Hustle: Season 2

The long con specialists are facing some trying times. Trevor, a short con artist brought into the fold on Danny's insistence, proves to be more trouble than he's worth. Albert thinks he's found a ripe mark in a mercenary poker player but he turns out to be Stacie's ex-husband Jake. Could the gang end up losing much more than money as they watch Stacie fall for him all over again? And, as Mickey's most audacious plan yet - to steal the crown jewels - ends in capture, handcuffs and tears… Could the family be broken up for good?

Includes the following episodes:
Gold Mine
Confessions
The Lesson
Missions
Old Acquaintance
Eye of the Beholder

Episode 1 - Mickey, Danny, Ash, Stacie and Albert return from a well-earned break and are already setting up scams that target the greedy, unethical and malevolent members of society who have no qualms in using and abusing anyone who crosses their path. When the team discover that old-time grifter, Harry Holmes (Ronald Pickup - Cherished, The Riff Raff Element, Fortunes of War), has been banged up in prison, they decide to pay him a visit. After attempting to con ruthless property developer Howard Jennings (Charlie Creed Miles - Nil By Mouth, White Teeth), Holmes may be in for a long stretch. Jennings has been stung before and will not be outsmarted by anyone – or so he thinks. Danny is eager to take Jennings on, but the team do not share his enthusiasm. Convinced he can pull it off, Danny makes a bet with Mickey. But Mickey is already worried by Danny’s insistence on throwing tried-and-tested tradition to the wind. With a little help from Stacie, Danny is struck by inspiration and prepares the most outrageous con that they have ever engineered. They are going to sell Jennings a gold mine – in London. Using a genuine discovery of Bronze Age gold artefacts in London, the gang concoct a myth about the artefacts being sourced from a secret mine under the capital’s streets. As the scam unfolds, it appears that Jennings is falling head first into their trap. But at the crucial last stage, Jennings decides to conduct his own tests on the land they are attempting to sell him. The team look to Danny for Plan B, but has his hare-brained scheme accounted for one?

Episode 2 - The gang are on the verge of completing a job but Albert has gone missing. When he finally appears, it is too late because the mark has pulled out. But Albert has a new plan. After spotting Johnny Keyes (Stanley Townsend - Omagh, Fallen, Irish Times Best Actor Award for The Shining City) - a prominent restaurateur with a notorious gangland background - in a church, he goes undercover as a priest to hear Keyes’ confession. Ill health has prompted Keyes to worry about never finding James, the son he lost to a gangland kidnapping. He is consumed by guilt for not paying the ransom, but has no idea where his son is. While Stacie uncovers more about Keyes’ unpleasant violent history, Mickey and Ash set up a bogus missing persons’ organisation. Mickey approaches Keyes as a charity worker to inform him that they have found James, who wants to meet him. A counterfeit blood test confirms that Danny is Keyes’ son. Posing as ‘Jimmy’ and his fiancée Paula, Danny and Stacie are escorted by Mickey to meet Keyes for the first time. Acting as a troublesome diner, Ash kicks up a storm, providing Danny with the perfect opportunity to prove his loyalty to his father and his beloved restaurant. Despite his wife Juliette’s (Rebecca Lacey - May to December, Casualty, Monarch of the Glen) obvious scepticism, Keyes decides he wants to give his new-found son some money to set up his own restaurant, but, as Mickey reminds him, Danny must remember he is supposed to be a Keyes’ son – and pride would stop him accepting charity. So, instead, Keyes decides to test Danny’s cooking skills and, if they are good enough, he will invest. But Danny is not exactly Jamie Oliver in the kitchen, so how can the team extract Keyes’ cash?

Episode 3 - Danny has found a potential new member of the gang. Trevor (Lee Ingleby - Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban, Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, Clocking Off) is a short-con artist who is very good at what he does, but his marks are not always the greedy – he does target the elderly or the poor. However, Trevor is looking for his big break and Danny thinks he can mentor Trevor, as Mickey mentored him. The team are not as taken with Trevor as Danny is, but Danny threatens to walk if the gang won’t give Trevor a chance. They reluctantly trust Danny’s instincts and get to work on their next scam. The target is Anthony Mgabe – a ruthless, corrupt Nigerian billionaire, who is an avid collector of antique banknotes. He is missing an extremely rare one, and there are only two in the world. One is held by an American bank, and the other by a private collector. Posing as insurers, Danny and Trevor pay the collector, elderly widow Anne Foster (Doreen Mantle), a visit. With an expert grifter creating the forgery, the gang reel Mgabe in. He is so keen to have the note that he offers Danny and Trevor £500,000. But before they are able to collect the cash, Trevor loses the note. The gang are furious about the con falling through, but Trevor cannot let it go and pays Anne another visit. Claiming the note is damaged, Trevor convinces her to sell and takes it straight to Mgabe to take all the spoils for himself. Have the gang finally been conned themselves? Trevor soon finds out that being greedy never pays and the team are always one step ahead.

