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Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!

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Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!
GenreFactual
StarringPaul Bohill
Steve Pinner
Ben Pinner
Brian O'Shaughnessy
Stewart McCracken
Iain Taylor
Delroy Anglin
Elmor Victor
Dael Anglin
Mike Allonby
Terry Jones
Graham Aldred
Kevin Stokes
Gareth Short
Craig Vernall
Narrated byJason Done
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes55 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production companyBrinkworth Films
Original release
NetworkChannel 5
Release24 February 2014 –
present

Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! is a factual/reality documentary series on Channel 5, following the work of High Court Enforcement Officers (also known as Sheriff's Officers) as they execute High Court writs up and down the country, on those who have failed to make repayments on a debt or refuse to vacate a property. The series was first broadcast on 24 February 2014, and five series of the programme have been broadcast to date.

Production

The series has been broadcast Channel 5 since 24 February 2014. Their brief of the series says; "With exclusive access to some of the most experienced High Court enforcement bailiffs and repossession teams in the country, this series is an eye-opening insight into cash-strapped Britain from the perspectives of debtors, creditors and debt collectors. Produced by Brinkworth Films, the series and its various spin-offs reveal what it means to be a creditor who cannot get back what they are owed, what it is like to be saddled with debt that you are simply unable to repay and what it takes to be the kind of person who can pay but refuses to do so. Cameras capture the daily hassle of dealing with violent confrontations, tearful debtors, downright liars and genuine cases of hardship. Then there are the debtors, many of whom have some distressing tales to tell of how they got into the situation in the first place. No one wants their possessions confiscated, after all. The result is a unique insight into one of the biggest issues facing those who cannot afford to keep paying the bills."[1] Every episode to date has been narrated by Jason Done.

Cast

  • Paul Bohill, DCBL enforcement (Series 1—present)
  • Steve Pinner, DCBL enforcement (Series 1—present)
  • Ben Pinner, DCBL enforcement (Series 1—present)
  • Brian O'Shaughnessy, DCBL enforcement (Series 2—present)
  • Stewart McCracken, DCBL enforcement (Series 2—present)
  • Iain Taylor, DCBL enforcement (Series 2—present)
  • Delroy "Del" Anglin, DCBL enforcement (Series 3—present)
  • Elmor "Vic" Victor, DCBL enforcement (Series 3—present)
  • Dael Anglin, DCBL enforcement (Series 5—present)
  • Gareth Short, DCBL enforcement (Series 5—present)
  • Craig Vernall, DCBL enforcement (Series 5—present)
  • Mike Allonby, Asset Trace and Recovery Agent (Series 1)
  • Terry Jones, Asset Trace and Recovery Agent (Series 1)
  • Graham Aldred, DCBL enforcement (Series 2, Guest — Series 5)
  • Kevin Stokes, DCBL enforcement (Series 3)
  • Steve Wood, County Court Bailiff (Guest; Series 1)
  • Phil Short, DCBL enforcement (Guest; Series 2—5)
  • Ru Pabari, DCBL enforcement (Guest; Series 4)
  • Alan Hunt, DCBL enforcement (Guest; Series 4)

Episode list

Series 1 (2014)

The first series introduces five initial cast members: Paul Bohill, Steve Pinner, Mike Allonby, Terry Jones, and Steve Wood. The day after the broadcast of the first programme, Allonby died aged 47 at his home in Wales.[2] Both Jones and Wood subsequently only appeared in the first series, with Bohill and Pinner the only two cast members who went on to appear in series two. The first three episodes became the most watched programme on the channel that week, with episodes four and five placing at second and third, respectively.[3]

