The Syndicate

The Syndicate
Genre	Drama
Created by	Kay Mellor
Written by	Kay Mellor
Starring	Lorraine Bruce Joanna Page Timothy Spall Siobhan Finneran Alison Steadman Mark Addy Lenny Henry Elizabeth Berrington Melanie Hill
Opening theme	"All or Nothing" by Scars on 45 (cover of Small Faces)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	17
Production
Executive producers	Polly Hill Nicola Shindler
Production locations	Yorkshire, England
Running time	59 minutes
Production company	Rollem Productions
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	27 March 2012 (2012-03-27) – present

The Syndicate is a British television drama series. It was written by Kay Mellor and is broadcast on BBC One. It sees five members of a betting syndicate win the lottery. Each series follows a different syndicate. In the first series, it is set in a Leeds supermarket, in the second, a public hospital in Bradford, and the third, a crumbly stately home near Scarborough. The theme tune from the show is a cover of "All Or Nothing", by the Small Faces, performed by Scars on 45.

Series 1 (2012)

Main Cast

• Timothy Spall as Bob Davies
• Lorraine Bruce as Denise Simpson
• Matthew Lewis as Jamie Bradley
• Joanna Page as Leanne Powell
• Matthew McNulty as Stuart Bradley
• Amy Beth Hayes as Amy Cartwright
• John Paul Hurley as DCI Newell
• Katherine Dow Blyton as Annie Davies
• Kai Owen as Gareth Powell
• Anthony Lewis as Peter Davies
• Clare Higgins as Joyce Bradley

Episodes

#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (million)
1	"Stuart"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	27 March 2012 (2012-03-27)	5.87
Stuart Bradley works with his younger brother Jamie at the local convenience store, Right Buy U, while his pregnant fiancée Amy squanders his money. Under pressure to find their own place, Stuart concocts a plan with a wayward Jamie to rob the store. However, things go dramatically wrong when the kindly manager, Bob, interrupts them, and Jamie unnecessarily hits him over the head with a bottle of whisky. He is rushed to hospital in a critical state, while DCI Newell of the Yorkshire police begins investigating. Things are thrown another curveball when, along with the other members of the syndicate, Stuart learns that they have won the lottery. And in a twist of fate, his share of the money relies on Bob's vote, as he hasn't paid his money for the last 5 weeks. Meanwhile, Leanne shies away from the camera at a press conference; what is she hiding?
2	"Denise"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	3 April 2012 (2012-04-03)	6.09
Denise becomes a spendthrift to escape her miserable life, caring for her bedridden mother after her husband has walked out on her. She decides to have plastic surgery, but is eventually talked out of it by her coworkers and decides to set up a dog centre. The police close in on Jamie and Stuart, as Jamie's alibi is proved to be false and CCTV footage casts shadows on Stuart's side of the story. Meanwhile, Leanne gets sick of a replacement manager for Bob and quits in a fury, still scared of a secret coming to light. Bob learns that his brain scan is irregular.
3	"Bob"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	10 April 2012 (2012-04-10)	5.98
Bob has the results of his scans back at the hospital, where he is told that he has terminal brain cancer. He also discovers the truth about the robbery from Stuart, and decides not to pursue any action against him and Jamie. His relationship with his long-term partner Annie is comprimised when he meets with his ex-wife, but later stuns her by proposing to her at a lavish party. Leanne and Stuart find an experimental treatment in South Africa which gives Bob hope of being cured.
4	"Leanne"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	17 April 2012 (2012-04-17)	6.08
Stuart and Leanne give into temptation at the party, with him desperate for her not to move away. Later, she is horrified when her daughter goes missing, and explains the truth to Stuart. She has run away from her secret ex-husband, and her little girl is a foster child who she abducted to stop her birth mother claiming her back. Jealous and vengeful of Leanne, Amy calls the police on her, resulting in her arrest. Meanwhile, it's the last day at Right Buy U for the members of the syndicate, but Stuart doesn't make it to the end of the day as he walks out.
5	"Jamie"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	24 April 2012 (2012-04-24)	6.04
Jamie thinks he is untouchable now he has won the lottery, but the police remain convinced he was involved in the Right Buy U robbery. He is forced to go head to head with a local drug dealer and his gang. In South Africa, Bob and Annie marry, and he undergoes successful surgery, meaning his cancer is in remission. Amy tells Stuart she wants to marry him, but he chooses Leanne instead, and ends his marriage. He also confesses to the police about the robbery, and when Jamie goes to flee arrest, he loses control of his Ferrari. The syndicate are told that Jamie has died.

Series 2 (2013)

The second series aired in 2013 on BBC One. It revolves around another syndicate in a similar situation. It was written by Kay Mellor. The series looks at a syndicate involving workers at a public hospital in Bradford, Yorkshire. Series 2 began on BBC One on 19 March 2013 and consisted of 6 episodes.