Episode 4 - Dodgy detective Sam (Fay Ripley - Cold Feet, I Saw You, The Stretford Wives, Fungus The Bogeyman) is determined to blackmail bar owner Eddie (Rob Jarvis) into grassing up the Hustle team, or face losing his licence or (worse) jail. Eddie is forced into choosing between his friends and his livelihood, and is racked with guilt when he gives into the corrupt copper. Later, Sam barges in on Mickey and Danny and discovers that they are working on a big scam. Sam wants in and if they won’t make her a partner, then she will arrest them. The team has recently bought at an auction some original Black Storm comic book artwork, which they are having forged. They plan to use the original to fool the auction house expert, but will switch it for the forgery before the sale, then sell the real artwork to a collector for a tidy sum. Stacie ropes in Neil (Kieran Bew), the first rival collector. He is a comic book fan and a real geek. Albert works on the second collector, Gideon (Mark Tandy), an art snob and complete bore. Meanwhile, Ash rigs the CCTV so Mickey and Danny can make the switch without being seen. However, once inside the auction house, the plan starts to go pear-shaped. The gang spots someone they tried, and failed, to con, so it is too dangerous for them to show their faces. Sam volunteers to submit the artwork herself and, with absolute delight, she pockets the banker’s draft and leaves the team behind. Have the con artists finally met their match?

Episode 5 - Stacie is in shock. She has seen Jake (Max Beesley - Bodies, Tom Jones, Thief Takers), her husband who left her five years ago, taking everything she owned with him. Jake is a fellow grifter. Having graduated from the short-con world to the professional poker circuit, he is a real pro and will not be an easy target, but the gang swear to exact revenge for Stacie. Albert introduces himself to Jake, explaining that he has organised a high-stakes game with some big-name players, and he wants to take a Daddy’s boy (Danny) for everything he’s got. The game is not enough to keep Jake in town, but as he gets up to leave, he sees Stacie with Mickey, an old enemy. It is evident that they are an item. All Jake’s possessiveness and territorial instincts are aroused. Jake tries to explain to Stacie that the reason he left her was because he was in real trouble and his life was in danger. Meanwhile, Mickey senses the chemistry between Stacie and Jake is still there; he is worried that she may be falling for her ex again. Jake finally agrees to take part in the high-stakes poker game. The first two players soon fold out of the game, but Jake proves harder to beat than the gang initially thought. And it seems that Stacie has let her conscience get the better of her when she secretly tells Jake that he is being set up. Jake cleans the gang out, and Stacie leaves with him. Is she really prepared to leave her friends for love?

Episode 6 - Mickey has a fantastic plan – to steal the Crown Jewels. The others assume it is a joke – they are not thieves. However, Mickey asks them to trust him and so they reluctantly agree to the elaborate con. This will be the biggest challenge they will ever undertake, but Mickey is convinced they are good enough to pull it off. Posing as a cleaner, Ash gets a job in the gallery where a diamond is to be exhibited. The news is not good; it will be virtually impossible to get near it because of the level of security. The plan is to cut power for 30 seconds, use the black-out to re-route the CCTV and, with all the street alarms ringing, turn off all the motion detectors. The gang is ready; so is Detective Chief Inspector Wells (Vincent Regan - Troy, Murphy’s Law, Messiah II, Empire). Surrounding the gallery and desperate to catch them in the act, the police lie in wait. As ever, the gang is one step ahead and, when the police charge into the gallery, they discover that the thieves have disappeared – and so has the diamond. However, when the thieves arrive home later that night, the police are there ready to take them into custody. Is a long prison sentence really the fate now awaiting our heroes? Keep an eye out too for special guest star Robert Llewellyn as MC. Robert is well-known to fans of the BBC’s Emmy-winning space comedy Red Dwarf as Kryten 2X4B 523P, and will also be appearing in the fantasy adventure film MirrorMask.

The family of long con specialists face some trying times. Trevor, a short con artist brought into the fold on Danny's insistence, proves to be more trouble than he's worth. Albert thinks he's found a ripe mark in a mercenary poker player but he turns out to be Stacie's ex-husband Jake. Could the gang end up losing much more than money as they watch Stacie fall for him all over again? And, as Mickey's most audacious plan yet - to steal the crown jewels - ends in capture, handcuffs and tears... Could the family be broken up for good?

