''Capital City'' is a television series which focused on the professional and personal lives of a group of

investment banker Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by unde ...

s working in the dealing room at Shane Longman, a fictional international

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

based in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. The 23-episode series was produced by

Euston Films Euston Films is a British film and television production company. It was originally a subsidiary of Thames Television, and operated from 1971 to 1994, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network. Euston ...

, a wholly owned subsidiary of

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

, for the ITV network and that aired from 26 September 1989 to 20 December 1990.

spent an estimated £500,000 to run newspaper and billboard advertisements to promote the series' launch which at the time was believed to be the largest advertising spend for a programme in the history of ITV. Full-page advertisements were taken in six national newspapers including ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. The ads promoted the Shane Longman "brand", rather than "Capital City", and featured images of cast members in character. Thames Television stated that the press and poster ads were considered necessary to raise the profile of the series amongst members of the public who had a specialised or more professional interest, however a number of City bankers described the series as "fairly inaccurate", "confusing for the ordinary viewer", and lacking solid research.Cochrane, Hugh. 'A great gamble as the full-page ads run on', in "

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

: 4 October 1989 One television critic stated: "All of this would have been quite novel and exciting three years ago, but the world has turned, the market has crashed and we have all seen enough of other people's

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

s to last a lifetime... City hustlers do not look very heroic any more, just extravagantly paid." Still, it could be argued that most of the characters in "Capital City" – perhaps with the exception of the reckless and predatory Jimmy Destry, power-hungry Lee Wolf and the duplicitous Sylvia Roux Teng – portray City bankers in a generally positive manner. The primary characters come across as likeable and – in contrast to the

Gordon Gekko Gordon Gekko is a composite character in the 1987 film '' Wall Street'' and its 2010 sequel '' Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'', both directed by Oliver Stone. Gekko was portrayed in both films by actor Michael Douglas, who won the Academy A ...

" greed is good" stereotype often associated with their industry – as possessing a moral and/or social conscience; in one episode, the entire dealing room threatens to go on strike in protest against handling a bond issue on behalf of a company which dumps toxic waste in poor African countries and demand that Shane Longman introduce policies which enable them to avoid dealing with clients whom they regard as unethical.'Ethical Investments', Director: Clive Fleury; Writer: Tom Greenwood. "Capital City",

, 'episode 18, series 2. Original air date: 15 November 1990 ''Capital City'' is very much a product of the late 1980s, on the cusp of the digital revolution. The dealing room computers used what appeared to be a

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

operating system; mobile phones were the size of bricks; the primary methods of long-distance "instant" communication were still the land line telephone,

fax Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other out ...

and

telex Telex is a telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communica ...

; and smoking – banned in England, within most public buildings, in 2007 – was still allowed in the workplace as well as inside restaurants, bars and other public places. At the same time, the series dealt with several mature storylines including alcoholism, depression, mental illness, sexual assault, drug use, homosexuality, physical assault, gambling addiction, prostitution, promiscuity, shoplifting, fraud, bribery, corruption and abortion.

Cast

The main cast (in alphabetical order as shown in the series credits) included: * William Armstrong as Max Lubin * Emily Bolton as Sylvia Roux Teng (from episode 13) * John Bowe as Leonard Ansen * Denys Hawthorne as James Farrell *

Dorian Healy ''Soldier Soldier'' is a British television drama series. Created by Lucy Gannon, produced by Central Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of seven series and 82 episodes from 10 June 1991 to 9 December 1997. It fe ...

as Jimmy Destry (to episode 13) *

Douglas Hodge Douglas William Hodge (born 25 February 1960) is an English actor, director and musician. He has had an extensive career in theatre, as well as film and television where he has appeared in ''Robin Hood'' (2010), '' Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Retu ...

as Declan McConnachie * Jason Isaacs as Chas Ewell *

Joanna Kanska Joanna Kanska (born 1 April 1957) is a Polish-British actress who has worked in film, television, theatre and radio. She migrated to the United Kingdom in 1984. Career Born in Nowy Sącz, she attended the National Film School in Łódź from 19 ...

as Sirkka Nieminen * Richard LeParmentier as Lee Wolf * Trevyn McDowell as Michelle Hauptmann *Anna Nygh as Hannah Burgess *

Joanna Phillips-Lane Joanna Phillips-Lane is a British actress who among other parts, played the character Roxy in Carla Lane's sitcom ''Bread''. She also played the character Wendy Foley in ''Capital City A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality ...