Main cast

• Siobhan Finneran as Mandy Atkinson
• Alison Steadman as Rose Wilson
• Mark Addy as Alan Walters
• Natalie Gavin as Becky Atkinson
• Jimi Mistry as Tom Bedford
• Steven Waddington as Steve Atkinson
• Roma Christensen as Reah Atkinson
• Sally Rogers as Helen Dolan
• Karl Davies as Luke Summers
• Lorraine Bruce as Denise Simpson

Episodes

#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (million)
1	"'Becky'"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	19 March 2013 (2013-03-19)	6.50
Becky Atkinson is a nurse at St. Anthony's Hospital in Bradford, along with her mother Mandy, and is in a syndicate with auxilary nurse Rose Wilson, nurse Tom Bedford and porter Alan Walters. Becky struggles as a young mother and on a night out, she inadvertedly hands the week's lottery ticket to Luke Summers, a rugby player for the Bradford Bulls. Helen Dolan, a nurse who left the syndicate four months ago, discovers they have won the lottery, and Becky faces a race against time to get the ticket back.
2	"Tom"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	26 March 2013 (2013-03-26)	5.58
Tom and Natalie are a couple trying to have a baby. They have had 3 unsuccessful attempts of IVF off the NHS, and can't afford another course of treatment. Things change when he wins the lottery, and although they can continue with trying to have a baby, Tom's friends push him away through jealousy and he makes a shock discovery about his father.
3	"Rose"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	2 April 2013 (2013-04-02)	6.34
Rose can finally have her knee operation now she has money from the lottery. However, her life continues to be as chaotic as ever with 5 children sqaubbling for her money. Things start to unravel when the DWP discover she has been fraudulently claiming benefits to raise her children on her nursing wage. Despite facing a custodial sentence, Rose is told she can pay of her debts, but an enbittered Helen tips off the tabloid journalists to run a story running her name in the mud.
4	"Luke"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	9 April 2013 (2013-04-09)	6.22
Becky's life faces further complications now she is a millionaire. Her relationship with Luke seems to be budding, but she soon realises her friends are using her for money and she gets agitated. She fears Luke is also using her, but is stunned when he reveals he knew he had the winning lottery ticket and intended to keep it until Becky turned up. His brother is mentally disabled and needs help, and in light of this, Becky invests £100,000 into the rugby club. The episode ends with Becky giving Luke her BMW Car, cementing their relationship.
5	"Alan"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	16 April 2013 (2013-04-16)	6.37
Alan has a budding relationship with Rose, with whom he smokes home-grown cannabis to help with her knee pain. When he wins the lottery, his alcoholism begins to return, despite Rose reminding what his problem did to his family relationships last time. When his forgetfulness causes him to lose a corpse, he quits his job in a fury, and orders a mail-order bride from Thailand. Upset by his turbelent relationship with his son, he splashes out on an expensive yacht, and is later stunned to discover his bride is a ladyboy. Alan devastates her by fleeing the boat, and later his house goes up in flames with Alan passed out inside. Rose rushes to save her friend, and after they commit to a relationship, to sort their respective lives out.
6	"Mandy"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	23 April 2013 (2013-04-23)	6.71
Mandy has a big secret; she has been secretly stealing medication from work for years and mixing it her abusive husband Steve's beer, to try and escape domestic violence. She longs to escape from her marriage, and on winning the lottery she makes plans to run. However, Steve finds out that she has been drugging him and violently attacks her, and in protecting herself, Mandy pushes him down the stairs and then holds him captive in the basement. Helen finds out what she has been doing and blackmails her for a million pounds to keep quiet, but she later spitefully reports her anyway, having lost all her friends. Becky and Tom manage to cover up Mandy's medication theft, and Alan protects her from Steve when he escapes. At the airport to go on holiday, Becky helps Mandy finally escape her husband and she flies to Greece, finally free of him.

Series 3 (2015)

BBC One renewed The Syndicate for a third series of six episodes, and the first episode was broadcast on 2 June 2015. This series was filmed in Yorkshire in 2014. The BBC announced the details of the third series of the programme on 21 October 2014. Actor/comedian Lenny Henry stars in the series, which chronicles the lottery win of a staff syndicate at a crumbling stately home.