“Happily, you don’t have to believe a conjuring trick, you just enjoy it ... Hustle slides down like a silicone-coated oyster. Positively no teeth needed.”- Guardian
“The second series of this superslick crime series just gets better and better. Set in glamorous, modern surroundings in contemporary London, propelled by an upbeat St Germain-style soundtrack and boasting a superb cast, it’s sexy,shiny television with almost movie-standard production values.” - Observer
“It’s fun. Enjoy. Hustle stylishly parodies TV crime capers of the Sixties such as The Avengers and The Persuaders, while also mocking itself. Last night’s episode began with a knowing nod and a wink of Leonardo DiCaprio’s portrayal of a notorious conman in the film Catch Me If You Can ... It was as if the programme was saying: See? We know this is all nicked from somewhere else. We know that you know. And we don’t care ... Priceless.” - Daily Express
“You only have to watch episode one of Hustle ... to be reminded what a great laugh these people have. Or, should I say, what a great laugh the gang featured in the show have. Danny, Ash, Stacie and Albert each bring a unique personal quality to the line-up. But together, they make a cracking team - cool, cunning, classy, charismatic.What’s more, they’re bl**dy clever when it comes to dreaming up ways to rip off people. And you can’t hate them or disapprove, of course, because they only target scumbags.” - Daily Star
“Judging from the first episode, it looks like the BBC have backed a winner ... This highly polished urban drama is a visual delight: beautiful Stacie (Jaime Murray) never fails to please with her gorgeous glossy hair, minute waistline and a wardrobe that’s wasted hanging around hotel rooms, while Adrian Lester’s acting (he plays Mickey, the brains behind the gang) is pure Royal Shakespeare Company. Apart from the mildly chauvanistic undertones (dumb receptionists, sexy airhostesses, easy pick-ups), with its surreal camerawork and sweeping panoramic views of London, this carefully constructed series won’t fail to please.” - Observer
“Mickey, Danny, Ash, Stacie and Albert return to our screens with all the bluster and cheek we have come to expect from such a bunch of smoothies ... the team may be on the dodgy side of the law, but they are really the good guys, who only target nasty victims with more money than sense. They are the Robin Hoods of modern-day con-artistry ... The plot is, of course, preposterous (aren’t they always?) but it is rattling good fun, with slick performances all round. The secret of a good con is to make everything appear very believable at the time, knowing that people will only realise it is implausible and ridiculous when it’s all over. Which makes Hustle a very good con indeed.” - London Evening Standard
“Ignore the gaping holes in the plots and embrace the slick, stylish, silliness of it all.”- People
“The dialogue remains a secondary consideration, and the seat-of-the-pants switcheroos brazen as ever; but if you’re willing to suspend disbelief, this is still a fabulous waste of time.”- Guardian
“Of course we’re being conned (and what a pleasure it is)...” Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) “Hustle really does continue to be fun.”- Sun Herald (Australia)
“...witty and stylish ... con artists steal our hearts.”- New Zealand Herald
“...a high velocity mix of intrigue and humour ... very entertaining.”- The Press (New Zealand)
“...slick ... Hustle still has style to spare. Robert Vaughn, long removed from The Man From U.N.C.L.E., is as dashing as ever playing the leader of the pack.”- Kansas City Star (USA)
“While most of us on this side of the pond will recognize Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), the show boasts a fine cast of British actors. The standout is Adrian Lester (The Day After Tomorrow), who plays Mickey ‘Bricks’ Stone.” -Denver Post (USA)
“...a retro romp ... crookedly charming protagonists just as intrepid, sexy and intelligent as movie star Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief and James Garner in TV’s Maverick.”- Detroit News (USA)
“Crafty, stylish Brit drama.” -Star-Ledger (USA)
“Delightful con artists ... a breezy treat from BBC ... the tone? Light as a sitcom.”- Toronto Star (Canada)

Cast
Mickey Stone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adrian Lester
Danny Blue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marc Warren
Ash Morgan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Robert Glenister
Stacie Monroe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jaime Murray Albert Stroller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Vaughan Production Credits
Created and written by. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tony Jordan, Matthew Graham, Howard Overman, Julie Rutterford Directors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Otto Bathurst, Alrick Riley, John Strickland Producer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Karen Wilson Executive Producers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Featherstone, Simon Crawford Collins, Gareth Neame