Hustle reaches con-clusion (From The Northern Echo)

Hustle reaches con-clusion

2:38pm Friday 17th February 2012 in Entertainment By Steve Pratt

Hustle (BBC1, 9pm)
The Mad Bad Ad Show (C4, 10pm)
Arena: Sonny Rollins – Beyond the Notes (BBC4, 9pm)

FOR years the tagline for Hustle was “The con is on”, but after this week “The con is off” will be more appropriate. After eight years and more slick crime capers than you can shake a stick at, Mickey Stone and the team are finally hanging up their conman coats for the last episode.

In the swansong offering, Mickey (Adrian Lester) has decided he’s had enough of grifting and wants to settle down to lead a quieter life. He reckons one big payday will allow him to do so, and has targeted multi-millionaire Madani Wasem.

But he’s a dangerous character who will think nothing of ordering Mickey’s death – which means the stakes are even higher than usual.

At least he has a friend on the inside.

Wasem’s broker is none other than former con-woman extraordinaire Stacie Monroe (Jaime Murray, returning to the series for the final episode).

With help from Albert Stroller (Robert Vaughn), Ash Morgan (Robert Glenister), Emma Kennedy (Kelly Adams) and her brother Sean (Matt Di Angelo), it looks like the hustlers are facing the biggest challenge of their career.

The decision to bring one of the BBC’s most successful dramas to a close was a collective one. The cast were all contracted for three seasons at a time, so when each star got to the end of their contract, as the likes of Marc Warren, Murray and Lester did a few years ago, it’s little wonder they got itchy feet and decided to work elsewhere.

By the time series eight was mooted, cast and crew got together and decided to quit while they were ahead. “There’s a danger we might start repeating ourselves if we carry on,” Lester says.

For one last time settle back and enjoy a final 50-plus minutes of snappy pacing and a smart storyline courtesy of series creator Tony Jordan.

FOR decades, Public Information Films (PIFs) left an indelible mark on the minds of millions. Few readers of a certain age could forget Rolf Harris almost drowned by a bunch of kids in a learn-to-swim campaign or cartoon couple Joe and Petunia waxing lyrical about the dangers of worn tyres and “sailing dinghies”.

The ads may not have broken the bank, but they certainly got the message across as we see in The Mad Bad Ad Show, a new comedy panel show taking an irreverent look at the world of advertising.

Each week, host Mark Dolan and team captains Mark Watson and Micky Flanagan are joined by a famous face and an industry insider to answer questions on the most unusual and funniest adverts from the UK and abroad. They also get the chance to shoot their own commercials.

TV presenter Lorraine Kelly and comedian Josh Widdicombe were due to appear in this offering, but now two mystery guests will be reflecting on an era when PIFs could be more entertaining than the shows they were supporting.

IT’S entirely possible you have got through your life so far without ever hearing Sonny Rollins play the saxophone.

But, as legends go, he’s among the biggest and best around.

BBC4 celebrates the fact with an Arena documentary Sonny Rollins – Beyond The Notes. This is the 82nd year in the extraordinary life of the greatest saxophone player in the world, and a fine time to pay tribute to an epic career.

Four decades ago, a documentary was made that showed Sonny at the peak of his powers. Now the man who made that piece of history, catches up with him again. Dick Fontaine’s film, made for the BBC’s art series Arena, is built around the explosive energy of Sonny’s 80th Birthday Concert, where legendary figures Roy Haynes, Jim Hall and Ornette Coleman join him to celebrate his journey so far, his music, and its future for a new generation.