Lock, Stock... is a seven-part British television crime drama series, co-written and created by Guy Ritchie, as a spin-off from his 1998 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.[1] The series first broadcast on Channel 4 on 29 May 2000 with a feature-length pilot, Lock, Stock and Four Stolen Hooves.

Lock, Stock...
GenreCrime drama
Based onLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Written by
Directed by
  • Nick Jones
  • Rudolf Mestdagh
  • David Thacker
  • Sheree Folkson
Starring
ComposerJohn Lunn
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7
Production
Executive producers
ProducerTony Wood
CinematographyTim Palmer
Katie Swain
EditorsNick Arthurs
St. John O'Rorke
Sue Wyatt
Running time50 minutes (series)
90 minutes (pilot)
Production companies
Original release
NetworkChannel 4
Release29 May (2000-05-29) –
11 July 2000 (2000-07-11)

The series stars Daniel Caltagirone, Del Synnott, Scott Maslen and Shaun Parkes as close friends Moon, Jamie, Bacon and Lee,[2] who run The Lock, a public house in London. Each episode focuses on the four friends attempting a different business venture, and the comedy of errors that ensues. Ralph Brown also stars as local gangland boss Miami Vice.

Production edit

Lock, Stock... was Ginger Productions' first commission for television.[3] The series prominently featured the use of the rhyming slang of London's East End, making it harder for some viewers to comprehend. In Australia, the series first aired in 2001 on ABC. In Portugal, the series first aired in 2005 on cable channel SIC Radical. In Germany, the series first aired on cable channel RTL Crime in 2011, under the title Bube, Dame, König, grAS (which in turn, is the German title of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels).

Release edit

A soundtrack album featuring music used in the series was issued on 9 June 2000 via Virgin Records.[4] The complete series was released on DVD Universal Studios for Region 2 on 4 December 2000.[5] The series was later released by Siren Visual Entertainment for Region 4 in Australia. The series is also available to purchase as a box-set on iTunes.[6]

Cast edit

Main cast edit

Recurring cast edit

  • Mario Kalli as Kouros; proprietor of the Trojan Kebab House.
  • George Antoni as Nefarious; a Cypriot who deals in anything shady from the back of the Trojan Kebab House.
  • Martin Freeman as Jaap; a Dutch drug taker and general idiot.
  • Chris Rowe as Johan
  • Nicki Grosse as Laura
  • Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jordi
  • Nick Brimble as Uncle Derek
  • Ian Brimble as Uncle Brian

Episodes edit

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date U.K. viewers
(millions)[7]
1"...and Four Stolen Hooves"Sheree FolksonChris Baker, Andrew Day & Guy Ritchie29 May 2000 (2000-05-29)3.57
The four owners of The Lock, a pub in London's East End, buy a quantity of stolen porn videos and a priceless watch. They think they are in the money but unbeknown to them all the goods were stolen from East London's toughest, hardest gangster, Miami Vice. Not surprisingly he wants his watch back and doesn't care about how he goes about recovering it. The gang have to get the goods back to Miami Vice without him suspecting their involvement, but get caught up in a heap of trouble involving lap dancers, an arsonist, a family of gypsies, and a stolen thoroughbred racehorse.
2"...and Two Hundred Smoking Kalashnikovs"Rudolf MestdaghBernard Dempsey & Kevin McNally6 June 2000 (2000-06-06)2.22
A friend of the lads and a 'local businessman', Robbie Rossi, offers them a large sum of money to pick up a delivery of some dodgy designer clothes. Everything goes well until the lads discover that they have been conned and steal the van back for themselves. When they open the van they find it full of Kalashnikov rifles bought in by Miami Vice to help him out in a turf war. Once more they find themselves on the wrong side of Miami's anger.
3"...and a Fistful of Jack and Jills"Nick JonesChris Baker & Andrew Day13 June 2000 (2000-06-13)1.93
The boys are offered a hoard of sex pills on the cheap in return for making a few dodgy deliveries. Everything goes wrong when the pills turn out to be a duff batch and people start dying, and they have just sold a large batch of them to gangland boss, Larry Harmless. To make things even more complicated there are a group of Spaniards, two Dutch druggies and a car full of money floating around.
4"...and Spaghetti Sauce"Rudolf MestdaghChris Baker & Andrew Day20 June 2000 (2000-06-20)Under 1.78
The boys accidentally record over a consignment of porn tapes belonging to Deep Throat, a vicious and nasty criminal, while running off copies of a wedding video they made. With just three days to replace or pay for the missing films they use every idea they possibly can to make their own porn videos, so at least they will have something to give to Deep Throat when he comes calling on them.
5"...and Two Sips"Nick JonesBernard Dempsey & Kevin McNally27 June 2000 (2000-06-27)2.04
Miami Vice is having accountant problems. Not only is someone skimming money from his operations, but Moira is holding out her 10% of Lapland. The boys unwittingly get involved and end up having to pay Miami £20,000 each. Jamie needs to borrow the money from his uncle and has to 'babysit' a friend of his uncle's called 'Two Sips' who is returning to England for a few days.
6"...and One Big Bullock"David ThackerChris Baker & Andrew Day4 July 2000 (2000-07-04)Under 1.58
Miami Vice goes into the meat business and employs the lads to pick up a consignment being delivered by three psychotic Russians. Moon's country cousins get involved with them and a fight over a prize bull. Meanwhile a drug-crazed duo want their revenge on Miami and intend to get their own hands on the beef to exact it.
7"...and a Good Slopping Out"David ThackerChris Baker & Andrew Day11 July 2000 (2000-07-11)Under 1.74
A criminal 'friend' has the key to Miami's safe and he wants it back, but said criminal has been caught by the police and is now in jail. Miami gets Barbie to file some trumped up charges, ensuring that Lee, Bacon and Jamie get sent to the same prison, and tells them that unless they get the key for him he will ensure that the charges will be made to stick.

References edit

  1. ^ Vine, Richard (27 May 2000). "Oi! Mate! Wanna buy a spin-off?". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  2. ^ "Lock, Stock... And Four Stolen Hooves (2000)". Archived from the original on 29 May 2017.
  3. ^ "How Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels was remade as a TV drama for Channel 4".
  4. ^ "Lock Stock - TV Series Ost". Amazon UK.
  5. ^ "Lock, Stock... The Complete TV Series". Amazon UK. 4 December 2000.
  6. ^ "Lock, Stock..., the Complete TV Series". iTunes.
  7. ^ "Weekly top 30 programmes on TV sets (July 1998 – Sept 2018) | BARB".

External links edit