The brainchild of Tony Jordan, ‘Hustle’ is a British crime drama that was broadcast by BBC One for eight seasons. The TV series stars Tony Award nominee Adrian Lester and Primetime Emmy Award winner Robert Vaughn. The most notable qualities of the show are the plots that involve behind-the-scenes actions that viewers only get to see at the end of an episode.
Unforgettable Scenes in the Show
‘Hustle’ features unforgettable scenes of Albert Stroller, who is seen gambling at many private clubs. It’s now common for creators of TV shows to draw upon popular and contemporary life to reinforce their plots and make them more appealing. As technology continues to shift, the iGaming sector evolves alongside it, giving rise to online platforms that continue to soar in popularity because of their engaging game titles, like the Sugar Rush slot. It is likely that, like ‘Hustle’, future TV shows and films will continue to incorporate scenes in popular gambling spaces, such as casinos, as well as shift and progress with our digital age to include characters who partake in online games too.
The final episode was aired on 17 February 2012 after the show successfully ran from 24 February 2004. Fans responded differently, with some requesting a movie version after the BBC confirmed that there wouldn’t be a season 9. This did not sound right to the lead actor, Adrian Lester, as he thought that having a movie remake of the show would be horrible. In 2023, Matt Di Angelo shared a photo of a reunited cast, teasing that there would be a reboot of the series.
Conception, Casting and Filming
Hustle’s idea was first conceived by the Executive Director, Bharat Nalluri, in 2002 as they were filming the first season of ‘Spooks’. The writers used inspiration from previous blockbuster films like ‘Mission Impossible’ and ‘Ocean’s Eleven’. After receiving the green light for filming, the production team set out to search for actors, which was a tedious task.
One of the producers, Simon Crawford, admitted that they had challenges finding characters who would perfectly embody the script. They finally settled for Adrian Lester, Robert Vaughn, Robert Glenister, Jaime Murray and Mark Warren as the leading roles for the series. The first season was filmed between August and November 2003 in London.
Reception and Nominations
The show’s first season attracted decent reviews and audience figures, with the first three episodes attracting an average audience of more than 6 million viewers. Due to its positive response, BBC commissioned the series for a second season after only three episodes had aired.
Adrian Lester later resigned during the fourth season, leading to a massive drop in views. Things changed when he returned during the fifth season, increasing the viewership from 5.54 million to 6.07 million. With the last season garnering over 6.21 million viewers, the Hustle TV series has attracted several nominations, including the 2008 Saturn Award, 2006 BAFTA TV Award, 2007 Primetime Emmy and 2005 RTS Television Award.
Hustle’s success proves that with a good storyline, a TV show has enough capacity to captivate audiences for a long time. The series continues to live on even as fans wait to see whether the show will be renewed for a new season.
