Hustle

One of the BBC’s most enduring and rightly-popular drama series, it’s to the credit of the writing team of Hustle that they continue to generate so many intriguing set-ups for its team of confidence tricksters to tackle. But with only one episode slightly below form in an-otherwise excellent series, the show remains one of the best contemporary dramas that the BBC produce.
The core set-up of Hustle is the same as before. There’s a gang of con artists, who continually get tempted by new scams and tricks, and are willing to travel the world to tackle them. Led by the likes of Adrian Lester (who returns after missing series four), Robert Glenister, the wonderful Robert Vaughn and new addition Kelly Adams, the Hustle crew also attract some welcome guest stars this time round. Bill Bailey, Tim McInnerny and Patrick Bergin are among the familiar faces that pop up.
The real stars of Hustle, though, are the tightly-plotted scams themselves, and there are some corkers in series five. We get, for instance, some malarkey with an MP, a bullion heist, a spider’s web and the weaker entry, involving a diamond necklace. For the bulk of the series, though, it’s great fun waiting for the rug to be pulled, and the run ends on a terrific high to lead us neatly towards the already-commissioned sixth season. Given the standards that Hustle predominantly maintains for series five, of which all six episodes are on this disc, that’s a very good thing.

The rules of the game are that you can't cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break; it's not just about the money and don't have anything in your life that you can't walk away from in a second.

From the makers of Spooks, Hustle takes you into a world with a whole new set of rules. An action packed blend of humour and intrigue, each of the six episodes of the first seasons, follows the fortunes of a gang of five expert con artists let loose on the streets of London.

How would you plan a con? Cover all the angles and leave nothing to chance or rely on charm alone? Let the experts show you how it's done because the con is back on with the complete second season of Hustle.

Broadcast to massive acclaim, Season Two features a whole new set of scams, tricks and cons and includes an in depth documentary on the making of the final episode. Slick, stylish and sexy, Hustle is television drama at the top of its game.

The third series of the con drama Hustle finds the team in confident form. The premise remains pretty much unaltered, as a team of con artists plan and execute an increasingly elaborate and well-plotted collection of jobs. But the fun as always is in the execution, with a lively cast making the show hard to resist.
Season three features six episodes, with some real highlights to be found. As always, the series finale is just brilliant, leaving you salivating for the fourth season, but surely the episode finding Mickey and Danny naked in the midst of London will go down as one of the best that Hustle’s ever managed to rustle up.

Running richly through the duration of the series though are the trademark features that have made Hustle as popular as it is: tightly woven plots, carpet-pulling twists, clever writing and a cast who seem to be having a whale of a time making the show.

Is series three up to the standards of the two that preceded it? Absolutely it is, with Robert Vaughn and Adrian Lester on top form, and even the likes of Richard Chamberlain dropping in too. Both consistent, and hugely entertaining, it leaves you positively salivating for Hustle series four…

With their old leader away on a long con, Danny steps up to the mark with a bang as our gang of grifters take on the Hollywood sign, a Vegas casino and thanks to their new rookie recruit, engage in a dangerous game of Russian Roulette with deadly prepared Sushi!