List of Hustle characters

Hustle is a British television comedy-drama series made by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom.

Michael Stone

Known as Mickey Bricks, he was the show's principal character from Series 1 to 3 and 5 to 8. Played by Adrian Lester.

Mickey is a professional grifter who makes money by setting up long cons. He is intelligent, charismatic and quick-witted. Although he works with Albert Stroller who is one of his mentors, Mickey is the leader of his "crew" (team) of grifters. Mickey did not return in the fourth series, instead he led a con off-screen in Australia. He has, however, returned in the fifth.

Background

Mickey has a strong dislike of being told what to do or having a job. These feelings appear to stem from his childhood. In series one, he revealed that his father was an ordinary, law-abiding citizen whose only dream was to retire when he was 60, until he dropped dead of natural causes three days before his 60th birthday. Having watched his father play by the rules all his life and destroyed as a result, he has a strong hatred of people who simply use the system to make themselves rich regardless of the cost to anyone else, which is the main reason Mickey always selects marks whom he has reason to dislike; by making his motive personal, he stops himself from ever making the con about the money. The gang states that their first rule is, "You can't cheat an honest man," not simply because they should not, but as those being conned are greedy and dishonest, they are less likely to over-analyse anything that would make them rich. In that sense, Mickey is not hypocritical because he doesn't steal from "old ladies"; all his marks are either blatantly dishonest or simply coldly dismissive of others - he stole a man's credit card after hearing him attempt to convince his staff to only pay Eastern Europeans £2.50 an hour. On at least two occasions he has also masterminded cons where innocent people gain more than the gang themselves (Although the gang still made a profit). At the same time however, Mickey has no qualms with staying in hotels without paying, or doing nothing about his tab in Eddie's bar (though this seems to be more of a joke for him, as he is more than prepared to give Eddie favours if he is in serious need).

Career

Mickey is considered by most people to be one of the finest grifters alive. His best moments include 'moving' the Star of Africa and averting police capture by recruiting another grifter to head the investigation into his activities. Incidentally he has never been charged with grifting (his only incarceration was for a completely non-related crime - assault on his ex-wife's boyfriend with a baseball bat for which he served three years). He has three weaknesses - loyalty, his extraordinary ego, and his hatred of being told what to do by anyone. He is a unique con artist in that he doesn't think like a normal person; it is impossible to second guess him. He gives the impression of being spontaneous, but everything is planned and precise. He puts together complicated and seemingly unrelated events, impossible to unravel, but all related to the big con. He greatly enjoys high stakes. He has attempted several grifts - such as trying to con an amnesic who saw through their first con before he lost his memory by 're-doing' the original scam, or using the same con on four different marks at once - simply because people say that it is impossible. He often removes things from people's pockets and one occasion drives off in a gentleman's car after convincing him he is a valet, but he frequently insists he is "not a thief". His cons often reflect this, as on several occasions he makes it appear as if a theft has taken place, when in reality the "stolen" objects are simply hidden or moved. On one occasion in Series 8, he convinces two marks that he has stolen a valuable work of art, and then influences them to commit another robbery with his 'assistance', recording the incident so he can blackmail them into handing over the money.

Personal life

In addition to his crew, Mickey is also friends with various other grifters. However, he does not seem to have any non-grifter friends, although he was married once. He has previously stated that as a grifter you should never have "anything in your life that you can't walk away from in a second." His marriage ended after his wife had an affair. Mickey subsequently beat up the man responsible, and was sent to prison for three years, returning to the streets in the first episode.

Several episodes have suggested a past relationship with fellow team member Stacie Monroe. In the episode, "A Touch of Class", Mickey breaks one of his cardinal rules by having an affair with the target of a con, which resulted in the con going awry and the wrong victim being hit when the original mark tricks them into going after an innocent man.

Later on Mickey appears to be rather taken with newcomer, Emma Kennedy, flirting with her on occasion. However, after Sean Kennedy, Emma's brother, shows hostility toward Mickey concerning his intentions with his sister, Mickey reviews their relationship. Mickey and Emma decide that to continue would only cause problems, and so put an end to it. Despite this, references to the feelings they had or still have are made until the very end of the series.

Departure

In Series 4, Mickey had left to take part in a con in Australia to sell the Sydney Opera House. Danny Blue took over as leader, with Billy Bond filling the resulting gap. Mickey appeared to call Danny at the end of the Series Four Finale, but the audience never saw Mickey; they heard Danny say "Sorry, bit busy, can I call you back?" and then hang up (Much to the annoyance of the group, as they were currently stuck on a sinking inflatable raft and thought that Mickey might have been able to suggest something useful).

Return

The con in Australia succeeds but Mickey loses the money while attempting to escape police. After stealing the uniform of a Naval Commander, Mickey returns to the UK where he discovers his team has split up and have gone their separate ways. He then manages to bring the remaining members of the team - Ash Morgan and Albert Stroller, although Albert briefly served as an occasional advisor while in prison - back together, aided by new members Emma and Sean, to help him start a new string of cons within the city of London. At the show's conclusion, he retires after faking his death to escape with his share of almost 10 million pounds his last mark was tricked into investing on the London Stock Exchange.

Ashley 'Three Socks' Morgan

Played by Robert Glenister.

