Trust (TV series)

Infobox Television
show_name = Trust


caption = "Trust" title screen
format = Legal drama
runtime = approx. 50 minutes
creator = Simon Block
starring = Robson Green
Sarah Parish
Neil Stuke
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Eva Birthistle
Ian McShane
opentheme = Trust Theme
country = UK
language = English
network = BBC
picture_format = 16:9
first_aired = January, 2003
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 6
website = http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/trust/
imdb_id = 0328799

"Trust" was a UK television program produced written and created by Simon Block for the BBC by Box TV Productions. It stared Robson Green and a cast of other British actors including Sarah Parish, Neil Stuke, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Eva Birthistle and Ian McShane. Broadcast for only one series in the UK before being put on permanent hold the series had mixed reviews in the UK press; however the series received better reviews when it was rebroadcast on BBC America.

Characters

* Stephen Bradley (Robson Green) – The show's protagonist, a maverick partner and team leader of the London City law firm Cooper-Fozard.
* Annie Naylor (Sarah Parish) – Lawyer and aspiring partner, a member of Stephen's team.
* Martin Greig (Neil Stuke) – Talented lawyer on Stephen's team. He is openly gay.
* Ashley Carter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) – Talented junior lawyer, often works apart from the team.
*Maria Acklam (Eva Birthistle) – Trainee lawyer under Stephen Bradley.
* Alan Cooper-Fozard (Ian McShane) – Enigmatic senior partner, known more often as The PG, an abbreviation of 'the Power and the Glory', for his ability to launch or crush a career.

Plot

"Trust" revolves around a corporate law team led by partner Stephen Bradley, a maverick lawyer who often finds sense in apparently senseless argument. In each episode the team are presented with corporate clients who require the services of the law firm, often in the handling of critical deals including takeovers, mergers and acquisitions and dissolutions. The show also dealt with issues relating to long city working hours, corporate competition, drug abuse in the work place and corporate social responsibility (or the lack of it, as is often the case in this series).

Episode Guide

Episode 1

First broadcast: 9 January 2003 Stephen Bradley's life isn't going well. He hasn't been home for 3 days and his wife is ready to kick him out. And at the firm, the director of finance is investigating his expense account records. The sale of a business he has spent 4 months working on is stalled because one of a pair of brothers won't sign the deal. Ashley is sent to do a pitch for a business, but then he has to do it himself, and so the deal falls through. At the last minute, Maria saves the deal, but at the end of the day Stephen is still at the office.Director: John Strickland

Episode 2

First broadcast: 16 January 2003 Stephen is trying to close the sale of a travel business, but the seller is stalling and he needs to find out why. Martin and Annie represent a record label that wants to keep the members of a pop band from having relationships that cause the group's CD sales to drop. Ashley goes for drinks with the band and finds its easy to be led astray. Stephen's team is worried about his being audited, until they learn why Ruth is doing it. Meanwhile, Stephen's wife doesn't want to talk to him so she sends his father-in-law to mediate. Stephen finds comfort with Maria, who gives him a kiss.

Episode 3

First broadcast: 23 January 2003 The day starts off with Maria packing her stuff to put some distance between herself and Stephen, who is meeting a client and wondering where she is. Stephen's client is an oil company buying another company in order to improve its environmental credentials. Martin thinks that the newly-installed CCTV cameras have been watching him, and wants to get rid of them. Stephen is being sued by a client who says that Euros were transposed for Pounds in a contract. Maria discovers some behind-the-scenes dealings that shed new light on the deal Stephen is trying to put together.

Episode 4

First broadcast: 30 January 2003 Stephen is battling to get a group of fashion designers to settle their dispute out of court. He persuades Annie to deal with a magazine owner who won't compromise on remaking a controversial teen magazine for the US market. Meanwhile, Martin is assigned to be the chaperone for Bring Your Child to Work Day. And Ashley takes over the account of a large pharmaceutical company, but is suspicious of their new anti-cancer drug.

Episode 5

First broadcast: 6 February 2003 On the evening of the annual summer party, Martin is trying to close a deal in which the bank has advanced the deadline, but he has to deal with an overbearing young client who has more money than sense. When Ashley discovers that there's a defect in the product his client is developing, he gets offered a bribe to ignore it. Annie discovers she is on the short list to become a partner, but had promised her husband to put his career first by working fewer hours. Then she discovers that while she's been spending the long hours at work, he's been having an affair.

Episode 6

First broadcast: 13 February 2003 It's D-Day for a number of people. Stephen's wife has asked for a divorce and he is meeting with her and her lawyer to start proceedings. Annie has a partner interview but so does Martin, who was short-listed after another candidate withdrew. And Ashley has been stalling Devalier but he can't stall for any longer. Stephen and Ashley meet Devalier and then have a secret meeting with one of the Devalier people. Cooper-Fozard are sitting on a can of worms - but is the PG involved? Annie doesn't make partner and the bottom is starting to fall out her life.

Locations

Trust is set in the City of London and makes full use of the cities iconic buildings as visual references. Cooper Fozards offices are actually portrayed using two separate buildings for exterior shots, Thomas More Square in Wapping is portrayed as Cooper Fozards office building while roof shots (which often provide breaks within episode stories to focus on series spanning themes) are filmed at 1 Poultry. This leads to a confusing affair where to a casual viewer a rectangular building appears to have a triangular roof!

Other locations have included The Bank of England and St Paul's Cathedral. The series makes constant use of aerial photograph of The City with Tower 42, The Gherkin (while still under construction), Shoreditch & Hoxton, Lloyds of London and The Royal Exchange frequently being utilised to set the scene.

The title sequence features shots of the City from Waterloo Bridge and the title banner is displayed over an ultrawide angle shot of the Aviva building and 122 Leadenhall Street (which is now undergoing demolition) in Undershaft.

External links

*bbc.co.uk|id=trust|title="Trust"
*imdb title|id=0328799|title=Trust
* [http://www.robsongreen.com/trust/ "Trust"] (Unofficial fansite)