NEW YORK, NY – The con is on. This fall, BBC Video invites you to enter a world where the good guys can be very bad and you can’t always trust what’s in front of your eyes, with the DVD release of Hustle: Complete Season One. From the creators of MI-5, Hustle: Complete Season One follows the lives of five expert con artists who are the modern day equivalents of Robin Hood, stealing only from the amoral and undeserving. Hustle: Complete Season One charms its way to retail on September 5, 2006 for the suggested retail price of $34.98, just one month after the airing of six new action-packed episodes on AMC. Bonus features on this highly anticipated 2-disc DVD set include the behind-the-scenes featurette “Assembling the Team” and cast biographies. The prebook date is August 1, 2006.

Nominated by the Royal Television Society for Best Graphic Design (2005) and Best Design and Craft Innovation (2004) awards, Hustle boasts a solid ensemble cast, including Robert Vaughn (Pootie Tang, Superman III), Adrian Lester (Spider Man 3, The Day After Tomorrow), Marc Warren (Green Street Hooligans, Band of Brothers), Robert Glenister and Jaime Murray. Since premiering on AMC this winter, the series has received widespread critical-acclaim. TIME magazine wrote that Hustle “will win your faith on charm and panache,” and TV Guide raved, “This stylish British export about a crew of flimflam men and women – think ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ – arrives with an impressive pedigree.” Additionally, the drama was hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “Effortlessly stylish, intriguing and hip…Grand entertainment” and praised by Variety as “a captivating look at con men that hits the small screen with the cinematic flair of recent grifter pics.”

HUSTLE: COMPLETE SEASON ONE SYNOPSIS

• The con. An invisible crime build on the premise of finding someone who wants something for nothing and then giving them nothing for something. Choose the mark, play on their desires, set them up and then reel them in.

From the creators of MI-5, Hustle tells the story of five expert con artists set loose on the streets of London. They extract cash from the amoral and the undeserving. Their first rule of law: You can never con an honest man.

EPISODE SYNOPSES

Episode 1: Mickey Stone is back after a two-year stint in prison and is intent on pulling his old gang – Ash, Stacie and Albert – back together for one final score. The mark is Peter Williams, a greedy businessman who jumps at the chance to make a fortune from an illegal shares scam – all he has to do is invest the cash. The gang’s newest recruit, Danny Blue, shows an instant flair for the long con, but his loyalty is tested to the extreme when the police, who are watching their every move, make him an offer.

Episode 2: Albert is caught cheating in a high-stakes poker game and is hospitalized after a bad beating by casino owner Frank Gorley, prompting the team to seek revenge. Gorley is a dangerous adversary, a renowned thug and loner. He is also very careful with his money and has no known vices. The discovery that Gorley is a movie aficionado, dazzled by the silver screen gives them their opportunity and gives Danny a chance to prove his worth to the team as he takes on the role of the inside man posing as a big-time American movie producer in need of an urgent cash investment.

Episode 3: Danny plays art dealer as the gang picks sharp-tongued gallery owner, Meredith Gates, as their next mark. Gates is a huge fan of artist Piet Mondrian and thinks nothing of splashing out £250,000 on one of his paintings. Mondrain famously went from picture-postcard paintings to abstracts some time after Picasso. If a Mondrian were discovered in the Abstract style pre-dating Picasso, it would turn the art world on its head. The gang enlist the help of top art forger, Tip Jones, to paint a new Mondrian which will fool even the most knowledgeable experts. However, Gates is very astute and it seems that the team may have bitten off more than they can chew.

Episode 4: Victor Maher, a hard-nosed ex-fraud officer (and the only man to have ever caught Albert) is on Mickey’s trail. Maher has incriminating evidence on Danny and is prepared to use it if he doesn’t get what he wants. He demands that Mickey help him catch Sam Richards, a thief who is breaking into branches of the bank for which Maher works as head of security. Mickey is resistant to even give Maher the time of day and tries every way possible to get out of helping him, but the ex-copper is always one step ahead, leaving Mickey with no choice.

Episode 5: Katherine Winterborn, a hard-nosed, high-powered businesswoman, doesn’t even flinch when scandalous stories appear in the press about her supposed revenge on her now ex-husband, Steven. Albert, an expert at charming even the hardest marks, finds the ice maiden as frosty as her reputation proclaims, and only blatant sex appeal can break down Katherine’s barriers, and Mickey is just the man. It’s a scam that they desperately need to pull off, not only because their cash is running low, but also because Ash’s ex-wife and old grifter colleague is suffering from brain damage and Ash needs to pay for her nursing care.
While on a sexually charged date with Katherine, Mickey spins a line so convincing, she is keen to invest more than just her money. After a few drinks, her softer and more vulnerable side becomes evident and she reveals the full horror of what she went through in her marriage to Steven and his controlling, violent nature. As a result, Mickey decides that the team is targeting the wrong person and so they set about to bringing down Steven’s empire.

Episode 6: Mickey and Danny complete the “sale” of one of London’s top tourist attractions to arrogant, fairground owner Arthur Bond. As cons go, this seems to be one of their easiest scams yet. Albert has already lined up their next mark, Anthony Reeves, a greedy, secret gambler with a weakness for prostitutes and a recent recipient of a £500,000 golden handshake. Albert has befriended Reeves through his gentlemen’s club and introduces Danny as a nephew with contacts in the racing field. Reeves is roped into what could be a lucrative betting scam once he meets Stacie, who poses as a high-class escort and a friend of Danny’s.

But just as they have gotten rid of Reeves and are about to check out their haul, they receive a surprise visit from and gun-wielding, vengeful Arthur Bond. He wants his money back and he wants blood – and Arthur always gets what he wants.