Ashley Morgan, known simply as Ash to his own crew, and "Three Socks" Morgan to the wider grifting circle, is a seasoned grifter, and the team's "fixer". He got the nickname whilst serving an 18-month prison sentence when a short-con known as 'The Flop' he pulled on an insurance broker went wrong. Whilst in prison he would 'go into the shower with 3 socks', suggesting he is a well endowed man. Ash is prone to talk about the working man and people making an honest living (which he seems to erroneously think includes himself).

As the "fixer" it is Ash's role to ensure that anything the team needs to carry out a con, the team gets. He possesses considerable technical expertise and knowledge and can hack into CCTV systems, security systems, phone lines and computer servers. He is also tasked with building websites to convince marks of the legitimacy of any fake business the team have created, and will fabricate any props and equipment small electronic gadgets such as bugs and phone taps. His failures are few and cause his friends some surprise when they occur; one was an attempt to bypass an impossible anti-theft system for paintings, another was when signing a contract to sell a race horse, he failed to see that the mark had inserted a clause that only 10k would be paid upfront and another 90k after the horse had won its first race. The team also rely on him and his vast number of contacts to supply them with anything they need, from fake IDs and forged items to cars and hotel rooms. In Series 4, the gang needed £30,000 worth in Rubles in order to con a caviar shop owner. The mark was having trouble getting that amount anywhere, whereas Ash got hold of them in a very short period of time and felt insulted that Danny even asked if it could be done at such notice.

As well as being the fixer, Ash is an excellent grifter in general, able to play the part of various characters with ease. Despite being mild mannered, he also acts as the team's "heavy" and will not tolerate anyone threatening them. He is able to intimidate others with considerable menace when the situation is called for. It has been hinted in several episodes that Ash was "tasty" (slang for a good fighter) in his younger days, and often the threat of him becoming violent is enough to defuse situations where the team need protection.

It was revealed in one episode that Ash was actually one of two candidates for Mickey's team Fixer, the other one being a notorious grifter called Benny. However, although Benny was the more skilled grifter overall, capable of playing multiple roles such as the roper or the fixer, Mickey chose Ash because he concluded that Ash was the better man, Benny being more of a solo operative while Ash was a better team player who could be counted on to keep his word.

Although his age gives the impression that he is the second-most-experienced member of the team, Ash has stated more than once that he is not interested in leadership, recognising his niche and remaining within that area even on such occasions as the group's vote for a new leader during Mickey's absence in Season Four, Danny taking the job instead. Even when he was temporarily put in charge as the result of a card draw when Mickey was suffering a run of bad luck, he tended to subtly rely on Mickey for inspiration rather than exclusively coming up with his own idea.

Since the beginning of Season Five, Ash has become an unofficial mentor figure to new team member Sean Kennedy, often advising Sean on various short-con antics such as pick-pocketing.

When Mickey was in jail Ash ran short cons. Using a skull fracture he obtained in a bar room brawl many years ago, he played a con known as "The Flop". He waits on the pavement (after covering himself with a padded coat to avoid actual injury) for a driver not paying attention, steps in front of the car, gets hit and acts badly injured. When he gets to the hospital, the x-ray shows the fracture and the insurance pays out. His ex-wife June also used to perform the con, but eventually suffered brain damage from the impacts. Ash gives a lot of his earnings to funding her treatment. When the gang heard about this they decided to all contribute to her medical expenses. He gives his date of birth as 21 July 1960. He is the only character to appear in every episode (Albert having appeared in almost every episode apart from Episode 2 of Season 5).

In Series 7, episode 5, during a con, Ash suffered an injury to the frontal lobe and subsequently suffered from "Cruetzman Belling Syndrome", leaving Ash with an inability to lie. However, the con goes to plan and the team are able to just pull it off, with Ash answering questions honestly but in a tone of voice that suggested that he is just joking. He was subsequently cured when he sustained another blow to the head.

Albert Stroller

Played by Robert Vaughn.

Albert is an elderly American who acts as the group roper; his role is to identify targets ("marks") and lead them to the inside-man. His distinctive style exudes the kind of dignified professionalism that wealthy, unsuspecting marks trust implicitly, making him the ideal man to rope them in for the serious score. As a result, he is a member of numerous establishments where the very wealthy can be found – private gentlemen's clubs, casinos, top hotels and restaurants are regular haunts for Albert and his targets. He is friends with many wealthy people under numerous aliases. Albert was Mickey's mentor in long cons; his lessons encouraged Mickey to develop his eye for detail.

He is a master of cold reading - a technique often used by mentalists, fortune tellers, psychics, and mediums to determine details about another person in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do. Even without prior knowledge, a practiced cold reader can still quickly obtain a great deal of information about the subject by carefully analyzing body language, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, and manner of speech. This ability helps Albert get close to his marks quickly.

Although born in America, he was stationed in North London during World War II, where he fell madly in love with a local girl, Lily Cooper. A few weeks later, he had to evacuate the base and didn't have the time to get word to Lily. He wrote her a letter later and posted it as soon as he could, but received no reply. After the war, he came back to London to look for her, only to see her at the church as she was getting married.

He fled from the United States in the 1970s. Originally he was a shoe salesman in the Midwest until the work-force was laid off. To secure a decent redundancy package, Albert conned the company out of $60,000 and shared it amongst his former co-workers. He reputedly enjoyed the experience so much that he became a grifter and moved to Las Vegas to work the marks there by day, and the casinos at night. However, soon all the casinos became wise to the grifters and banned them from even entering their premises. Albert left for the UK shortly afterwards. One of his partners-in-crime in Las Vegas was Joey Pepper, and together they would work the Shoe-switch scam. However, Joey was once caught doing the switch and was almost killed by the Casino security.

