''Diamond Geezer'' was a British

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

, broadcast on ITV between 20 March 2005 and 23 April 2007. Created by Caleb Ranson, the series stars

David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom '' Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector ...

as jewel thief and professional con man Des. One series of the programme was broadcast. A second series was not commissioned due to falling viewing figures, and Jason filming the first full series of ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'' since 2002.

Background

Initially broadcast as a one-off special, ''Diamond Geezer'' was commissioned for a full series of three episodes following strong viewing figures and critical acclaim. The first episode sees Des (

), a long-serving prison inmate, trying to persuade a first time offender to join forces with him in his new big scam. The episode was broadcast on 20 March 2005 to an audience of nearly 10 million viewers. The three-part second series began broadcast on 9 April 2007, but did not live up to expectation, with the final episode barely scraping 4 million viewers, down from 6.2 million viewers for the first episode before finally ceasing operations for good on 23 April 2007. All four episodes were later broadcast in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

under the title ''Rough Diamond''.

Cast

– Des *

Gary Whelan Gary Whelan (born 1953) is an Irish actor, known for his work on British television. Early life Whelan was born in Ireland but he relocated to London when he was ten years old. He then attended Holloway School.Stephen Wight – Phil Perkins

Recurring cast

Jenny Agutter Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in '' East of Sudan'', ''Star!'', and two adaptations of '' The Railway Children''—the BBC's 1968 television seria ...

– Vanessa *

Paul Bown Paul Bown (born 11 October 1957) is an English actor. Acting career Bown is best known for playing a leading role in the Granada Television sitcom '' Watching'' (1987–1993) and '' Casualty'' in 2000 more recently as Philip Reid in BBC's ''H ...

– Guv'nor *

Don Warrington Don Warrington MBE (born Donald Williams, 23 May 1951) is a Trinidadian-born British actor. He is best known for playing Philip Smith in the ITV sitcom ''Rising Damp'' (1974–78), and Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the BBC detective serie ...

- Hector * George Cole – Gerald *

Carli Norris Carli Jo Norris (born 23 June 1974) is an English actress, known for her roles as Anoushka Flynn in '' Doctors'', Martha Kane in ''Hollyoaks'' and taking over the role of Belinda Peacock in ''EastEnders''. Career In June 1997, just before off ...

– Betsy *

Ieuan Rhys Ieuan Rhys (born 24 December 1961) is a Welsh actor. His television work has included thirteen years in the BBC Cymru soap opera ''Pobol y Cwm'', Seargent Tom Swann in the last series of ''A Mind to Kill'' (for Fiction Factory/ Channel 5) and s ...

– Jenx *

Mary Tamm Mary Tamm (22 March 1950 – 26 July 2012) was a British actress, who appeared in many British TV drama series and serials, and is best known for her role as Romana I in the BBC's science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', starrin ...

– Maureen *

David Troughton David Troughton (born 9 June 1950) is an English actor. He is known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage and for his many roles on British television, including Dr Bob Buzzard in ''A Very Peculiar Practice'' and Ricky Hanson in ''Ne ...

- D.I. Critchley *

Roy Marsden Roy Marsden (born Roy Anthony Mould; 25 June 1941) is an English actor who portrayed Adam Dalgliesh in the Anglia Television dramatisations (1983–1998) of P. D. James's detective novels, and Neil Burnside in the spy drama ''The Sandbagg ...

- Garovski *

Rupert Holliday-Evans Rupert Holliday Evans (also Rupert Holliday–Evans) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles in programmes such as the ITV police drama ''The Bill'' and CBBC children's programmes ''The Giblet Boys'' and '' Powers''. In episodes of com ...

- Poliarkov *

Christopher Fairbank Christopher Fairbank (born 4 October 1953) is an English film, stage and television actor. Career In 2010, he appeared as a detective in ''Five Daughters ''Five Daughters'' is a British television drama miniseries starring Ian Hart, Sar ...

- Barry * Paul Freeman - Sergey

Episode list

Series overview

Pilot (2005)

Series 1 (2007)

References

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0433365, Diamond Geezer 1 2005 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios