''The Syndicate'' is a British television drama series. It was written by Kay Mellor and is broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

. It sees five members of a betting syndicate win the lottery. Each series follows a different syndicate. The first series is set in a

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

supermarket; the second, a public hospital in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

; the third, a crumbling stately home near Scarborough; and the fourth is set between a dog kennel in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. The theme tune for the first two series of the show is " All or Nothing", by the

Small Faces Small Faces were an English Rock music, rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966 ...

. For the third series, a cover version of the same song performed by Scars on 45 was used. The score is composed by guitarist Hal Lindes from Dire Straits. The theme tune for Season four of the show is a cover of "The Gambler" performed by David Nowakowski featuring Rising Fever. Series 4 premiered on BBC One on 30 March 2021. The series was remade in America as ''Lucky 7'' for ABC. However, it only ran for one series.

Cast

* Lorraine Bruce as Denise Simpson is the only cast member to appear in every series. In series 1 she won the lottery; her character was reprised as the Lottery Winners Adviser in all subsequent series. Lorraine was also invited to play Denise in the USA version of the show. In "Lucky 7" Denise Simpson becomes Denise Dibinksy, a native of Queens, New York.

Series 1

* Timothy Spall as Bob Davies * Lorraine Bruce as Denise Simpson * Matthew Lewis as Jamie Bradley * Joanna Page as Leanne Powell * Matthew McNulty as Stuart Bradley * Amy Beth Hayes as Amy Cartwright *John Paul Hurley as DCI Newell *Katherine Dow Blyton as Annie Davies * Kai Owen as Gareth Powell *

Anthony Lewis Joseph Anthony Lewis (March 27, 1927 – March 25, 2013) was an American public intellectual and journalist. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and was a columnist for ''The New York Times''. He is credited with creating the field o ...

as Peter Davies * Clare Higgins as Joyce Bradley *Lily Pickering as Stacey Powell

Series 2

* Siobhan Finneran as Mandy Atkinson * Alison Steadman as Rose Wilson * Mark Addy as Alan Walters * Natalie Gavin as Becky Atkinson * Jimi Mistry as Tom Bedford * Steven Waddington as Steve Atkinson *Roma Christensen as Reah Atkinson * Sally Rogers as Helen Dolan * Karl Davies as Luke Summers

Series 3

Elizabeth Berrington Elizabeth Berrington (born 3 August 1970) is an English actress and graduate of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art; she is best known for her roles as Ruby Fry in '' Waterloo Road'', Paula Kosh in '' Stella'', Mel Debrou in '' Moving Wa ...

as Dawn Stevenson * Melanie Hill as Julie Travers *

Lenny Henry Sir Lenworth George Henry (born 29 August 1958) is a British Jamaicans, British-Jamaican comedian, actor and writer. He gained success as a Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and impressionist in the late 1970s and early 1980s, culminating in ' ...

as Godfrey Watson * Cara Theobold as Sarah Travers * Richard Rankin as Sean McGary/McAdams * Anthony Andrews as Lord Hazelwood * Alice Krige as Lady Hazelwood * Sam Phillips as Spencer Cavendish *

Daisy Head Daisy Head (born 17 March 1991) is an English actress. She played Grace in the American drama series '' Guilt'', Amy Stevenson in BBC One's drama '' The Syndicate'', Kate Bottomley in the third season of Hulu series '' Harlots'', Genya Safin i ...

as Amy Stevenson * Kieran O'Brien as Andy Stevenson * Polly Walker as DI Lynn Baker *Rob Kendrick as Nick Harrison * Elaine C. Smith as Valerie Hardcastle * Poppy Lee Friar as Mary Campbell

Series 4

* Katherine Rose Morley as Keeley Sanderson * Taj Atwal as Roxy Varma * Liberty Hobbs as Gemma Hepworth * Kieran Urquhart as Jake Thackery * Kym Marsh as Donna Sanderson * Ruben Reuter as Shane Sanderson * Mark Benton as Graham Woods * Emily Head as Colette Andrews * Neil Morrissey as Frank Stevenson * Gaynor Faye as Cheryl Armitage * Rita May as Nanna * Joe Sugg as Sam * Katie McGlynn as Georgina Clarke

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (2012)

In the first series the syndicate consists of workmates in a small local supermarket located in

, Yorkshire. It was written by Kay Mellor. Series 1 began on

on 27 March 2012 and consisted of 5 episodes.

Series 2 (2013)

The second series aired in 2013 on BBC One. It revolves around another syndicate in a similar situation. It was written by Kay Mellor. The series looks at a syndicate involving workers at a public hospital in

, Yorkshire. Series 2 began on BBC One on 19 March 2013 and consisted of 6 episodes.

Series 3 (2015)

BBC One renewed ''The Syndicate'' for a third series of six episodes, and the first episode was broadcast on 2 June 2015. This series was filmed in Yorkshire in 2014. 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 ...

announced the details of the third series of the programme on 21 October 2014. Actor/comedian

stars in the series, which chronicles the lottery win of a staff syndicate at a crumbling stately home. Lynda Bellingham was due to play the role of a solicitor, in a role written especially for her by Kay Mellor, but she died shortly before filming commenced.

Series 4 (2021)

The fourth series began airing on 30 March on BBC One.

American adaptation

On 1 February 2013, it was announced that ABC had ordered a pilot for a US remake. It was renamed '' Lucky 7'' and written by David Zabel and Jason Richman. ''Lucky 7'' was cancelled on 4 October 2013 after only two episodes were broadcast, due to extremely low ratings.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Syndicate, The 2012 British television series debuts 2021 British television series endings 2010s British anthology television series 2020s British anthology television series 2010s British drama television series 2020s British drama television series BBC television dramas British English-language television shows Scarborough, North Yorkshire Television series about lotteries Television shows set in Leeds Television shows set in Bradford Television shows set in West Yorkshire Television shows set in North Yorkshire Television shows shot in Leeds Television shows shot in Bradford Television shows shot in Scarborough