At one point, he fell in love with a woman called Susan, to the extent that they were planning to get a house together, but Susan left after Albert lost the money they had been raising in a card game. When Susan reappeared years later, she revealed that she had discovered that she was pregnant with Albert's child shortly after leaving him, but never returned because she didn't think that Albert's lifestyle was suitable for a child, and she did not want Albert to change for her sake. Albert was reunited with Susan and their daughter Kathleen at the end of the seventh series - where he also learned that he had grandchildren - but he missed a chance to say goodbye when he got caught up in a poker game to celebrate the gang's latest victory.

He was "out-grifted" once by Victor Maher, before joining with Mickey Bricks and the rest of the crew, although he had spoken about Maher to Mickey before Maher turns up in Series 1 Episode 4 trying to out-grift Mickey.

He cannot go to Indonesia as he sold the air force some fighter jets in the '70s, and they still haven't arrived.

Stroller is an habitual gambler; he is also an habitual card cheat. These two habits combined have proven to be a weakness, and during the first series he was hospitalized after receiving a severe beating after being caught cheating by a casino owner. During the second series, he briefly dealt with a bout of depression after the death of a close friend caused him to question his own lifestyle. In the fifth series premiere, it was revealed that Albert was serving two years in prison for cheating in a casino, but he stated that he was actually enjoying the rest, and set Mickey and Ash up with new team members Emma and Sean Kennedy (Albeit by setting them up so that each duo thought they were conning the other as a mark), subsequently being released several months early on parole for good behaviour after the team manipulated a judge into thinking Albert knew the location of a lost treasure, while Albert himself conned an unsympathetic member of the parole board into releasing him. His birthdate is 3 June 1933.

Danny Blue

Played by Marc Warren.

Background & Joining the crew

Danny grew up in a family of career criminals, when he was 17, his uncle used him as a lookout while he and his crew robbed a casino in Windsor. They cleaned the place out. It was a professional job and they took the CCTV tapes with them. Although after watching them go in and out of prison throughout his youth he ran away, determined not to go straight, but to be a better criminal. Escaping to London, he became a master "dip", then moved up to the short con and mastered that as well. Egotistical and ambitious, Danny is determined not just to be good but to be the best, and sought out the crew of confidence men run by Mickey Bricks to learn and master the long con.

Personality

The most recent addition to Stone's crew after literally talking his way into the group in the middle of a con in progress, he is a sometimes careless but brilliant con artist said by veteran con artist Albert Stroller to have great "grift sense" and possibly be destined to be the best con artist in the world—something Danny is all too ready to believe, his ego being the greatest weakness he has yet to overcome. In contrast to Mickey's step-by-step planning of the long con, Danny tends to rely more on impulse, most of his cons being based around him establishing the original idea and working towards that goal while compensating for any problems that might arise when they arise, as opposed to Mickey preparing various contingency plans for possible problems.

In the 4th episode of the first series, Danny kissed Stacie while they were alone in the apartment after spending the day together- although neither knew it, Mickey had wanted Stacie to keep Danny occupied after a crooked ex-cop blackmailed Mickey by threatening to arrest Danny for his role in a casino heist-, but she rejected him. Danny accused her of only having eyes for Mickey, and the pair momentarily fell out. However, they later reconciled in the same episode.

Taking over as Leader

During Mickey's absence in series 4, Danny took over leadership of the group, and despite hoping to hire a "fit bird" as Mickey's replacement, he eventually gave the go ahead for Billy Bond, a short con artist, who acted very much like Danny had on the first episode, to join instead. Although he lacked Mickey's ability to plan ahead for all possible contingencies- to the extent that Albert had to come up with a plan to fake the gang's death after they robbed a notorious casino owner-, Danny's style of leadership was nevertheless effective; during one con, Danny deliberately discarded a highly expensive bottle of wine by pouring the contents down the sink to convince the mark that their characters had no idea of the value of the wine that was allegedly in the cellar of the house they wanted to trick her into buying.

Departure and Return

In the first episode of the fifth series of Hustle, Mickey returned to the UK after losing the money that he had made "selling" the Sydney Opera House. He then returned to London and tried to get his old crew together, yet Albert was locked in prison, Ash had gone solo doing small cons and bets in bars. When Mickey rejoined Ash, he informed him that Danny and Stacie had decided to stay on in the States to pull off some more cons following their success in the fourth series. Although Stacie initially claimed that Danny had run off with a cocktail waitress to escape her husband the last time she saw him, Danny made a surprise appearance in the final episode of the show, portraying a hitman employed to murder Mickey's crew, shooting at them with blanks to fool the mark- Stacie having stolen the card with the real hitman's number and replacing the number with Danny's-, before revealing his identity and leaving with the other six members of the cast at the end.

Eddie

Played by Rob Jarvis, (series 1–8), the owner and proprietor of the eponymous Eddie's Bar where the group often plan cons. Fully aware of the group and their dealings, he usually adopts a "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" attitude. The petty grifts played on him by the crew whenever they want to get out of paying their bar tab, make a point to someone, or are just plain bored, are a recurring theme through the series, and often serve as a Chekhov's gun for a trick which will be important later in the episode. Through these tricks and mingling with Mickey's team, he has acquired a basic knowledge of cons. A Liverpudlian migrant to the London area, he speaks with a strong Scouse accent.