Episode Title Viewers
(millions)
Original airdate
1"Episode 1"2.06m24 February 2014 (2014-02-24)
Mike and Terry head to Liverpool to seize a Renault Clio from a debtor who has refused to pay his bill, but the debtor suddenly becomes violent. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend the eviction of an army veteran whose other outstanding debts have resulted in the repossession of his house, and later to Slough to deal with a troublesome family of sitting tenants who refuse to believe the powers of the high court.[4]
2"Episode 2"2.19m3 March 2014 (2014-03-03)
Mike and Terry travel to Cheshire to seize a vehicle from a woman who owes several hundred pounds on a loan, and Mike shows his softer side. Later, they head to Liverpool to recover a vehicle which the owner has failed to keep up the repayments for, and find his son very co-operative. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend an eviction in East London in the week leading up to Christmas, but find a friend house-sitting for the absent debtor. Later, they head to Essex to track down the tenants of a country estate who owe their landlord more than £10,000 - but have since disappeared.[5]
3"Episode 3"1.88m10 March 2014 (2014-03-10)
Paul and Steve are tasked to evict a vulnerable pair of hoarders, whose cost of damage to the property is being added onto their debt. Later, they attend the eviction of a young woman with a child, who has failed to keep up with her rent payments, and has fallen to arrears, and also find that a writ to seize a taxi has been made out to the wrong man, but under law, are forced to serve the writ anyway. Meanwhile, Steve Wood has to repossess a classic corner shop, but finds that the condition of the property may cause more problems for the landlord.[6]
4"Episode 4"1.55m17 March 2014 (2014-03-17)
Paul and Steve attend an eviction of a house with poor living conditions, but have a decision to make when the eviction runs into nightfall. On their travels, they evict two groups of tenants from a house which the landlord is looking to renovate, but one family are not being very co-operative; attempt to reclaim more than £25,000 from a Chinese businessman who has fallen on hard times and is facing bankruptcy; and attend a flat eviction in an expensive area of London, and attempt to secure the tenants a holiday lease allowing them to return.[7]
5"Final Demand Special"1.69m8 April 2014 (2014-04-08)
Paul and Steve attend an eviction in Buckinghamshire where the tenant owes more than £26,000 in rent on his country estate residence. Later, they deal with a family of sitting tenants in a £5 million pound house which is due to be demolished by the developers of the site. Meanwhile, we catch up with three previous debtors to see how life has been for them since the programme aired. Cases featured include the violent car owner from episode 1, the woman who defaulted on her loan repayments from episode 2, and the taxi driver who had a writ written out against him instead of his brother from episode 3.[8]

Series 2 (2014)

The second series sees the introduction of five new cast members - Ben Pinner, Brian O'Shaughnessy, Graham Aldred, Iain Taylor and Stuart McCracken. Paul Bohill and Steve Pinner are the only two returning cast members from the first series. Every episode of the series ranked in the top three most watched programmes on the channel that week.[3]

Episode Title Viewers
(millions)
Original airdate
1"Episode 1"1.52m18 September 2014 (2014-09-18)
Brian and Graham attend an eviction in South London where trouble is expected - but the eviction goes smoothly until they find a Cannabis factory. Later, they visit a Polish Deli to reclaim money on a debt owed to a former supplier, but it's the debtor's wife who has to face their wrath. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend an eviction where a young mother of two is being evicted from her flat, and make an unexpected decision to allow her to stay, and later, they speak to a Freelance employer who is refusing to cough up the unpaid wages of one of his ex-employees, and is still refusing to pay.
2"Episode 2"1.68m24 September 2014 (2014-09-24)
Stuart and Iain attempt to reclaim a debt owed by a builder, but are threatened with violence by the man and his friends from the building site. Later, they visit the owner of a pet shop who owes a substantial amount of money to a former supplier, but tries to raise funds to pay the debt. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve deal with the unpaid debt of former professional footballer Neil Ruddock, who owes money to his local dog kennels. Later, they attend the eviction of a school dinner lady who has been given no prior warning of her eviction by her landlord.
3"Episode 3"1.85m1 October 2014 (2014-10-01)
