Bust (TV series)
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, 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 financial 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 and Carol Chapman. 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 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, who also wrote the theme tune "You Ain't Gonna Cry No More", which was sung by Nicholas.
Cast
- Paul Nicholas as Neil Walsh
- Phyllis Logan as Sheila Walsh
- Belinda Lang as Sheila Walsh
- 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