However, despite being skimmed by them several times, a certain financial trust exists between Eddie and the group. For instance, Eddie once lent them £4,000 to perform a con and it was paid back fully. The gang often pay Eddie their debts (often before heading on vacation at the end of a season) and provide monetary assistance if need be. Eddie occasionally helps the gang by posing as a grifter or acting as an informant; his information and knowledge often turns out to be helpful, and sometimes averts disaster. Eddie is close enough to the crew to ask for a favour, and the team is also sometimes quite protective of him (e.g. not discussing some of their more dangerous schemes in the bar to ensure to his safety). Furthermore, some of the targets in the series have been conned to settle scores on Eddie's behalf.

As such, Eddie might be considered an unofficial "sixth member" of the family.

Stacie Monroe

Played by Jaime Murray. Stacie is the only female member of a team-come-family of "long con" artists before Emma and Sean Kennedy joins.

Background & Personality

She was married to a short-con artist, Jake Henry (Max Beesley). Stacie became a grifter through him. They both worked together playing the short con 'The Badger' which involves Stacie playing the working girl who would pick up a mark, and then Jake would burst in as the irate pimp or boyfriend and threaten to tell the mark's wives. Stacie and Jake were married for several years but the marriage ended after he left her, taking their house and money, leaving her with nothing more than a mouldy piece of cheese, a Phil Collins CD and a plant (her ex appears as the subject of a con during the second series). It is suggested that she once had a romantic relationship with the group's leader, Michael Stone. Michael helped her after Jake left her. One first season episode also suggested a possible attraction to the newest member of the group, Danny Blue (this theme continued in the second season episode "Confessions" in which the two pretend to be engaged). The third episode of the third season reveals that she has a high level of mathematical ability, as she is shown calculating a high square root value in her head.

In creating the series, Tony Jordan realised that the principal characters could not have any friends or family outside the crew and therefore sought to create a nominal family with Stacie providing the role of substitute mother/wife. However, in the second series, the crew help Danny's grandmother, and in the third series they con a newspaper editor because he inadvertently caused a friend of Stacie's to attempt suicide by implying that she had embezzled money from the charity she worked for. She is sometimes demonstrated as the most compassionate member of the crew, twice leaving some of the money acquired in the latest con to people she had befriended during the con itself, and showing genuine relief when she learned that Eddie- the owner of the bar where the team regularly drink- was safe after they had been led to believe that he had been taken hostage as part of a revenge action against them (Although Eddie, unaware that he had ever been believed to be in danger, assumed that this was part of another con).

Position in the crew

Her official role is the banker and she has sole control and responsibility for the crew's finances. During the cons themselves, she usually takes on a variety of roles depending on need, ranging from a sultry vamp to a nerdy museum keeper, in order to help weave the web of deception. Her sex appeal is often brought into play as a distraction, though she is often hesitant to rely upon it.

Departure

In the first episode of the fifth series of Hustle, Mickey returned to the UK after losing the money he had made 'selling' the Sydney Opera House. He then returned to London and tried to get his old crew together, yet Albert was locked in prison and Ash had gone solo doing small cons and bets in bars. When Mickey rejoined Ash, he informed him that Danny and Stacie had decided to stay on in the states to pull off some more cons following their success in the fourth series.

Return

Stacie returned for the final episode of the 2012 series, which was also the final episode of the show. She became accidentally caught up in Micky's con whilst conning the same mark herself- working as the mark's broker while he was looking for investments with the intention of taking a few thousand from him when he made his deposit-, but joined forces with Micky's gang by enlisting the help of the also-returning Danny Blue to help pull the con off, recruiting Danny as a fake hitman to help the gang fake their deaths. Stacie then drove off with the other six members of the cast at the show's conclusion.

Billy Bond

Played by Ashley Walters during series 4. Billy enters the crew in much the same way that Danny did – as a rookie, with a natural hustling instinct and a master of the short con, but with little knowledge or experience of the long con. Portrayed as an astute and likable character despite prior involvements in drug dealing and street gangs, he knows that his inclusion within the crew is his chance to make it big. Walters did not return for the fifth series, which instead marked the return of Adrian Lester; the final whereabouts of his character are not well explained.

Emma and Sean Kennedy

Kelly Adams played Emma and Matt Di Angelo played Sean Kennedy during series 5–8.

Replacing the departed characters of Danny Blue and Stacie Monroe, Emma and Sean Kennedy are brother and sister, put into foster care after their mother died, a year after their father ran off. The Kennedy siblings had been living on the streets since Sean was nine, and Emma was fourteen, having run away from their foster family, they survived only through Emma's quick hands and manipulative abilities. While they understand first hand the selfishness and greed of the world around them, the Kennedy siblings are less-experienced grifters, and newcomers to the long con.

Before Albert is imprisoned, prior to series five, he is pickpocketed by Emma. Impressed by her abilities, Albert takes her under his wing. Sean originally never wished to be a grifter, unlike his sister, and was set on going to Drama school when he had the money, which he and Emma were raising through their cons. The first episode of series five, in which Stone returns to find Albert in prison and attempts to complete a con with only a two-man team, turns out to be a setup by Albert, who has separately encouraged Sean and Emma to try and con Mickey and Ash. Both groups successfully escape with each other's "money", all of which turns out to be fake. Mickey and Ash save Emma and Sean from a past mark by giving them the tools to fake their deaths, and also manage to scare the past mark into giving them the money taken by the Kennedys.

