List of Hustle characters

Hustle is a British television comedy-drama series made by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One in the United Kingdom.

Known as Mickey Bricks, he was the show's principal character from Series 1 to 3 and 5 to 8. Played by Adrian Lester.

Mickey is a professional grifter who makes money by setting up long cons. He is intelligent, charismatic and quick-witted. Although he works with Albert Stroller who is one of his mentors, Mickey is the leader of his "crew" (team) of grifters. Mickey did not return in the fourth series, instead he led a con off-screen in Australia. He has, however, returned in the fifth.

Mickey has a strong dislike of being told what to do or having a job. These feelings appear to stem from his childhood. In series one, he revealed that his father was an ordinary, law-abiding citizen whose only dream was to retire when he was 60, until he dropped dead of natural causes three days before his 60th birthday. Having watched his father play by the rules all his life and being destroyed, he has a strong hatred of people who simply use the system to make themselves rich at the expense of others. Mickey therefore always selects marks whom he has reason to dislike; by making his motive personal, he stops himself from ever making the con about the money. The gang states that their first rule is, "You can't cheat an honest man," not simply because they should not, but since those being conned are greedy and dishonest, they are less likely to over-analyse anything that would make them rich. In that sense, Mickey is not hypocritical because he does not steal from "old ladies"; all his marks are either blatantly dishonest or simply coldly dismissive of others - he stole a man's credit card after hearing him attempt to convince his staff to only pay Eastern Europeans £2.50 an hour. On at least two occasions he has also masterminded cons where innocent people gain more than the gang themselves (Although the gang still made a profit). At the same time however, Mickey has no qualms with staying in hotels without paying, or doing nothing about his tab in Eddie's bar (though this seems to be more of a joke for him, as he is more than prepared to give Eddie favours if he is in serious need).

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