THE first episode in the new series of Hustle was filmed last December on location in Los Angeles.
But while it looks impossibly glam and stylish on screen, don’t get too envious of the cast.
Back in October I met up with them as they were filming episode two in far less exotic surroundings.
The location was a farm by the Grand Union Canal in Rickmansworth, Herts – in the pouring autumn rain.
A short drive down a muddy track from the local pumping station, the stars of the BBC1 drama were filming a scene in and around the farm’s stables.
Robert Glenister, who plays Ash Morgan, was sporting a green padded jacket and gold tie.
Jaime Murray (Stacie) sheltered from the rain in a black padded coat and dark blue wellies.
And Marc Warren (Danny) went for black wellies and a quick break on top of the double-decker catering bus.

We also chatted to Ashley Walters, who joins the Hustle gang in episode two as newcomer Billy Bond.
The first feature is in today’s MEN. Click here for the online version.

Next week’s second episode features the con artists and a sting involving a racehorse – hence the well-worn muddy track.
Marc is one of my favourite actors on the box, so it’s great to see him stepping up to lead the group in this fourth series.
He’d finished working on Dracula (screened on BBC1 last Christmas) the day before moving on to this Hustle shoot.
“I think that’s what I feel recently, the pressure of suddenly going up another step on the ladder. People trusting you with bigger stuff, and with that comes a bit more pressure,” he explained.
“It’s just that fear of failure – but you’ve got to do it and up the stakes a bit.”
He needn’t have worried.
Marc has been memorable in a whole range of roles, from that Dracula chiller to State of Play, Band of Brothers, Men Only, Clocking Off and Doctor Who.
And he all but stole the show as Tony Crane in the first episode of the second series of Life On Mars.
“DI Tyler thinks he’s from the future. Cuckoo,” is a line which, worryingly, still rings around my head months later.
Tony had another line, which also happens to sum up both Life On Mars and Hustle:
“That is bloody good, that.”
*The new series of Hustle begins on BBC1 at 9pm this Thursday.
How Would You Like Your Stake?
Marc Warren In Dracula