Eventually, Sean enjoys being part of Mickey's crew to the point where he abandons his dreams of being an actor. Emma Kennedy proves to be a natural, unlike her brother, and her looks are used on many occasions in their cons to manipulate men into doing what she wants, however much she dislikes it. Sean's first con with the crew does not go well for him; he ends up passing out drunk when sent out on a fact finding mission for Mickey, though he displays an impressive photographic memory even when intoxicated, and his information regarding the marks firing their PR company allows Mickey to set up his plan. Mickey then intends to use Sean to introduce Mickey and Emma as members of a new company, but one of the marks spikes his orange juice, resulting in Sean ending up drunk again. Emma is angered when she discovers this, and so has a drinking contest with the mark, which she wins. Sean is demoralised following the incident, but Mickey quickly helps him to dust himself off and carry on with the con.

Subsequent episodes focus on the siblings' development as con artists, and some back-story exposition; their father Rex Kennedy, played by Danny Webb, is targeted as a mark using a gold brick scam in the episode 'The Father of Jewels'. Emma's childhood sweetheart makes an appearance in series seven episode two, played by Joe Armstrong; though he proves a disappointment to Emma, thanks in part to the input of Mickey Bricks, who is a romantic interest for Emma since her first appearance, before they knew each other's real identities. Sean and Emma's mutual protectiveness concerning each other is also an occasional theme, especially in the episode 'Politics' when Sean shows his protectiveness concerning Emma.

Contacts

• Neil Cooper (played by Tom Mannion) is another con artist who helps Mickey in Series 1, Episode 1. He impersonates a police officer named Martin Depalma in order to head the investigation into the crew.

• Tip Jones (played by Brian Pettifer) is a forger of classical art who is extremely skilled but not trustworthy. When the crew call on him he is faking being brain damaged to avoid an existing charge of forgery. He forges a Mondriaan painting for the crew to sell as an original, but attempts to swindle them at the last moment.

• Samuel Richards (played by Richard Harrington) is a thief who means to steal a diamond taken from his family by a greedy banker, an event which led his father to kill himself. He teams up with the crew when the Head of Security at Moore's Bank tries to force the crew to help catch him.

• Ray Fordham is a grifter known as 'Scottish Ray' - a nickname he earned after taking a £50,000 down payment on Edinburgh Castle. He tries to recruit Danny Blue into a new crew he is setting up.

• Harry Holmes (played by Ronald Pickup) is a fellow grifter who tries to con property developer Howard Jennings. However Jennings has seen through him from the beginning and has taped all of their conversations, which he hands over to the police.

• Adam Rice (played by Paul Nicholls) is a thief regarded by the police as "The Ghost" due to his ability to just disappear from the crime scene or elude people trying to follow him. Being forced by the police, the crew try to enlist his help in stealing an original Hans Christian Andersen manuscript. Though initially hesitant to join a team he does not know well, he is attracted by the idea of working with Ashley Morgan and helps the crew.

• Archie (played by Tony Rohr) is involved in horse-racing, and is able to supply the crew with a horse and "paint" another horse during the con in Series 4, episode 2. He obviously has a history with the group - he says he is "always nervous around grifters".

• Cyclops (played by Bill Bailey), so named for his thick-lensed glasses, is one of the crew's main sources of underworld information in Series 5 to 8. He normally frequents a greasy-spoon cafe and often propositions Emma, with little success.

• Joseph "Joey" Pepper is an American who used to be a grifter. He was once partners with Albert Stroller when he was in Las Vegas. After Albert left for Britain in the 1970s, Joey eventually took a job as a security consultant in a Las Vegas casino. He helps the crew escape after stealing $5 million from a casino.

Marks

Series 1

• Peter Williamson (played by James Laurenson) is London businessman. He regularly makes the top 500 rich list but he is greedy and will cross the street to pick up a one-pound coin. The crew lure him in with the promise of a guaranteed, but illegal, way of tripling his money.

• Frank Gorley (played by Robert Pugh) is a renowned bully and the owner of a top London casino and hotel situated in the West End. Though brutal, he is a film fanatic, and the crew con him into investing into a classic-style film production, with the promise of a speaking role in the finished film.

• DS Terri Hodges (played by Liz May Brice) is head of Fraud Squad at the London Metropolitan Police. She has a particular vendetta against Michael Stone, having been tricked by him more than once.

• Meredith Gates (played by Orla Brady) is an avid art collector with a particular interest in the artist Mondriaan; she has ripped off many poor struggling dealers and buyers over the years in order to complete her collection. The crew fake an original Mondrian and stage a bidding war for her to participate in.

• Victor Maher (played by David Calder) is the Head of Security for Moores Bank and before that he was in the Fraud Squad for 19 years. He is thrilled at taking on the best grifters in Europe and out-grifting them. He tries to force the crew into catching a known bank robber

• Catherine Winterborn (played by Tamzin Outhwaite) is a recently divorced businesswoman who his very bitter and vengeful towards her ex-husband Steven (played by Ben Miles). Having been left with nothing after the divorce, she jumps at the opportunity to invest in a rival hotel chain organised by the crew. Even when a guilty Mickey admits the con to her, she tries to commission the crew into ruining her ex-husbands career, the team only realising that her ex is actually a good person after they have put the con into action.