Paul and Steve evict a young woman with two children, a task that takes a turn for the worse when her violent ex-partner makes an appearance. Later, they serve a writ on a family who have to pay damages to a former employee, and seize a number of expensive vehicles towards repayment. Meanwhile, Stuart and Iain find themselves in a spot of bother when some angry locals threaten a riot over an unpaid debt at a Liverpool computer shop. Later, they chase down an unemployed decorator who owes more than £3,500 in legal costs, but finds he has no assets to seize and no money.
4"Episode 4"1.80m8 October 2014 (2014-10-08)
Brian and Graham head to Wembley, North London to repossess a car owned by a man who owes more than £3,000 to a telephone communications company. Later, they head to Reading to deal with the owner of a dry-cleaning business who has run up a substantial debt for non-payment of rent. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attempt to reclaim £30,000 in rent arrears from a man described by his tenants as a member of a ruthless and possibly violent gang, and later head to Essex to evict a young mum and her two children for non-payment of rent, but discover that she has nowhere to go.
5"Episode 5"1.83m15 October 2014 (2014-10-15)
Paul and Steve head to Essex to evict a family for non-payment of rent, but discover a dispute with the letting agent has led to the eviction. Later, they head to North London to evict a Somalian refugee who speaks very little English from her flat which the landlord is repossessing. Meanwhile, Stuart and Iain are faced with threats of violence when they try to reclaim a debt of over £3,000 against the owner of a minicab business, and later deal with the owner of a car dealership who has to choose between repaying his debt or losing vehicles from his showroom.
6"Episode 6"1.57m22 October 2014 (2014-10-22)
Paul, Steve and Ben attempt to evict a gang of squatters taking up residence in a central London office block, but struggle to enter the property. Later, they head to the North London home of a heavily pregnant tenant and her family, whom they are forced to evict due to non-payment of rent. Meanwhile, Stuart and Iain are confronted by the family and friends of a debtor in Surrey, who threaten violence against them if they try to seize any assets. Later, they deal with the owner of a horse riding sanctuary who owes a substantial amount of money to one of her former apprentices.
7"Episode 7"1.85m29 October 2014 (2014-10-29)
Paul and Steve make an interesting discovery during an eviction at a flat in London's Docklands, where they find $8.5 million in counterfeit notes. Later, Ben joins Paul as they head to Biggin Hill, Kent, to evict a family which they have been told have no children, only to find six children living at the property. Meanwhile, Brian and Graham find themselves in a spot of bother at Swindon Town Football Club as they try to reclaim money on an unpaid debt for seating, and later hunt for a debtor whose business is in the centre of a storage unit facility, but the manager refuses to allow them entry.
8"Episode 8"1.63m5 November 2014 (2014-11-05)
Paul and Ben are called in to evict squatters from a residential property, but it soon becomes clear that the property is being used as a brothel. Later, Steve joins Paul to evict a woman living a property which has already been sold by the landlord, although she has nowhere to go. Later, they attend a flat in East London where they must evict a refugee family who have been seeking new accommodation for several months. Meanwhile, Brian and Graham arrive at a restaurant in north London to collect unpaid rent, but the debtor refuses to pay until Brian starts to remove goods, and later attend a Korean education school to collect unpaid rent, but the debtors make accusations to the police that they have been violent.
9"Episode 9"1.43m12 November 2014 (2014-11-12)
Brian and Graham head to a Brighton health spa to speak to seize assets against the debt of £20,000 for unpaid legal costs against the owner. On their travels, they also head to South London to find a man who owes £1,600, but have trouble when his wife tries to throw them off the scent; to Sussex to speak to a young mother who has defaulted on a debt payment plan, where Graham shows his softer side; and to Dunsfold to reclaim money owed to a telephone answering service, but find the debtor about to visit his motherʼs grave.
10"Episode 10: Eviction Special"1.26m19 November 2014 (2014-11-19)
Paul and Steve attend an eviction with a twist when they discover that the landlord trying to reclaim the property is the debtor's mother. On their travels, they also attend the eviction of a multi-occupancy house where they find a group of tenants who have issues with their immigration status; are forced to evict a man with a history of mental illness, and call on the help of a local minister to persuade the tenant to leave; and attend the eviction of the last remaining tenant in an apartment block which is currently under renovation by the landlord.

