''Bust'' is a British comedy-drama television series created by Philip Hinchcliffe and Simon Passmore, starring Paul Nicholas as bankrupted businessman Neil Walsh. The cast includes

Phyllis Logan Phyllis Logan (born 11 January 1956) is a Scottish actress, widely known for her roles as Lady Jane Felsham in ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes in ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for ...

, Belinda Lang, Ron Emslie, Geraldine Alexander and Sarah Neville. Two series were produced by LWT and broadcast on ITV between 4 September 1987 and 12 November 1988.

Plot Summary

The series focuses on Neil Walsh, a businessman who is declared bankrupt and tries to organise or get involved in investment schemes to overcome his finanical problems and rebuild his life. Concurrently, his marriage to his wife Sheila is already on the rocks when she walks out on him; Neil tries to rebuild their relationship, but his business dealings and financial problems frequently get in the way. Following his bankruptcy hearing, Walsh is appointed a succession of trustees to handle his finances and monitor his affairs, Janet Summers (Series 1) and Carol Chapman (Series 2). He frequently ropes in his lawyer Adam Freeman to assist him with his various schemes, in order to recover his financial position.

Background

The series was conceived by Philip Hinchcliffe and Simon Passmore, who collaborated on a number of episodes; they were assisted by Michael Aitkens, who wrote eight episodes for the series. Hinchcliffe had recently moved to LWT, after unsuccessfully trying to get the series produced at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. The series was developed as part of LWT's drive to make their programmes more appealing to a wide audience and beat the BBC in the ratings. This was part of a network-wide effort by ITV at the time to boost the quality and appeal of their output, investing £80 million into their autumn schedule, commissioning new programmes like '' The New Statesman'', ''The Bretts,'' '' The Dame Edna Experience'' and '' The Charmer'', the latter also produced by Hinchcliffe. A tie-in novel written by Roger Morton was released on 3 September 1987. The series had incidental music composed by Peter Van Hooke and

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the rock band the Zombies, and went on to form the ba ...

, who also wrote the theme tune "You Ain't Gonna Cry No More", which was sung by Nicholas.

Cast

* Paul Nicholas as Neil Walsh *

as Sheila Walsh (Series 1) * Belinda Lang as Sheila Walsh (Series 2) * Ron Emslie as Adam Freeman * Geraldine Alexander as Janet Summers * Sarah Neville as Carol Chapman *John Vine as Richard Graham * Shirin Taylor as Sally McLaren

Episodes

Series 1 (1987)

Series 2 (1988)

Home Media

The first series was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on 29 June 2009 by Fabulous Films and Freemantle Home Media Entertainment.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bust (Tv Series) 1987 British television series debuts 1988 British television series endings 1980s British comedy-drama television series ITV comedy-dramas British English-language television shows Television series by ITV Studios London Weekend Television shows Television shows set in London