Main Cast

• Elizabeth Berrington as Dawn Stevenson
• Melanie Hill as Julie Travers
• Lenny Henry as Godfrey Watson
• Cara Theobold as Sarah Travers
• Richard Rankin as Sean McGary/McAdams
• Anthony Andrews as Lord Hazelwood
• Alice Krige as Lady Hazelwood
• Sam Phillips as Spencer Cavendish
• Daisy Head as Amy Stevenson
• Kieran O'Brien as Andy Stevenson
• Polly Walker as D.I. Baker
• Rob Kendrick as Nick Harrison
• Lorraine Bruce as Denise Simpson

Episodes

#	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	UK viewers (million)
1	"Dawn"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	2 June 2015 (2015-06-02)	6.46
Pregnant Dawn Stevenson and her 17-year-old diabetic daughter Amy work as maids at run-down Hazelwood Manor, along with cook Julie and her daughter, manageress Sarah, gardener Godfrey and handyman Sean. Lord Hazelwood is kindly but an invalid and his imperious wife and her spoilt son Spencer run the household, paying poor wages as the family have heavy debts. To bring in cash the Hazelwoods host a party of visiting Americans and during their stay the six members of staff, who are members of a lottery syndicate, find that they have won fourteen million pounds. Whilst they are celebrating Amy disappears, having rowed with aggressive ex-boyfriend Nick.
2	"Godfrey"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	9 June 2015 (2015-06-09)	6.48
The police start to recognise that there may be something more sinister to Amy's disappearance, and suspicion falls on the last person to see her, Godfrey. Godfrey, who has aspergers, struggles to comprehend what is going on and why he is a suspect. They discover that Amy was using Godfrey's affection for her to get her own way, and Amy's father Andy lashes out at everyone around him. Meanwhile, Julie rallies the staff together with a proposition for a struggling Lord Hazelwood; they want to invest in Hazelwood Manor to ensure its future. Lady Hazelwood and her son Spencer reacts with fury.
3	"Sean"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	16 June 2015 (2015-06-16)	6.31
A journalist approaches the Stevensons with the news that Sean has a big secret; he is on the sex offenders list. Andy once again lashes out, while Sarah is devastated by the prospect that Sean is not who he says he is. However, there is much more to Sean's big lie. Meanwhile, Lord Hazelwood uncovers that some of the paintings have been swapped for fakes, and turns on his wife with his suspicions.
4	"Lord and Lady Hazelwood"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	23 June 2015 (2015-06-23)	5.12
Nick resurfaces and the police question him on Amy's disappearance. Meanwhile, at Hazelwood Manor, Lord and Lady Hazelwood's marriage is more strained than ever. Lady Hazelwood holds a lavish party, hiring caterers that clash with Julie and the rest of the staff, and the Americans make Lord Hazelwood an offer twice the size of the staff's for the land around the manor. Just as the Hazelwood's marriage seems at rock bottom, Julie makes a surprise revelation; Lady Hazelwood has been having an affair for years. Sarah makes a discovery which leaves her deeply suspicious of her mother.
5	"Julie"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	30 June 2015 (2015-06-30)	5.03
Sarah and Sean investigate the antique clock they have discovered in Julie's possession, and find that it went missing from Hazelwood Manor 3 years ago. When they confront her, it is exposed as a gift between Lord Hazelwood and Julie, who had an affair many years ago. Sarah is devastated by the thought of her mother betraying her recently deceased father and turns to Sean for comfort. In her absence, Julie makes a shock confession to Lord Hazelwood; Sarah is his daughter, and subsequently his heir. Lady Hazelwood is finally exposed and leaves the manor, spurned. Spencer resurfaces and faces questions from the police, while Andy comes under suspicion from both the police and Dawn following Nick's shooting.
6	"Sarah"	Kay Mellor	Kay Mellor	7 July 2015 (2015-07-07)	5.49
On the day of Hazelwood Manor's grand opening, Amy suddenly turns up, alive and well, to Dawn's shock and intense relief. She explains the full story of her disappearance: Spencer, upon rescuing her from Nick's caravan, had taken her to his yacht and, through lies and an emergency insulin pen, tricked her into staying there with the intent to steal Dawn's lottery winnings, sign Amy up with his American friend, Tyler's modelling label, and take her to new heights with him as her manager. Upon catching on that she is missing at home, Amy had eventually escaped the yacht and gone to find her mother. Spencer is arrested when he turns up at Hazelwood Manor to look for Amy. Meanwhile, Lord Hazelwood tries to convince Julie to confess all to Sarah, or they risk losing everything. He eventually reveals the truth to her himself, and she reacts with horror, anger and feelings of betrayal. Eventually, though, Amy's reappearance and a heartfelt conversation with Lord Hazelwood brings her round. As the celebrations at Hazelwood Manor commence, Dawn suddenly goes into labour at home, and as her family take her to hospital, she sends her son to find Amy. Unbeknownst to them, Amy has given them the slip and gone to find Tyler - who, it is revealed, had helped Amy escape Spencer, and is now her boyfriend. It is also revealed that they had stolen the money from Spencer's account, and are now on their way to the airport, bound for America.

American version

On 1 February 2013, it was announced that ABC ordered a pilot for a US remake. It was renamed Lucky 7 and written by David Zabel and Jason Richman. Lucky 7 was cancelled on October 4, 2013 after only two episodes were broadcast, due to extremely low ratings.

External links

• The Syndicate at BBC Online
• The Syndicate at IMDb