Series 3 (2015)

Cast member Kevin Stokes confirmed on Twitter that the returning cast for the third series was as follows: Paul Bohill, Steve Pinner, Ben Pinner, Stewart McCracken, Iain Taylor and Brian O'Shaughnessy. New cast members in this series would include: himself, Delroy Anglin ("Del"), Elmore Victor ("Vic") and Phil Short, who previously appeared in a non-speaking role in series two.[9] Graham Aldred was confirmed as the only cast member from series two to not be returning for the third series. Every episode in series three placed within the top four most-watched programmes on Channel 5 for each respective week. For eight non-consecutive weeks, it was the most watched programme on the channel.[3] Episode 12 had previously been broadcast on August 4, as part of the "Britain on Benefits" season.

Episode Title Viewers
(millions)[10]
Original airdate
1"Final Demand Special"1.35m14 April 2015 (2015-04-14)
Kevin and Dael serve a writ on a man who owes more than £5,000 for an unpaid bill, but the man turns violent and tries to assault Kevin. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve head up an eviction of a mother and her young daughter, whom Paul is forced to help after the council refuse to step in, and Brian and Kevin play a game of cat and mouse with a debtor when he tries to hide his car in a local pub car park to avoid it being seized.
2"Episode 1"1.47m30 September 2015 (2015-09-30)
Brian and Kevin attempt to regain more than £16,000 owed by a travel company. However, one of their employees proves to be less than helpful. Later, they travel to Middlesex looking for £4,500 owed by a computer repair shop, but the manager claims the company have ceased trading. Meanwhile, Stuart and Elmor head to Merseyside to attend the eviction of a tenant with a brain tumour who has been unable to pay the rent on his house, and later attend an eviction with a twist - the tenant is in fact the letting agent and has been living in the house under a false name.
3"Episode 2"1.38m7 October 2015 (2015-10-07)
Brian and Kevin head to Surrey to obtain £6,000 owed by former business owners, but during the initial confrontation, Brian is assaulted. Later, Dael joins Brian to chase a debt owed to a vet by the owner of an ill pet, but they discover she does not have any goods worth enough to cover the debt. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend a multi-eviction on a council estate in Barnet, where the tenants are unaware of why they are being made homeless.
4"Episode 3"1.54m14 October 2015 (2015-10-14)
Paul and Steve are called to an eviction where the landlord wants to move back into his property, but are greeted by an angry tenant who refuses to leave. Later, they attempt to reclaim more than £11,000 owed by the owners of a family run fish business following a dispute with their neighbours. Meanwhile, Brian and Dael call on a man owing more than £16,000 in maintenance for an aeroplane, but are forced to seize the plane when he is unable to pay the debt. Later, Kevin joins Brian to attend a Turkish restaurant to reclaim £4,500 owed to a company for consultancy fees, but the debtors turn nasty and the police are called.
5"Episode 4"1.51m21 October 2015 (2015-10-21)
Paul and Phil head to Kent for an eviction, but when they finally take possession of the house, they discover a full-scale cannabis factory upstairs. Paul later finds himself accused of racism when he and Steve attempt to evict a Kosovan family living in emergency accommodation in North London. Elsewhere, Brian and Dael chase a debt of nearly £3,000 in Hampshire and later attempt to collect almost £5,000 owed by a farmer in Sussex.
6"Episode 5"1.50m28 October 2015 (2015-10-28)
Stuart and Elmor deal with a tricky debtor who owes more than £1,000 against a debt previously owed by his small business, Morcambe Textiles. Later, they attempt to collect a debt of £1,600 owed by a self-employed DJ, but discover he may be forced to close his business if he is unable to pay. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend the eviction of a man in Croydon, only to discover that he is on the way to his aunt's funeral, and the council have refused to rehouse him. Later, they deal with a single mother being evicted by her landlady in Hammersmith after amassing more than £11,000 in rent arrears.
7"Episode 6"1.70m4 November 2015 (2015-11-04)
Stuart and Elmor attempt to reclaim a debt owed by a single mother, but are forced to deal with the police after they find two children home alone. Later, they attempt to reclaim a debt owed by the owner of a Pizza restaurant, but find themselves being locked inside the premises. Meanwhile, Paul and Phil carry out an eviction of a multi-occupancy property, but encounter problems when they discover it is being run as a brothel. Later, they carry out an eviction in Barnes, North London, where the tenant owes more than £11,000 to the landlord, who is in ill health.
8"Episode 7"1.63m11 November 2015 (2015-11-11)
Paul and Steve attend an eviction of a tenant who refuses to move out of her property, despite it already having been sold on by the landlord. Later, Phil joins Paul to turn detective when they arrive an eviction in East London, where they discover the remaining tenant escaping through the back door. Meanwhile, Brian and Kevin deal with a single mother of three who owes a debt of more than £5,000 to a former landlord for damage to his property, and later try to reclaim a debt of over £11,000 owed by a furniture business, but an employee of the company becomes less than helpful.
9"Episode 8"1.27m18 November 2015 (2015-11-18)
Stuart and Elmor head to Liverpool for what they expect to be a routine repossession, but instead face the most challenging eviction of their careers. Behind the front door, they find a critically ill two-year-old child with major heart problems, who is on constant life support and unable to breathe without a ventilator. Later, they encounter another family in crisis in Birmingham, where a retired couple who acted as guarantor for their daughter's tenancy are liable to pay over £3,000 after she defaulted. Meanwhile, Brian and Dael chase £2,000 worth of debt owed by a business based in Kent, and recover £4,000 from a recycling business in Buckinghamshire.
10"Episode 9"1.38m25 November 2015 (2015-11-25)
Dael and Kevin face a web of deceit in an Italian delicatessen in South London as they chase a huge debt amounting to £29,000. Later, Brian joins Dael to track down a pensioner in Surrey who owes £15,000 for a business he bought four years ago. Meanwhile, Steve and Paul must evict a tenant in North London who has not paid her rent for over 18 months, before heading to Cambridgeshire to make one of their most emotional evictions to date.
11"Episode 10"1.18m2 December 2015 (2015-12-02)
Paul and Steve head to Bedfordshire to try to evict a community of travellers who have set up home in a private car park. However, they receive a hostile response and must react to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control. Later, they attempt to evict a Romanian family who stopped paying rent seven months ago. Elsewhere, Stuart and Elmor chase a debt of over £3,000 in Merseyside, before trying to recover £5,000 owed by a forklift truck company after an agreement went sour.
12"Episode 11"1.42m9 December 2015 (2015-12-09)
Stuart and Iain head to Nottingham to recover a debt of nearly £3,000 in unpaid rent from a Turkish takeaway. Later, Elmor joins Stuart to hunt down one of their biggest debts of the year - £66,000 owed by a businessman. Paul and Phil head to a flat in East London expecting a routine eviction, but get more than they bargained for when they find dodgy wiring, illegal substances, and two men sleeping in squalid conditions. Meanwhile, Steve and Ben try to evict a tenant in West London who has broken the terms of her lease, but suspect a subletting scam when they find that the three-bedroom semi has been converted into tiny bedsits.
13"Episode 12: Benefits Special"1.26m16 December 2015 (2015-12-16)
Paul and Steve attend the eviction of a family who owe more than £12,000 in rent arrears, but the situation turns confrontational when the landlord arrives. Later, they are forced to evict a hard-working young nurse who is desperately seeking a home for her young family through no fault of her own. Meanwhile, Brian and Kevin deal with a single mother whose overall debts come to more than £45,000, but is struggling with any form of repayment, and later meet an aggressive debtor recovering from a brain tumour who refuses to pay his dues, despite owing more than £2,000 to a lawyer.
14"Episode 13: Christmas Special"1.55m23 December 2015 (2015-12-23)
The agents grapple with emotional evictions and moral dilemmas as a young family are made homeless, an acrimonious divorce comes to a head, and an off-licence battles to stay open just as everything shuts down for the holidays.