• Arthur Bond (played by Philip Jackson) is a rich businessman who owns the biggest theme park in the North of England. Mickey and Danny "sold" him the London Eye for £100,000; when the con was exposed on the media he was ridiculed, leaving him thirsty for revenge.

• Sir Anthony Reeves (played by David Haig) was the CEO of one of the major utility companies. After some bad management decisions he was dismissed, but with a golden handshake of £500,000. The crew con him out of his money by tempting him with his two guilty pleasures - horse racing and prostitutes.

Series 2

• Howard Jennings (played by Charlie Creed Miles) is a ruthless, young property broker in London. Considering London to be 'his city', he has taken radical steps to acquire valuable property, including running over the cat of an elderly tenant so that she would sign off on her flat. Though intelligent, he has a very bad temper - and Michael Stone is even more tempted at the prospect of conning him because he has been conned before and considers himself too smart for grifters.

• Johnny Keyes (played by Stanley Townsend) is a prominent restaurateur and celebrity chef in London, but has a notorious gangland past. His restaurant, "Keyes" is a highly fashionable spot, with an eight-week waiting list for a table. Keyes also harbours deep feelings for his long-lost son, kidnapped at a very young age. It is by impersonating this son that the crew find their "in". His suspicious wife, Juliette, is played by Rebecca Lacey.

• Anthony Mgube is an extremely wealthy individual born in Nigeria but residing in Switzerland, with a reputation for torturing prisoners in the army and allegations of embezzlement and fraud. He now sells arms to militia groups and mercenaries in East Africa. He has two main passions in his life: racing horses and collecting rare antique banknotes. It is revealed that Mgube is actually Mickey in disguise in order to con grifter Trevor Speed who had conned Danny's grandmother.

• DI Samantha Phillips (played by Fay Ripley) is a corrupt policewoman who tries to blackmail Mickey and his crew by taking the spoils of their latest con, stealing a painting and leaving a copy for auction. She has a safe deposit box where she stashes all her ill-gotten gains.

• Jake Henry (played by Max Beesley) is Stacie’s estranged husband and used to be a short con artist with her. However, in 2000 he disappeared with their savings and fled to Amsterdam, leaving her only a few assorted items in their otherwise empty flat. He has since gone on to earning money by playing poker professionally, and has a reputation as one of the best players around.

Series 3

• Benny Frazier (played by Mel Smith) owns 16 licensed pubs and clubs across the East End. He is also a major importer of booze through his company, Benny Frazier Import/Export Company Limited, but he uses the alcohol shipments as a cover to smuggle in Eastern Europeans. The police have been after him for a while but they can never get anything on him. The crew get to him through his 17-year-old son, a hopeful but talentless rapper, keen to hit the big time. The team are discovered by Benny as they had previously tried to con his father-in-law, who recognized Albert. The team are beaten, but Ash saves the day with a group of fake policeman, and Benny and his family flee the country to Malaga.

• Kulvinder Samar (played by Silas Carson) is a greedy and very wealthy businessman. He owns and runs a network of small factories making counterfeit designer clothes (sweatshops in other words). When he was younger he wanted to become a Bollywood actor, but was denied by his domineering father. Still, he maintains a passionate interest in Bollywood films, which provides the way in for the crew.

• Charles and Quentin Cornfoot are bankers and owners of Cornfoot’s Merchant Bank, established in 1706. They are both extremely greedy and are not above poaching clients from other banks, floating hopeless businesses on the market, and selling their own clients short by driving down the share prices.

Series 4

• Anthony Westley (played by Robert Wagner) is a Texan who made his fortune in industrial fastenings. He sold his company in 1999 to property developers knowing they were going to close down his factory and put his people out of work, but netting a profit of nearly $30 million. He is brash, single-minded, mean and also corrupt. When he was in business, he bribed key members of the US government to win defence contracts. He is also obsessed with the movie business, specifically movie memorabilia.

• Veronica Powell (played by Patricia Hodge) is the owner of Morecombe Hall Nursing Home, who has made most of her money in property. The nursing home was family run for 12 years, but bought (six months ago) by Veronica Powell. After running it for two months she decided to whack up the fees and four months after that the fees have trebled from when she first took over. The elderly residents have to sell their property to pay for it although she convinces them to sell through her own auction house. She forgets to invite any serious bidders, buys the lot herself for next to nothing, and sells them on later. She also gets back her money when she collects the fees for the nursing home. She is also a real wine buff and will happily pay thousands to add the right vintage to her collection.

• Lady Clarissa Bartwell (played by Frances Barber) married her first husband for his money and title, changed her name from Carol to Clarissa although her husband finally saw through her and left, leaving her a very generous settlement. Despite this she is a con artist and rips off charities. Every charity she holds events for receives only a fraction of what the event makes – the rest goes to her. She also rips off unwitting celebrities in the name of charity, all in cash.

• Johnny Maranzano (played by Chris Tardio) is the son of the late, great Frank Maranzano, a mafia boss and owner of the Oceanic Casino in Las Vegas. Frank Maranzano was found at Las Vegas international airport with three heads in a duffle bag. The only two things he seems to care about are himself and money. He has no regard for his staff and constantly abuses them – verbally and sometimes physically as well. He is not above killing anyone who crosses him and has people on his payroll everywhere in Las Vegas and LA. Johnny’s pride and joy is the biggest slot machine in the world called Big Daddy that is in his casino. It was created by him in memory of his father.

