Lock, Stock... (2000)

An off-shoot from Guy Ritche's début feature Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). It may sound like a no-brainer, but if you didn't like the film, you probably won't like the series. Conversely, if you enjoyed the film, you'll likely feel the same way about the series. It focuses on four guys: Bacon, Jamie, Moon, and Lee. They run The Lock, a pub where shady deals go down daily. They're always trying to make that big score that'll set them up for life, but life has other plans.

Just like the film, it's set in the grimy east end of London, populated by the same kind of colourful criminal types. Each venture follows the same complex structure: it starts with a seemingly easy way to make some quick cash that quickly spirals into a clusterfuck of unforeseen circumstances, leading to much hilarity, usually followed by the four main characters deep in the shit.

The pilot episode kicks things off in style. It's almost as long as the film, and had the budget been higher it could've even been worked into the beginnings of a worthy sequel. The remaining episodes have a visibly smaller budget (the pretend horse is particularly hilarious). The stories are wrapped up a little too quickly in the shorter format, but the characters are strong enough to keep it engaging.

There are some recurring characters, the most prominent of which is 'Miami Vice', a bald, hard-nut mob boss who seems to have his dirty fingers dangling in everything shady, from porn to guns. Miami is fantastic, without him it would have suffered from the villain of the week syndrome. Overall, it's a great series. It's just a shame there are so few episodes.

One 87 minute pilot, and six episodes approx 50 minutes long each.

3½ kebabs out of 5