Series 4 (2016)

In February 2016, cast member Paul Bohill confirmed on Twitter that the cast for the fourth series was as follows: himself, Steve Pinner, Ben Pinner, Stewart McCracken, Iain Taylor, Brian O'Shaughnessy, Delroy Anglin ("Del") and Elmore Victor ("Vic"). The only agent not to return from the third series was Kevin Stokes.[11] Additionally, three further agents appeared in minor roles: Phil Short, Ru Pabari and Alan Hunt, all of whom featured in one episode each. The series was filmed between September and November 2015. Broadcast was later confirmed for April 13, 2016.[12] Additionally, the scheduling for several episodes was changed at the last minute: episode 4 was due to air on May 4,[13] but for reasons unknown was held over and not broadcast until the end of the series, later subtitled the "Busted" special. The broadcast of episodes 7 & 8 was also switched for reasons unknown.

Episode Title Viewers
(millions)
Original airdate
1"Episode 1"1.53m13 April 2016 (2016-04-13)
Stewart and Iain attend the eviction of a young mother with two young children, but when her boyfriend threatens them with violence, they are forced to call the police. Later, they evict a businessman from his flat who owes more than £4,000 in rent, but discover he has been living a life of luxury. Meanwhile, Brian and Del call on a young mother who owes a bill of £2,300 for childcare, but discover she has no means of making payment, and later, visit a bachelor whose ex-girlfriend is trying to reclaim £12,000 for an unpaid credit card bill, but discover she has already taken assets worth more than the outstanding debt.
2"Episode 2"1.40m20 April 2016 (2016-04-20)
Stewart and Elmore attempt to recover a debt of £2,700 owed by the owner of a garage, but find themselves in a stand-off which quickly turns to violence when the debtor tries to ram them off the property using a pickup truck. Later, they call on a student nurse who owes £750 on a payday loan, who has defaulted on her repayments. Meanwhile, Steve and Ben are forced to evict an elderly couple who are struggling to keep up with the rent on their three bedroom semi in Isleworth, and later, Paul joins Steve to chase down a £30,000 debt owed by the Lotus F1 racing team to one of their former suppliers.
3"Episode 3"1.52m27 April 2016 (2016-04-27)
Stewart and Iain attend an eviction in Manchester, but on arrival, find the scene crawling with police. A stand-off between the landlord and his tenants then ensues, with some serious threats being made. Later, they call upon a young single parent who is being evicted by her landlord after failing to pay her rent for six months. Meanwhile, Brian and Del attempt to reclaim £3,000 owed to a letting agent, but discover the debtor is an elderly woman claiming disability benefit, and later, they try to reclaim £2,700 owed to an employer after they mistakenly overpaid a former employee, but find themselves forced to seize goods when the debtor refuses to pay.
4"Episode 4: Busted Special"1.92m25 July 2016 (2016-07-25)
Steve and Ben attend an eviction of a tenant who owes more than £14,000 in rent, but discover a sub-let scam involving at least five other undisclosed tenants. The situation escalates when the man refuses to leave the property. Later, Paul joins Steve to evict a man who owes nearly £10,000 in rent. When they arrive, he has already vacated the property and is about to leave, but they discover he has left the property in serious disrepair. Brian and Del attempt to reclaim £10,000 owed to a van rental business, but the debtor claims he has no assets - a fact which they later discover is untrue. Later, they call on a woman who owes £6,000 in arrears from her previous property.
5"Episode 5"1.63m4 May 2016 (2016-05-04)
Paul and Ben attend the eviction of a tenant suffering from a mental health disorder, but are met with a frosty reception. Brian and Del call upon a man who owes a personal debt of £1,900, but he claims to have no prior knowledge of the debt and doesn't even know the claimant. Later, they call upon a taxi firm who owe nearly £3,000 to a supplier. Having previously settled half of the debt with Stewart and Iain, Brian and Del are forced to return after the debtor defaulted on his repayments. Finally, Steve and new trainee Ru attend an eviction in Portsmouth, but the situation becomes heated when the angry homeowners decide to clear out their entire house onto the pavement outside.
