film adaptation of the programme is currently being written by creator Tony Jordan, who has written several drafts but is still developing the script.[70] In February 2009, executive producer, Simon Crawford Collins stated that the movie was to be produced by a major United States studio.[71]

The first series of Hustle, broadcast from 24 February to 30 March 2004, attracted generally favourable reviews and audience figures. The Guardian described it as "defiantly high-concept, tightly plotted, knowing stuff... a laugh; slick, glossy, and smart certainly, but a laugh all the same",[9] and The Times remarked that it had "the snap and style of a series that has been cryogenically frozen in the 1960s and brought back to life, like The Clangers... The wonderfully absurd result is a drama series that takes itself far less seriously than almost anything since The Persuaders".[73] A later review from the same paper summarised the series as "an engaging, well-acted, snappily directed drama... sleekly edited, flatteringly lit, and stylishly executed... Will you remember a single moment of it five minutes after you've watched an episode? Probably not. But who cares?"[74] The first three episodes attracted an average audience of 6.2 million, peaking at over 30% of the total audience.[32]

The title sequence, created by Berger & Wyse,[75] was nominated for a Royal Television Society Award (2005), a BAFTA (2006) and an Emmy (2007).[76] The title music, composed by Simon Rogers was also nominated for the Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music Emmy in 2007.