as Wendy Foley (to episode 14) * Rolf Saxon as Hudson J. Talbot III *Saira Todd as Hilary Rollinger (from episode 15) *Briony Glassco as Gail Martin Recurring support and guest cast included Mark Burns as Peter Longman, grandson of the bank's founder, the eponymous Shane Longman, and 30 per cent shareholder; Louise Lombard who appeared as Louise, a 17-year-old runaway who is befriended by Chas and is later assaulted by Jimmy; Faith Brook as Katherine Talbot, Hudson's mother;

Charlotte Cornwell Charlotte Cornwell (26 April 1949 – 16 January 2021) was an English actress, singer, and a teacher of acting on the faculty at the University of Southern California (2003–2012). Cornwell began her career as an actress, making her debut for ...

as Petra Allunson; Julia Ormond as Allison;

Ben Daniels Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is an English actor. Initially a stage actor, Daniels was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Never the Sinner'' (1991), the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for ''900 Oneonta'' ...

as Colin de Selincourt; and Pia Henderson, as Yolande, with whom Sirkka has a brief relationship.

Characters

*Max Lubin ( William Armstrong), the bank's unconventional and somewhat eccentric, pony tail-wearing Head of Swaps *Sylvia Roux Teng ( Emily Bolton), replaces Wendy Foley as the bank's Chief Trader in episode 13;'Hard Drugs and Snails', Director: Paul Seed; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, episode 13, series 2. Original air date: 19 December 1989 Sylvia's duplicitous nature is revealed when she mentions to City headhunter and personal friend, Petra Allunson, that the core members of the dealing room team – Declan McConnochie, Michelle Hauptmann, Sirkka Nieminen, Chas Ewell and their assistants – are unhappy and potentially "on the market"'Headhunting', Director: Diarmuid Lawrence; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, episode 19, series 2. Original air date: 22 November 1990 *Leonard Ansen ( John Bowe), the Director of Banking Activities, who constantly clashes with the power-hungry Lee Wolf who regards the bank's dealers as reckless risk-takers; becomes romantically involved with Hannah Burgess after her marriage breaks down *James Farrell ( Denys Hawthorne), the bank's Chief Executive Officer *Jimmy Destry (

), a maverick junior trader, nicknamed 'Squirt' by Declan McConnochie, who is sacked for

malpractice In the law of torts, malpractice, also known as professional negligence, is an "instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional".Malpractice definition, Professionals who may become the subject of malpractice actions inc ...

in episode 13; Destry shares a flat with Chas Ewell but the two fall out after Destry molests Louise, a 17-year-old runaway who Chas befriends at a railway station, in episode 4'Max in Trouble', Director: Mike Vardy; Writer: Matthew Bardsley. "Capital City",

, episode 4, series 1. Original air date: 17 October 1989 *Declan McConnachie (

), a senior trader on the secondary desk; becomes romantically involved with Michelle Hauptmann, who he marries in the final episode'The Wedding', Director: Mike Vardy; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, 'episode 23, series 2. Original air date: 20 December 1990 *Chas Ewell ( Jason Isaacs), a junior trader on the primary desk, who questions his role in the city during a personal crisis in series one *Sirkka Nieminen (

), a senior trader in the secondary desk; the character is originally from

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

(though the actress is Polish) and experiences numerous personal crises during the series including a battle with alcoholism, an abortion and a lesbian affair;'Strange Fruits', Director: Clive Fleury; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, 'episode 21, series 2. Original air date: 6 December 1990 she is a serial risk-taker and thrill-seeker who, during episode 11, represents herself as a high-class prostitute on at least two occasions;'Twelve Degrees Capricorn', Director: Sarah Hellings; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, episode 11, series 1. Original air date: 5 December 1989 during the series it is revealed that Sirkka and Declan McConnochie were romantically involved at one stage in the past *Lee Wolf ( Richard LeParmentier), the Director of Corporate Finance, who constantly clashes with Leonard Ansen over the role of the banks dealers, who Wolf regards as reckless risk-takers *Michelle Hauptmann ( Trevyn McDowell), a 24-year-old senior trader on the primary desk; she is originally from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and becomes romantically involved with Declan McConnachie during series one; the two marry in the final episode at the end of series two *Hannah Burgess (Anna Nygh), responsible for overseeing the dealing room IT and computer systems; Australian-born; she becomes romantically involved with Leonard Ansen after she and her husband Ryan divorce *Wendy Foley (

