Hustle is a British crime drama television series starring Adrian Lester, Robert Glenister and Robert Vaughn. Created by Tony Jordan, it was produced by Kudos Film and Television, and broadcast on BBC One 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 was on a group of con artists who specialise in "long cons" – extended forms of deceptive frauds that require greater commitment, but offer higher rewards than simple confidence tricks. 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 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" 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 con artists, 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 the mark that they can exploit, such as a passion for something, 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.
Characters
Michael "Mickey Bricks" Stone (Adrian Lester – 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 (Robert Vaughn – 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 – 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 (Jaime Murray – 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 – 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 – Series 5–8) – a talented young man and one half of a duo along with his sister Emma, Sean originally aspired 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 – 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 – 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, 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 which was the production company behind Spooks, in the back of a taxi while returning from a day's filming. Intrigued by the idea, Featherstone recruited Tony Jordan, the lead scriptwriter of the soap opera EastEnders, to develop it into a workable proposal.