On set with the Hustle crew on 22 September

On the train home from Birmingham and a visit to the set of Hustle, where the team are filming series six of the BBC1 show about ‘grifting’.
Yours truly got to meet the cast, and don’t mind telling you that Adrian Lester (aka Mickey Brooks) is sexier than he looks on screen, Robert Glenister (Ash) looks younger (and very smart in a blue suit which brought out the colour of his eyes), and Kelly Adams (Emma) really does look like Kylie Minogue.
The team were polishing off some scenes at a disused office block in the centre of town when we arrived, and then it was back to production base for a spot of lunch from the meal wagon.
In fantasy journalist life, the interviews which followed would have involved cosying up to the stars in a luxury Winnebago, but in reality these chats took place huddled up in an old bus which doubles as a dining car.
The cast gave some tantalising hints about new cons in the up-coming series. In one of them Kelly even gets to pretend to be Kylie, and found herself singing to the passing crowds in Birmingham city centre. She’s a brave woman. Maybe her co-star Matt Di Angelo (Sean) gave her some tips he picked up on Strictly Come Dancing?
Star of the day was the wonderful Robert Vaughn (who plays Albert Stroller). Voice smooth as honey, he kept the assembled throng gripped with anecdotes about his 54 years in the business.  On one occasion, he was kept under house arrest while filming in Venezuela, but still returned there to finish the project — what a pro! Bet he tells great bedtime stories to his grandchildren back home in Connecticut, USA.
Meanwhile Adrian revealed he’s been working on a special project with his wife, the actress Lolita Chakrabarti. The pair cast a bunch of school kids in their own production of Shakespeare, and a film crew followed their progress. It should be hitting our TV screens later this year.
It’ll probably be next year before we get to see more Hustle, but it’s bound to be a bag of tricks worth waiting for.