Chancer: Series 1

Very much a product of the 1980's, this tale of the devious world of Banking and business in the UK looks just a little dated now with , for example, the 'cell phones' shown being the size of a brick! The plot revolves around a sly but very likeable Stepen Crane played by Clive Owen in his first starring role and it is he who makes the series very watchable with his limitless guile and charm. If you have experience of the business world you will probably find some of the plot a little far fetched but the characterisation is good and there are excellent performances from the supporting cast some of whom count in the pantheon of Britains finest actors such as Tom Bell, Leslie Phillips and Peter Vaughan. A particular treat for anyone in the US who finds the British way of doing things intriguing.

You'll immediately see why Clive Owen became a star. IIn this series, he plays Steven Crane, a fellow with few morals but with an uncanny sense of loyalty. The cast is as goood as it gets, from Steben's first boss to his two love iinterests. The basic plot revolves around the saving of Douglas Motors, a old fashioned car manufacturer (we make them by hand). It seems that everyone wants Douglas Motors not to save it necessarily. As the series goes on it becomes more iintense and by the final episode in Seriies One, you are left breathless. Too bad Series 2 in only on Region 2 and seems to be out of print.

Ted Childs, of Morse and kavanagh Q.C., scores another winner here with his sometimes not so subtle assault on the British establishment in the throes of Margaret Thatcher's permanent revolution unleashed in the City of London via Cecil (Lord) Parkinson's Big Bang reforms.

Britain, for those of you who do not know already, is obsessed with class and class division. The Thatcher years, for all the talk of meritocracy, did nothing to affect real change in the class system but it did allow some people to make a few quid. The reforms in London's financial system, commonly known as the City, pushed out a number of the gentlemen amateurs who, through family lineage, had been at the heart of Britain's financial affairs from before the establishment of the Empire. Starbuck's fans make take heart in the fact that finances played an important part in the establishment of the Empire by many a deal struck in the coffee houses of East London.

Theses amateurs were swept aside by the input of large scale capital from finance companies and overseas investors and many street traders were able to secure positions for themselves in the rough and tumble world of international finance. Chancer is thereby another aspect of Gordon Gecko and Wall Street.

Much more than this is the portrayal of Steven Crane as the Eternal Champion, fighting with any weapon at his disposal using merely his quick wits and intuition in a world of networks of school and club, where a gentleman's word being his bond meant something more than just cementing a deal. This is a dark world of intrigue where money reaches into the darkest world of politics and permeates a netherworld of luxury built on profits, harvested by insider trading within limits and deals involving asset stripping and making many unemployed.

The bigger picture here is one of ruthless forces of unbridled capitalism fuelled by greed and envy sweeping aside years of small and medium enterprises which once made Britain the workshop of the world creating a large scale lumpen proletariat of disconnected workers cowed into submission while others take the profit and run.

Whether the viewers choose to accept such an analysis is largely up to them but this is a very rich narrative, open to many points of perspective. Amidst this Clive Owen stands head and shoulders above the cast although I have a high regard for the character of Jimmy, a real toad if ever there was one, who is the most ruthless and merciless individual beneath his guise of poncified toff from the old school.

Much more is alluded to here within this show but in a way it is an excellent encapsulation of a view of britain held by many in the eighties and nineties. Childs has done a superb job with this show which enhances his curriculum vitae which was already excellent.

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