), initially the Chief Trader, Wendy is promoted to become the new Head of Derivatives in episode 13 and is replaced on the dealing room floor by Sylvia Roux Teng; she resigns from the bank in episode 14 to work with major shareholder Peter Longman'Toxic Waste Syndrome', Director: Mike Vardy; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, episode 14, series 2. Original air date: 18 October 1990 *Hudson J. Talbot III ( Rolf Saxon), a US-born attorney and the bank's capital markets originator whose mentally unwell wife Alex leaves him and their infant son in episode 1'Second Quarter Figures', Director: Paul Seed; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, episode 1, series 1. Original air date: 26 September 1989 *Hilary Rollinger (Saira Todd), a 22-year-old graduate who excelled in economics and philosophy; joins Shane Longman in episode 15 to assist Michelle Hauptmann on the primary desk;'Swami's in Town', Director: Clive Fleury; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, episode 15, series 2. Original air date: 25 October 1990 during the office party celebrating the impending nuptials of Michelle and Declan, a very tipsy Hilary manages to tell Declan what a sweet and sexy guy he is, much to everyone's amusement as they look on from the table

Episodes

Series 1 (1989)

Series 2 (1990)

Production credits

*Creator: Andrew Maclear *Writers: Andrew Maclear, Matthew Bardsley, Charles Jennings, Tom Greenwood, Richard O'Keefe *Directors: Mike Vardy, Sarah Hellings, Paul Seed, Robert Walker, Clive Fleury, Diarmuid Lawrence *Associate Producer: Ron Purdie *Executive Producers: Andrew Brown, John Hambley *Producer: Irving Teitelbaum *Music: Colin Towns

Series trivia

*The series was created by Andrew Maclear, who also wrote the 1989 movie Dealers; the film's dealing room set, which reportedly cost £1,000,000 to construct, was retained for use in "Capital City". The dealing room equipment was provided by Reuters Limited. *Exterior scenes were shot throughout

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and landmarks such as

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it ...

, the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

and

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

appeared as backdrops. Coincidentally, stylised forms of these icons were also featured in the on-air idents for

' parent company,

, that were shown at the end of each episode. *It is estimated that

spent more than US$10 million to produce the first 13 episodes (series one)Stead, Deborah. 'To start with...; On the Telly, a tale of swaps', in "

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

", New York: 3 December 1989 *The music for the series was composed by Colin Towns and enjoyed some success in its own right. *The bank's address is shown in an Attachment of Earnings Order (Judgment Debt) served on Lee Wolf as 8 Gracewell Street,

EC2; Wolf's address is shown in the same document as 56 Chalfont Court, 238

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder James Baker. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises. The street is ...

NW1.'A Wolf in Wolf's Clothing', Director: Diarmuid Lawrence; Writer: Andrew Maclear. "Capital City",

, episode 22, series 2. Original air date: 13 December 1990 Neither address actually exists. *Shane Longman's headquarters are located near the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

; in one episode Michelle Hauptmann loses her driver's licence for one year after being caught speeding in her

and is shown exiting the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

at Bank station after catching the Tube to work. *In the final episode, Michelle and Declan are married and, in the closing scenes, are shown travelling by water taxi to the airport en route to their honeymoon in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

; their marriage is taken to have occurred 1 September 1990 as this is the date shown on their travel documents.

Series quotes

*Sylvia Roux Teng to Hilary Rollinger: "Your job involves more than being a smile and dial girl." *James Farrell to (the newly married) Declan and Michelle McConnochie: "In 30 years of banking, this is the happiest merger I've ever seen", to which Declan replies: "James, this isn't a merger. This is a takeover."

Broadcast information

''Capital City'' was originally broadcast on Thames Television between 26 September 1989 and 20 December 1990; many other ITV regions also carried the programme, though participation and broadcast dates have varied. Despite its short run in the UK, the series was rebroadcast on UKTV Gold. The series was also transmitted in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

by ABC Television, in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on selected public television stations, and in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

, as well as on networks in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Availability

The complete series of 23 episodes have been released on DVD.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Capital City (Tv Series) ITV television dramas Television shows set in London 1989 British television series debuts 1990 British television series endings 1980s British drama television series 1990s British drama television series Television shows produced by Thames Television Television series by Fremantle (company) British English-language television shows Television series by Euston Films