6"Episode 6"1.71m11 May 2016 (2016-05-11)
Stewart and Elmore attempt to reclaim a £3,000 debt owed by the owner of a dog kennel business, but when they arrive, Stewart is threatened and angrily confronted by the debtor's dad. Steve and Ben find themselves caught in the emotional eviction of a refugee, who appears to speak very little english. After the eviction, they become concerned for her welfare and try to track her down. Stewart and Elmore try to find a debtor who owes £2,000 for an engine he bought on Ebay, but he tries to outsmart the agents by claiming he knows the law better than they do, before Paul and Steve are forced to break into the property of a tenant who owes nearly £8,000 in unpaid rent.
7"Episode 7"1.71m25 May 2016 (2016-05-25)
Paul, Steve, Stewart and Elmore are faced with a potentially volatile situation when they are forced to evict a large scale traveller community in Birmingham, and soon find themselves under attack from children living on the site. Brian and Del attempt to reclaim a £6,000 owed by a jeweller in Hatton Garden, but he tries to claim that the business which owns the debt is no longer trading. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve find themselves in the middle of a tenancy dispute when they try to evict a man and his partner who owe their landlord more than £4,000 in unpaid rent, while Brian and Del visit a debtor who owes nearly £4,000 to a former customer of his web design business.
8"Episode 8"1.66m18 May 2016 (2016-05-18)
Paul and Steve evict a tenant who owes more than £8,000 in rent arrears, but discover her property has been sub-let and that she has multiple occupants living there. Brian and Alan attempt to reclaim more than £7,000 from a drainage firm who owe money to a former supplier, but discover the debtor has very few assets to offset the debt. Paul and Steve then attend an eviction in North London, where the tenant has been behind on her rent for nearly six years - but to their surprise find a menagerie of electrical goods including TVs, Laptops, games consoles and designer clothing. Brian and Del try to reclaim £38,000 owed by a cafe owner in unpaid rent.
9"Episode 9: Big Family Bust Up Special"1.82m30 May 2016 (2016-05-30)
Stewart and Elmore attempt to reclaim a debt of £6,500 owed by a self-employed builder, but are confronted by his angry parents, who claim that none of the goods in the house belong to him. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend an eviction in Tottenham, but are faced with one of their most heartbreaking evictions ever, when the council refuse to provide emergency housing for a mother and her three young children, forcing Paul to take drastic action. Stuart and Elmore then head to Wales in an attempt to reclaim an unpaid debt owed by a plumber, but are forced to seize and remove goods when the debtor makes no attempt to even communicate with the agents.
10"Episode 10: Secrets and Lies Special"1.56m6 June 2016 (2016-06-06)
Paul and Steve attend the eviction of a woman with two young children, but find themselves confronted by her angry son, who is convinced that the agents' visit is an hour early. Meanwhile, Brian and Del attempt to reclaim an £11,000 debt owed by a man and his partner for unpaid rent, but are shocked to discover an armoury including samurai swords amongst the debtor's possessions. Paul and Steve evict a family from their home following an ongoing dispute with their landlord, who claims that he has been trying to evict them for more than 16 months. Brian and Del attempt to hunt down an elusive debtor, who has evaded capture before, for a debt of more than £4,500.

Series 5 (2016)

Broadcast of the fifth series was confirmed on August 18, 2016. DCBL subsequently added a page on their website with profiles of each of the agents featured in the series.[14] The cast for the fifth series remains unchanged, with Bohill, Steve Pinner, Ben Pinner, McCracken, Taylor, O'Shaughnessy, Anglin and Victor all returning. The series sees the introduction of one new agent, Dael Anglin, Delroy's son.[15] However, on October 5, 2016, two new agents were introduced into the series, Craig Vernall and Gareth Short.[16] Episode 8 also saw a guest appearance from Graham Aldred, last seen in series two. Phil Short will also guest star in Episode 9. O'Shaughnessy has since confirmed on Twitter that this series will be his last.[17] The series began filming in February 2016. This series will feature sixteen episodes.

