Screenwriter Neil Biswas' (BRADFORD RIOTS) adaptation of Martina Cole's novel THE TAKE, spans 10 years of British socio-political change. The backdrop of the Thatcher era and its transition into the birth of New Labour, is particularly relevant to the drama's theme of idealised new beginnings; stemming from and resulting in a sense of disillusion.

Freddie Jackson (Tom Hardy, BRONSON, ROCKNROLLA) leaves prison in 1984, after serving 4 years for bank robbery. His loyal, if unstable, wife Jackie (Kierston Wareing, RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER) has waited for him on the outside, under the misguided impression that he wants to go straight. Freddie, however, is raring to get back into the game, keen on becoming king of the East End underworld. Cousin Jimmy (Shaun Evans, BOY A) is hot on his heels and, with time, rises the ranks of the quickly expanding crime empire -- eventually eclipsing Freddie himself. He also has something else Freddie covets, Jackie's younger sister Maggie (Charlotte Riley, WUTHERING HEIGHTS), and together they have a loving relationship the Jacksons can only dream of. Bitterness and jealously threaten to tear the family apart, as loyalties are brought into question, trusts are betrayed, and violence ensues. In an era of new promises and possibilities, everyone it appears, is on the take.

Jun 2009

Betrayal….it’s in the blood...An exciting and uncompromising four-part adaptation of the best-selling crime thriller by Matrina Cole, The Take stars Tom Hardy (RocknRolla) as Freddie Jackson, and Brian Cox (The Escapist) as Ozzy.

Freddie is a free man after spending a considerable stretch at Her Majesty’s Pleasure, and now he plans to take the underworld by storm. As events unfold, his wife Jackie (Kierston Wareing – Leaving) becomes increasingly unstable, not helped by the actions of her younger sister, Maggie (Charlotte Riley – East Virtue), who is in love with Freddie’s cousin, Jimmy (Shaun Evans – Boy A). If you are a Jackson then you trust no one, because everyone in this criminal world is on The Take.

• ^C]lever, well written and impeccably performed. ^...] told with a combination of economy, wit, style and uncompromising brutality - The Stage
• Hardy^...] was perfectly cast as a charming, brooding brute. - The Telegraph