Series 5

• Sara Naismith (Kelly Adams) made her fortune in dubious overseas property deals. She started by buying beach front land along the Black Sea coast once the Soviet Union crumbled, next it was tendering for re-building programmes in China after the earthquake. She left China once it was discovered she was bribing officials to avoid building regulations. She thinks the recession in Europe means she can make a fortune on the money markets. She has an assistant called Aaron (Matt Di Angelo) who has been with her since September 2008 and has a degree in Business Studies. Note: Naismith and Aaron were actually future team members Emma and Sean in disguise as arranged by Albert to con Mickey and Ash, whilst Mickey and Ash were conning them. The four became a team at the end of the episode.

• William Dagmar is a black, intelligent maverick trader on the stock market and the owner of Dagmar Associates based in London. He was one of the first people to get into Google and eBay, and amongst the first to get out of Enron and Northern Rock. The reason for his success though is insider trading through his contacts. Note: This was actually the cover story for Michael Stone who was in disguise when he conned Sara Naismith and Aaron (Emma and Sean Kennedy).

• Carlton Wood and Harry Fielding run a company called City Prime Associates in London specialising in intellectual property; trademarks, patents, and copyrights usually for high-end technology. Wood is the business brain and Fielding does the technical stuff.

After they were conned by the group, they returned in the Series Five finale trying to set up a situation where they could con the group out of their money in revenge, but the attempt was a complete failure from the beginning. Mickey subsequently hired various other grifters to participate in the 'plot' and take back their money, allowing the plan to continue simply for the thrill of seeing their faces when they realised what had happened.

• Sir Anthony Kent (played by Tim McInnerny) is a high court judge in London. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, Kent is the last of the old guard, out of touch and proud of it. He has a reputation for handing down the harshest sentences the law allows him. He has a house in Chelsea, an even bigger one in the Cotswolds, and fat expenses claims. He only cares about the crimes, verdicts, and sentences and never speaks to the press. He is known to have broken the rules once; in one of the cases he tried, he was promised gold in return for a shorter sentence. However, before Kent could get his hands on the gold the prisoner is stabbed to death a month into his term.

• Toby Baxter is the only son of self-made ball bearings magnate Reginald Baxter. After his parents died when he was 27, he inherited the family business which he sold almost immediately for a reported £100 million. After the sale he retired and is obsessed with one thing – collecting love diamonds, which he keeps in a high-tech vault under his house. He is also a recluse and never leaves home.

• Pinky Byrne started in Hatton Garden as a runner, but soon worked out he could make more money as a tracer on the outside, using his knowledge of the industry on the inside. Byrne's a killer with no conscience but that is why he is good – he won't stop at anything. The last bloke who grassed him up was taken to a Halal butchers by Pinky who cut off his wedding tackle and made him eat it.

• Rhona Christie MP is a career politician. She took a marginal seat promising to speak up for the man and woman in the street although has become someone of influence in the construction industry. She picks projects to fast track and then makes them happen bypassing planners and environmentalists and has a lot of influence. She can therefore turn a worthless property into prime real estate, taking bribes from property developers to de-list buildings.

• Alfred Thomas Baron is the eldest son of the Duke and Duchess of Derbyshire, who can trace his ancestry back to Henry VIII. He spends his time mostly gambling, sleeping with models and dodgy business ventures. He believes that if people are stupid enough to lose their houses then it is the fault of the state. He even believes that there should some sort of compulsory euthanasia programme starting with the unemployed, those on benefits, and then moving on to the over 65s. He is an acquaintance of Carlton Wood and Harry Fielding, and is used in their plan to con Michael Stone in revenge for their lost money, but the plan ends in disaster due to his stupidity, as well as the fact Mickey had been manipulating the situation right from the start.

Series 6

• Sir Edmund "Piggy" Richardson is the ex-boss of a bank he brought to the verge of collapse in 2009 and needed bailing out by the British government. He has become one of the most hated corporate sharks in the UK because he walked away with an annual pension of £500,000 earning him the nickname of "Piggy" and vilification by the press and public due to the fact that half the people that worked for him lost their jobs.

• Liability Finch is an ex-grifter that has become a thief. However, he is a bumbling, hapless crook hence the name and is just not cut out to be a crook. He considers Mickey Bricks to be grifting royalty and wonders what it would be like to work beside him every day and used to work with Ash Morgan back in the mid-80s working short cons until Ash saw sense. They once did the pigeon drop six times in one day down in Brighton but their last victim was an off-duty policewoman and they did time. He also helped Ash with the flop where Ash would perform the flop and then Finch would pretend to be a doctor passing by. He now lives in a council flat in London.

• Luke Baincross is 51 years old and in 2001 he inherited Baincross Hall; a 48-room mansion in Surrey. He supports two ex-wives, soon to be three, and has a champagne lifestyle without ever having done a day's work in his life. He recently opened up Baincross Hall to the public. The Baincross family made their fortune in the Indian silk trade in the 18th century, and as a result have one of the world's largest collections of Indian art that is worth millions, including a life-size jewel encrusted gold tiger.

