THE FANTASTIC FIVE

Good news about Hustle from Digital Spy (1) coming with the shooting of series 6: the team of series 5 is back.

Series 5 brought Hustle back on tracks after two forgettable series, a pause of almost two years, and a pathetic Italian Job cliffhanger. The fourth series, without the supremely charismatic and talented Adrian Lester as Mickey "Bricks" Stone (gone on other projects), focused on Marc Warren as Danny Blue in the shoes of the team leader. The iconic if not venerable Mr Robert Vaughn became de facto star of the show as Albert Stroller (for the satisfaction of US then co-funder, AMC) and Hustle went close to become the BBC's equivalent of Midsomer Murders: a postcard cliché customized for North American market. But American viewers have their own Hustle, Leverage, on TNT.

Hustle started practically from scratch with the brilliant series 5. Lester came back after the terribly embarassing Bonekickers. Exit Marc Warren and Jaime Murray, idem for the poor Ashley Walters (added as Billy Bond in series 4). And two new cast members, Kelly Adams and Matt Di Angelo, entered as brother-sister duo Emma and Sean Kennedy. The "reset" of Hustle in a credit crunched London - and in a post-Madoff world - allowed the return of the social subtext of the beginning of the show. « I love thinking of new twists and turns for the Hustle crew and fortunately real life continues to provide great inspiration! » says show creator Tony Jordan to Neil Wilkes of Digital Spy. Hustle is probably the only show which took the current recession as a blessing in disguise.

For the six episodes of the sixth series, Hustle relocates to Birmingham (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a151133/hustle-relocates-to-birmingham.html) instead of London. As long as there's no more silly occasional escapades in the US (absent of previous series, thank God) this move could be very interesting. Kelly Adams and Matt Di Angelo are fortunately returning alongside Lester, Vaughn and Robert Glenister. Let's hope that Rob Jarvis will be in Birmingham too, as Eddie - the "sixth musketeer" of the Hustle family - and that we'll have more of the great Bill Bailey (Cyclops) and of Patrick Bergin (as Toby Baxter).

The real Hustle, the con is on more than ever. Ask for the real deal, and like our Canadian friend Furious D (http://dknowsall.blogspot.com/) would say: accept no imitations.

Update (August 7): Thanks to the vigilance of the great folks commenting one one of the Digital Spy forums (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=937825&page=368) here is a picture gallery about Hustle filmed in Birmingham: http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-videos-pictures/birmingham-picture-galleries/2009/08/05/hustle-filmed-in-birmingham-97319-24323610/

(1) http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/a169739/hustle-series-six-whos-returning.html

See also: http://tattard2.blogspot.com/2009/01/con-is-on-again.html