The Debt

Written by Richard McBrienwriter and directed by Jon Jones, 2003

Warren Clarke, Hugo Speer and Lee Williams star in a wry and witty look at the lives of three men and just how far they will go to get out of debt.

Geoff Dresner (Warren Clarke) is a retired safe-breaker who's turned his back on crime to make an honest living as a baker. But his past comes back to haunt him when he's forced to take on one more job. Geoff's return to criminal activity is in order to help his family's debt - specifically his less than useful son-in-law Terry (Martin Freeman).

DS Edward Foster (Hugo Speer) is an amiable CID officer who is struggling financially. His second job as a night taxi driver means he's in no fit state to do his best at police work during the day. As a result he's being over-looked for promotion. But an investigation into some dodgy dealings involving one Geoff Dresner could be an opportunity for him to make the grade.

James Hilden (Lee Williams) is a young lawyer, recently married and with a baby on the way. He doesn't seem to be quite ready for his loss of independence and embarks on an affair with an ex-colleague.

Ambitious and keen to impress his lover [gorgeous Orla Brady as a savagely alluring predator], James takes on the case of Geoff Dresner. His secret love life becomes entwined with his professional life and before he knows it he's stuck in a spiral of deceit and denial.

"The Debt is a story about a criminal, a detective and a lawyer and how their lives collide with each other," explains writer Richard McBrien.

"The idea is that all three men owe debts to their children in some way which affects the way they do their job."

"I can sympathise with all three characters," continues McBrien. "I wanted to show that in their own world, criminals, detectives and lawyers are all good people, not real villains. The there men are trying to lead a good life but become compromised by events."  (BBC).

Starring Warren Clarke as Geoff Dresner, Hugo Speer as DS Edward Foster, Lee Williams as James Hilden, Malcolm Storry as Tony Stokes, Martin Freeman as Terry Ross and Orla Brady as Angela Jahnsen.

Circumstances and money may corrupt people from all walks of life while the naturally corrupt protagonist always ends up on top. As does the seductive tigress in his pocket who uses the law to protect a dangerous criminal.

This gripping British thriller originally aired on the BBC. The story concerns Geoff Dresner (Warren Clarke), a retired English safecracker forced back into the seedy underworld and illicit doings of his past when his son-in-law (Freeman) fails to pay a cutthroat loan shark - and must immediately cough up an enormous sum of money if he has any hope of emerging unscathed. Dresner stages a robbery to aid the young man, but it quickly goes awry - placing Dresner in a vice between a ruthless detective, eager to bring the thief in once and for all, and an attorney (Williams) unequipped with the experience or know-how to successfully defend this career criminal. Dresner suddenly finds himself caught up in a net of lies and double-crosses, struggling to find a way to save himself and assist his family in the process. (Rotten Tomatoes).