• Rex Kennedy is the father of Emma and Sean Kennedy. He is a respected businessman in his adopted home of Melbourne, Australia from where he runs a successful property-developing company that has an extensive portfolio throughout Australia, and on several sites in Europe including one in London. In 1987, when Emma was five and Sean was three years old, he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, leaving Emma and Sean in the care of their mother. His reason for leaving was that he figured they would be better off without him, so he told them he was going on a business trip and that he would bring Sean back a Tracey Island. That was the last they saw of him. A year after his departure his wife died, and Emma and Sean went into care. This character development causes a minor continuity error, based on an earlier episode suggesting a five year age gap between Emma and Sean,whilst here they are stated as with a difference of only two years.

• Mervyn Lloyd (played by Daniel Mays) is a dishonest 'entrepreneur' who conned Mickey when he sold him a useless mobile phone. As a result of this, Mickey lost his mojo (which was briefly passed onto barman Eddie) and the gang agreed to con Mervyn so the luck curse could be reversed. They had him believe that Albert is launching a great new product set to make millions of pounds. Mervyn falls for their scam and is left in a state of shock when the prototype of the product is sent to him (after investing in it). Mickey's mojo returned, as well as Eddie's bad luck.

Series 7

• Wendy Stanton (played by Anna Chancellor) is the head of Model Devotion, a modelling agency. A failed model herself, Stanton sought to gain access to the 'big-time' as an agency head, but had never made it, simply working in low-end catalogues, made even worse when her ex-partner Betty Greenacre's company received a contract for Milan Fashion Week. She was also known to con aspiring models out of approximately £900 each by claiming that she needed the money to set up a portfolio for the models, claiming that they would recoup the money on their first job, which never arrives, allowing her to keep the money for herself.

• Jeremy Garrett, Stanley Mead, and Viscount Manley are: an MP recently appointed to the Treasury who believed that chips, ketchup and lager should be taxed to recoup recent losses; a judge on the court of public decency who engaged in threesomes; and a young man who had recently inherited a large amount of money from his father, respectively. All three, along with Wendy Stanton, are conned at the same time using the Spanish Prisoner scam.

• Georgina Althorp (played by Angela Griffin) is the head of Dosh4You, a loan company with a ridiculously high interest rate in the fine print of the contracts; most people who asked for loans from her ended up losing their homes anyway because they couldn't keep up the repayments. Having changed her name in her youth, Georgina originally studied law before going into her current business, going so far as to evict her own parents from their home.

• Marcus Wendell (played by Michael Brandon) is an American whose family have owned casinos all the way back to the Civil War in America, where his ancestors accused Charlie Stroller - Albert's great-grandfather - of cheating on their casino steamboat and threw him off the ship. Having opened his first casino in Britain, Wendell attempts to provoke the gang into trying to con him so that he can put their photos on his 'wall of grifters', where he places pictures of those he finds cheating in his casinos - although there is evidence that his standards to determine whether someone is cheating are relatively low - subsequently ruining the future career prospects of potential grifters by sending their information to all of the world's major financial institutions. However the team are able to win the game using the table from the casino steamboat, revealing Wendell's family had rigged it and Stroller had realised the deception, hence he was framed.

• Benny is an old time grifter who was a jack of all trades. He could pick out a mark with ease, pick a pocket with lightning speed and nearly replaced Ash as a member of the group. Even though he was an amazing grifter he thought he was better than everyone else, smarter, quicker and more devious. He held a great grudge against Mickey and his group for picking Ash instead of him and owed money to a local gang leader who threatened to kill him if the money wasn't return with interest. He was a master conman, even managing to con Mickey out of £20,000 without him knowing it in the early days.

Series 8

• Dexter Gold, played by Paterson Joseph, is a gold seller. He made his fortune using a company that buys gold items and jewellery from unsuspecting victims for heavily reduced prices. He gets away with it because of the fine print that no one reads.
• Petre Sava, played by Peter Polycarpou, is a ruthless Eastern European art collector who the team attempt to sell a fake Picasso to after hearing in the press that the work had been stolen. What they don't know, however, is that Sava was the original owner and they come unstuck when Sava kidnaps Mickey thinking the crew really did steal the painting in the first place. They have no luck in retrieving the original. Mickey is released though when Ash calls Sava and rival gangster Harry Holmes (Martin Kemp) to the same warehouse, causing them and their henchmen to fight with a fake being destroyed in the process (Sava thought that this was the real painting). Eventually he settles for a fake created by art forger Dolly Hammond (Sheila Hancock).
• Dale Ridley, played by Mark Williams, is a disgraced 80s TV gameshow host who had a catchphrase with 'Ding Dong, That's My Song'. Now he is a ruthless property developer, tearing down sites for profit including one of Albert's old clubs. The team know his old studios that fired him are up for sale and know he would love the chance to take revenge and knock the building down. Dale does discover he's being conned in this episode (episode 5), but Mickey and the gang still walk clean away with his money.

References

Hustle Characters Michael Stone Danny Blue Ash Morgan Stacie Monroe Sean Kennedy Emma Kennedy Billy Bond Albert Stroller Cast Adrian Lester Marc Warren Robert Glenister Jaime Murray Matt Di Angelo Kelly Adams Ashley Walters Robert Vaughn Notable crew Tony Jordan Bharat Nalluri Simon Rogers Misc. Episodes Contacts and Marks Related programmes The Real Hustle The Sting Leverage