Venturers, The

1 9 7 5 (UK)
10 x 50 minute episodes

Originally tried out in 1972 as a one-off story in the Drama Playhouse series, this cheap and cheerful BBC series about a London firm of merchant bankers was created by Donald Bull.

Set in the City offices of Princes Bank, episodes were filled with banking gobbledegook (“If that is the INT issue, then HMG are happy” or “Italy’s getting out at the top in case the Americans open up”) – usually sprouted in the firm’s boardroom.

Geoffrey Keen played the bank’s chief executive Gerald Lang. Pauline Letts was his wife, Peggy – she was a good egg.

Chief contenders in the internal power-play at the bank were self-made man David Ayrton (James Kerry) and warm-hearted Tom Prince (David Buck), a member of the bank’s founding family.

The characters were cliches and the acting was largely by numbers.

Gerald Lang
Geoffrey Keen
Tom Prince
David Buck
David Ayrton
James Kerry
Dorothy Ayrton
Karin MacCarthy
Freddie Pander
Hugh Manning
Peggy Lang
Pauline Letts
Lord Kilvern
Cyril Luckham
Sir George Fielding
William Squire
Roddy Smith-Mercer
Nick Brimble

Episodes

Money Isn’t Everything | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? | The Rich Lunch | Gilt Edged | The Honeypot | Gentleman’s Agreement | The Leak | The Cannibals | Sentimental Journey | Dangerous and the Lonely Hearts