Thieves Like Us

17 January, 2007 by The_Boss

Thieves Like Us

Monday 22nd January 2007 at 8.30pm on BBC Three

Thieves Like Us takes BBC Three viewers into a comedy underworld where dishonesty is the best policy and petty crime pays – but only just enough to cover the rent and buy a pint.

Bex and Ollie are a couple of small-time crooks making their living by lifting and shifting stuff from warehouses, shops, offices – pretty much anywhere they can really.

They're not your big-time bank robbers - they prefer low-risk raids from companies big enough to survive the loss of a few wide screen TVs. The not-so-dynamic duo are aim-low, live-low crooks with a conscience and that suits them just fine.

Away from the various schemes, scams and bungled burglaries that constitute their day jobs, Bex and Ollie seek some form of domestic bliss with their long-suffering girlfriends Mel and Belinda, two girls who understand the true meaning of Tammy Wynette's Stand By Your Man – and for some unknown reason they do.

Bex is played by Tom Brooke, Ollie by Fraser Ayres, Mel by Jessica Harris and Chereen Buckley plays Belinda. The cast also includes Gary Beadle as Weasel, David Bradley as Electric and Andrew Buckley as Roland.

Thieves Like Us is a BBC Production written by Danny King based on his acclaimed novel, The Burglar Diaries.

Thieves Like Us premieres online on Sunday 15 January 2007 on bbc.co.uk/three.

Episode 1: The Warehouse Job

Bex and Ollie have a lucrative job lined up; a warehouse full of widescreen televisions and a eager buyer with cash on the hip. There's only one problem. Mel's on the warpath. Bex doesn't know what he's done, only what'll happen to him and his lucrative deal if Mel ever catches up with him.

Episode 2: The Alarm Job

Mel has an important meeting in the morning but she can't get to sleep. A neighbour's burglar alarm is ringing across the road and no one's home to turn it off. The police don't care and her earplugs are useless. Perhaps her good-for-nothing burglar boyfriend is good for something after all.

Episode 3: The Teapot Job

Electric's been turned over. Among the items nicked is a precious antique teapot. Electric wants it back and he ain't kidding. Bex and Ollie must help him recover his property or find another buyer for their gear.

Episode 4: The Jackets Job

Bex and Ollie are banged up in the cells and they've got Norris and Roland for neighbours. Weasel's confident he finally has the lot of them at last, but then again he hasn't reckoned on the lengths their brief will go to, to get his clients off and earn his Legal Aid.

Episode 5: The Footballer Job

Mel's 13-year-old cousin, Wayne, has his bike thrown in the river by Premiership Football bad boy, Claude Delacroix, for allegedly scratching his sports car. Mel wants an apology. Bex and Ollie are the guys to get it. Or they'll see to it that Claude's sorry for real.

Episode 6: The Office Job

Bex and Ollie have job interviews. Situations vacant - sales staff with a telesales firm. Not the greatest job in the world but a foot on the ladder all the same. Mel smells a rat and wants to know what their ladder's leaning up against. And why Weasel is searching town for them.