Episode Title Viewers
(millions)
Original airdate
1"Episode 1"1.40m31 August 2016 (2016-08-31)
Del and Dael attempt to reclaim £3,500 owed by a man to a van rental business, but on arrival at the property, find themselves in the middle of a bitter dispute between father and son, which leads to death threats. Paul and Steve evict a former actor from his £1,200 a month one-room bedsit following an end-of-tenancy agreement, but are shocked by the quality of his living conditions. Brian and Del attend the King William Hotel in London to reclaim £6,500 owed to a supplier, but are forced to start removing goods when the owner claims he cannot pay. Paul and Steve attend a property repossession in Tottenham, but are caught in the middle of a dispute between tenant and landlord.
2"Episode 2"1.77m7 September 2016 (2016-09-07)
Del and Dael visit a printing company to reclaim a debt of £2,000 owed to a dissatisfied customer, but the debtor becomes agitated and physically prevents the agents seizing goods, forcing the police to be called. Stewart and Vic visit a family-owned Barber's shop in a small country village to reclaim £1,100 in unpaid rent, but the debtor denies all knowledge of her arrears. Brian and Del attempt to reclaim £2,000 in unpaid bills owed to a funeral director, but the debtor's revelation that she is unable to pay is furthered hampered by her claim that the agents visit is causing a flare up of her illness. Stewart and Vic then head to Lincolnshire to reclaim £4,400 owed by a computer repair business.
3"Episode 3"2.03m14 September 2016 (2016-09-14)
Stewart and Vic attempt to reclaim more than £8,000 owed by a car dealership in Nottingham to an unhappy customer, but are confronted by an aggressive group of employees, one of whom tries to remove a car from their forecourt that Stewart has already seized. Brian and Del head to the Isle of Wight to reclaim £3,700 of estate agency fees owed by a security guard, but Del is assaulted by the debtor's wife. Stewart and Iain try to reclaim £1,900 owed to DCBL by a woman who contracted them to follow up a compensation claim, and Del and Dael attempt to corner an elusive debtor who owes £3,500, but discover that his car, which they could potentially seize, is on false plates.
4"Breadline Britain Special[18]"0.76m18 September 2016 (2016-09-18)
A special episode looking back at previous cases featured on the series, as part of Channel 5's "Breadline Britain" day. Paul and Ben attend the eviction of a tenant suffering from a mental health disorder, but are met with a frosty reception. Brian and Del call upon a man who owes a personal debt of £1,900, but he claims to have no prior knowledge of the debt. Later, they call upon a family taxi firm who owe nearly £3,000 to a supplier. Having previously settled half of the debt with Stewart and Iain, Brian and Del are forced to return after the debtor defaulted on his repayments. Finally, Steve and new trainee Ru attend an eviction in Portsmouth, but the situation soon becomes heated.
5"Episode 4"1.85m21 September 2016 (2016-09-21)
Del and Dael attempt to reclaim £3,000 owed by an Indian takeaway to a meat supplier, but become embroiled in a game of cat and mouse as the debtor refuses to reveal his identity. Paul and Steve undertake the eviction of a former businesswoman who owes more than £14,000 in rent arrears, who refuses to accept the situation she has found herself in. Del and Dael visit a man who owes £3,800 to a dissatisfied customer whom he sold a car to, but find he has very few assets to seize. When they come across a pair of vehicles, they are shocked to discover that both are worthless. Paul and Steve evict a young woman and her boyfriend who have a history of mental health problems.
6"Episode 5"1.84m28 September 2016 (2016-09-28)
Stewart and Vic attempt to reclaim £5,000 owed by a customer to a garage for repair work on a damaged van, but the debtor immediately becomes aggressive and calls upon a local Anti-Bailiff protest group to come and confront the agents. Del and Dael attempt to reclaim nearly £7,000 owed by a man to his ex-girlfriend. When they threaten to remove the debtor's girlfriend's possessions, the situation becomes heated. Stewart and Vic attempt to reclaim £6,500 owed by a garage in consultancy fees, but the debtor refuses to take responsibility for the writ. Del and Dael visit a woman who owes £3,700 in solicitor's fees, but are forced to take a risky gamble in order to secure payment.
7"Episode 6"1.72m19 October 2016 (2016-10-19)
Stewart and Vic attend the property of a man who has defaulted on a payment plan, but the debtor's father becomes aggressive when the agents threaten to remove goods. Paul and Steve attempt to reclaim £45,000 owed by a man to his ex-wife, but discover that he has signed his current business over to his sister in order to prevent any assets being seized. Stewart and Iain call on a retiring optician to recover £4,500 owed to a supplier, but the debtor becomes abusive and claims he cannot make any form of payment. Steve and Ben attend the eviction of a young mother and child, and Steve is shocked when he discovers some of the worst living conditions he has ever seen.
8"Episode 7"1.77m26 October 2016 (2016-10-26)
Stewart and Iain attempt to reclaim £3,500 owed by a builder to a customer for incomplete repair work, but find the debtor has no assets which could possibly offset the debt. Del and Dael head to Essex to recover £2,700 owed to a frozen food company, however the debtor initially refuses to confirm his identity and claims that he is infact the debtor's brother. Stewart and Iain head to a farm in Wales to recover £2,500 owed to a supplier, but are forced to deal with the debtor's wife. Brian and Del attempt to find a man who has acted as guarantor on his friend's rental agreement, which has racked up more than £10,000 in rent arrears. However, they discover the debtor is on holiday in Nigeria.
