Last night, Hustle returned to our screens for a seventh series. (Available here on BBC iPlayer, until 25th February 2011.)
I must say I was genuinely disappointed – the episode just didn’t manage to live up to the show’s usual outstanding quality.
You could say that I should have seen it coming – series 6 left a lot to be desired, and it seems as if it was the beginning of the show’s demise. It seems to me as if it could have been so much better so easily – it just requires someone with a taste for quality and intelligence at the BBC.
For a start, the characterisation was just ridiculous. The four marks were vastly overplayed, far too flamboyant and stereotypical. It was impossible to believe that those people could exist in the real world. As a consequence, the characters lacked depth and appeared merely as tools to drive the plot.
In the past, the marks have been almost as well played and interesting as the grifters – notably Carlton Wood and Harry Fielding from series 5 provided a formidable opposition – starting in the second episode and returning for the sixth – leaving the viewer unsure as to whether the grifters would actually succeed. There was a true sense of suspense and tension. Now, the opposition seems to be all too easy to con and the tension, one of the best parts of the show, has all but disappeared.
On top of this, the plot from last night was ridden with holes. For a show which could easily be believed to be realistic, the people in it seem to act like fools – it’s just too perfect a con.
It wasn’t all bad. Any cast comprising Adrian Lester, Robert Glennister and Robert Vaughn can’t go too far wrong. I’m massively impressed with Matt Di Angelo and Kelly Adams – I was a little dubious as to how well they would replace Jaime Murray and Marc Warren when they joined at the start of series 5, but both have given solid, believable performances. And Rob Jarvis as Eddie, perhaps the weakest regular, remains enjoyable to watch.
It’s the writing that is letting Hustle down. It’s a brilliant show concept – entertaining, clever and quite fascinating – that gives the viewer a sense of superiority over the humiliated marks each time. Whether or not this is a good thing is a subject for another day… But it does keep the viewing figures high. Yet like a lot of TV programmes these days (try the last couple of seasons of Doctor Who, the last few episodes of Misfits, season 9 of Smallville or season 4 of Prison Break) the quality of writing has gone down the drain. It’s such a shame that such great acting talent is wasted on weak scripts and characterisations.
Series’ 1-3 and 5 were the best Hustle has been and I think probably the best that Hustle will ever be.
But let’s hope that in 5 or 6 weeks I’ll write another post saying about how wrong I was today – let’s hope that this series picks up and surprises us all.
I’ve just finished watching the third episode of Hustle (series 7). It blew me away – just excellent! I can’t recommend it highly enough – watch it here (available until 25th February 2011).
