Adrian Lester: Hustle demise is no 'end of an era'

Adrian Lester: Hustle demise is no 'end of an era' (Image credit: BBC/Angus Muir/Kudos)

Adrian Lester says he's not upset about his TV show Hustle coming to an end. The actor, who plays chief grifter Mickey Stone, said he only agreed to appear in the eighth series when he found out it would be the last. "My feeling was that if it was going to go on and on, then it was time for me to bow out. But I didn't want to miss the chance to be in the final series," he explained. Hustle's demise coincides with the end of other popular long-running series, such as Spooks and Waking The Dead, but Lester is optimistic about what it means for television. "I don't think it's an end of an era at all," said the 43-year-old. "Drama is always changing, and think how many young writers, actors and cameramen haven't had a lucky break in the eight years that Hustle has been on. There's so much more to come out of this country, but they'll never get the chance unless there's some space cleared for them." The actor said the last episode will be 'a good send-off' - but he kept quiet about the details. "There are so many ways it could end," he teased. "Some people think they should say, 'Hang on, I've got an idea', and they go off and you never see them again, or we could just walk off into the sunset... Who knows?" *The last episode of Hustle is on BBC One on Friday, February 17.

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.