We're about to pull the biggest con ever. Making you forget Bonnie was in Season 24...

So recently, I've been getting into a lot of series that are on Netflix, such as Star Trek, Archer, Bates Motel, yadda, yadda, you get the gist. Another series I found on Netflix was Hustle. You know, the fun-drama about a long-con gang with Marc Warren, Robert Glenister, Adrian Lester, Fitz Croiner and your one out of The Man From UNCLE. Long story short, it's good and you need to watch it. And you might be able to see a few similarities between it and this.... Well, the heist parts at least...

DOCTOR WHO MAIN RANGE REVIEW

214: A LIFE OF CRIME

By Jack Ryan

BEWARE: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

They say time away can change a person. That certainly seems to be the case for Ms Melanie Bush. After parting ways with the Doctor on Iceworld, in order to make a better person out of Sabalom Glitz, she seems to have slipped into his way of life, ending up on the planet Ricosta without a ride home.But she soon hears that the Doctor is in town, after having a run in with notorious criminal Lefty Lonergan. But that's not all, as when she runs into The Doctor after that, everything changes, as someone else is planning a long game, and their debtors have come to collect. And the only way out; the biggest bank heist Ricosta's ever seen....

The efforts shown in this story by writer Matt Fitton are seemingly obvious; Doctor Who doing Hustle, and whilst not completely perfect, he tries and in most cases, succeeds in making this seem like the aforementioned premise. For example, allusions and takes on many of the plot points of a Hustle episode are sewn into this story; the convincer, the plan, the hiest, but the aftermath and how it flows won't be quite what everyone expects if you're thinking they do a straight homage to the BBC drama. Fitton takes the elements and runs with them in his own unique way whilst tying them into a good Doctor Who plot.

And to bring that plot to life you need a stellar cast. Joining Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, and along with the returning bubbly piece of brilliance that is Bonnie Langford, are the likes of Holby City's Ginny Holder, the combined and glorious Northern Irish talents of Des McAleer and Stephen Hagan, Harry Myers and the legendary John Banks, and as expected, all of them bring everything they've got to their performances, all under the watchful eye of director Ken Bentley. Also giving their helping hand are the geniuses behind the music and sound design, Fool Circle Productions, who completely nail the feel and vibe of a heist movie and convince us all we're part of the action.

Admittedly, on first listen to this tale, it might come across as a little jumbled, but thanks to the efforts of everyone involved, by the time you get to the end of this brilliantly written and performed tale, you'll want to hear it all over again, to tie you over for the fiesta....

VERDICT: 4/5 Apart from a slightly convoluted story, a cracking heist tale to boot! ;D