9"Episode 8"1.93m5 October 2016 (2016-10-05)
Del and Dael attempt to reclaim £1,900 owed by a young mum who has defaulted on a payment plan, but discover she has no assets they could possibly seize to offset the debt. Meanwhile, Gareth and Craig attempt to reclaim £45,000 owed by the director of an online clothing business to a former distributor, but are alarmed when on their second visit to the property, they find a stash of guns. Del and Dael visit an Indian takeaway owner who owes more than £22,000 in legal fees from a previous eviction, but when the debtor refuses to pay, they are forced to call upon Brian and Graham to help remove goods. Gareth and Craig visit a pensioner who owes £3,900 to a firm of solicitors.
10"Episode 9"1.78m12 October 2016 (2016-10-12)
Gareth and Craig pursue the owner of a roofing business who owes £3,000 to a loan company, but on arrival at the property, the occupant denies the debtor lives at the property. Steve and Phil attend an eviction in South London, and find a family living in the back of a disused shop, which has been sub-let by the tenant. Gareth and Craig attend a farmhouse, where the debtor owes £5,700 in unpaid vets bills, but the debtor claims she has been making regular payments to the claimant - a fact which the agents discover is correct. Paul and Steve attempt to reclaim £30,000 owed by a dry cleaning business, but the proprietor claims he is broke, until Paul makes a shocking discovery.
11"Episode 10"TBA2 November 2016 (2016-11-02)
Paul and Ben attend the eviction of a mother and daughter from their flat, but discover their door has been reinforced with irresistible steel, which the locksmith is unable to drill through. Brian and Del call upon an East London garage to reclaim £7,000 to a dissatisfied customer, but find the business - and the customer's vehicle - in a state of disrepair. Paul and Steve attend an eviction where they find the occupants have been subletting from the tenant, not the landlord, but come up against a language barrier. Brian and Del call upon a woman who has acted as guarantor on her sister's tenancy agreement, but with her sister now £10,000 in arrears, is forced to take responsibility for the debt.
12"Episode 11"TBA9 November 2016 (2016-11-09)
Stewart, Iain, Paul, Steve and Ben attend a mass eviction of squatters from a disused nursery in South-West London, but come up against barricades, bolted doors and a number of angry residents. Gareth and Craig call upon a young mum who owes £6,500 in solicitor's bills, but she claims she has no assets that could possibly offset the debt. Paul and Steve attend the eviction of a mum and her two children, whose father has supposedly disappeared and left her with more than £6,000 of rent arrears. The woman disputes the eviction and claims she has repaid the landlord as he requested. Gareth and Craig head out in search of the director of a textiles business who owes £10,000.
13"Episode 12: Can't Pay's Best Bits, Part 1"TBA16 November 2016 (2016-11-16)
The first of four special episodes combining new and unforgettable past cases. Stewart and Vic attempt to reclaim £5,400 owed by a man that Vic has met before, but are forced to seize a vehicle when the debtor refuses to pay. They also look back on a case previously featured in Series 4, Episode 2, where they tried to reclaim £2,700 owed by the owner of a garage, but the situation became volatile, forcing Vic to call the police. Brian and Del visit a man who owes £150,000 - the biggest debt in the show's history - to a friend who lent him money for a business venture. Del also looks back on a case featured in Series 3, Episode 1, where he and Kevin were assaulted by a violent debtor.
14"Episode 13: Can't Pay's Best Bits, Part 2"TBA23 November 2016 (2016-11-23)
The second of four special episodes combining new and unforgettable past cases. Stewart and Vic attend the eviction of a single mother who owes £6,000 in rent to her landlord, but tensions soon become heated. Del looks back at a case previously featured in Series 5, Episode 1, where they tried to reclaim £3,500 owed by a man to a van rental business, but received death threats from the debtor's father. Stuart and Vic attempt to reclaim £6,000 owed in private school fees by a man and wife, but discover they no longer live together. Stuart looks back at a case featured in Series 4, Episode 1, where they were threatened by the boyfriend of a single mother they were bound to evict.
15"Episode 14: Can't Pay's Best Bits, Part 3"TBA30 November 2016 (2016-11-30)
The third of four special episodes combining new and unforgettable past cases. Stewart and Vic head to a phone shop whose proprietor owes £3,900 to a supplier. But when they discover the business has changed hands, the new owner threatens to break the law by returning goods which have been seized. Del looks back on a case from Series 5, Episode 4, where he and Dael visited the owner of an Indian takeaway who ewe £3000. Brian and Dael attempt to reclaim £8,000 owed by a textiles business, but discover the company director is on holiday. Steve looks back on a case from Series 4, Episode 7, where he and three other agents carried out a mass eviction of travellers in Birmingham.

References

  • Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! (Channel 5)
  • Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! (My5)
  • Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! (Brinkworth Films)
  • Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away! at IMDb
  • Radio Times, Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away!