High Stakes is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 sitcom

British sitcom

A British sitcom tends, as it does in most other countries, to be based on a family, workplace or other institution, where the same group of contrasting characters is brought together in each episode. Unlike American sitcoms, where twenty or more episodes in a season is the norm, British sitcoms...

 starring Richard Wilson that aired in 2001. It was written by Tony Sarchet

Tony Sarchet

Tony Sarchet is a British television and radio writer for alternative comedy shows.Sarchet studied chemistry at University College Oxford, where he was a member of the University College Players and wrote a review called Gargoyles at the Oxford Playhouse with John Albery and Graham Wall in 1978.He...

. The second series remains unaired.

Plot

Nicholas Quinn, a former Treasury

HM Treasury

HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...

 official, is the new chairman of an investment bank

Investment banking

An investment bank is a financial institution that assists individuals, corporations and governments in raising capital by underwriting and/or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of securities...

 called Kendrick Maple, a company that is in need of modernising. The managing director is long-standing employee Bruce Morton and he is outraged by Quinn's attempt to modernise. Between them is young, high-flyer Greg Hayden, who often acts as a mediator.

Cast

• Richard Wilson - Bruce Morton
• Jack Shepherd - Nicholas Quinn
• Jason O'Mara
  Jason O'Mara
  Jason O'Mara is an Irish actor who starred in the American television network dramas In Justice and Life on Mars. He now appears in the Fox series Terra Nova.- Career :He performed with The Royal Shakespeare Company...
  
   - Greg Hayden

Episodes

Title	Airdate	Overview
"Soulmates"	22 April	Nicholas Quinn, the new chairman of Kenrick Maple, decides that the bank needs a new culture of trust and openness.An investor uses astrology to make his investments. Bruce asks Greg Hayden to arrange a meeting for him with a member of Clay's team, Rebecca Parsons. Clay may be in trouble. After Clay plots Bruce and Nicholas's astrological charts, he pleads with Nicholas and Bruce for one of them to leave the bank. Nicholas asks Bruce to go to Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...  for a meeting with a Latvia Latvia Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden... n Trade Delegation the following afternoon. Nicholas contacts Delphina, a hypnotist, and convinces her to hypnotize Clay without his knowledge.
"An Act of Defiance"	29 April	Greg Hayden is on the phone to his girlfriend, Lisa, who is in London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...  for the weekend. He is anxious for Nicholas to approve the Strategy Review, but, when Nicholas returns from a Stress Management seminar, he makes many changes to the Strategy Review. Bruce sees Greg changing his shirt in the office, and learns that Lisa is over from New York. Bruce tries to persuade Nicholas to call off an investigation about sex in the office. Nicholas assumes Bruce is the guilty party. Nicholas questions Natalie, his new temp, about work relationships; so she thinks he is talking about sex with him, and is horrified.
"The Devil Is In The Detail"	6 May	Bruce Morton arrives for work at the bank, happy to hear from Greg that Nicholas Quinn is in his office. Bruce is angry about a new trader reporting system that Nicholas has introduced. A successful trader, Mary Mansfield, tells Nicholas at the lunch that she has made £46 million for the bank. Bruce questions Brian Wallis, head of Trading, about Mary's trading. She is a quant analyst whom Brian allowed to do a little trading to get a feel for it. Nicholas asks Professor Donnelly to check over Mary's transactions. Donnelly tells Nicholas that Mary has made a loss of £83 million.
"The Poacher"	13 May	Bruce tells Greg that he is expecting some emails from their Far East Far East The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...  Traders. They are addressed to him using the joke nickname "Monkey Balls." Greg tells him that Nicholas has installed computer software that is acting up, and people have to send fax Fax Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device... es, rather than e-mail E-mail Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the... s. Needing to fill the post of head of Eurobonds, Nicholas decides to employ the services of a head-hunter, Christabel Webster.
"The Challenge"	20 May	Bruce takes over as chairman of Kenrick Maple, while Nicholas is away at a European Banking Conference for four days. Bruce tells Greg that he saw Mike Burchett and Pete Salter skulking in the corridor. Bruce's instinct tells him that Pete and Mike are thinking of leaving the bank and he decides to question Mike. Bruce goes for an evening drink with Mike and is disappointed with what he finds out. Greg tells Bruce that they must stop Pete and Mike from staging a Boardroom coup. Nicholas returns, to be told that Mike has made an important decision.
"Dream Team"	27 May	Emily, the bank's Corporate Affairs spokesperson, has prepared a statement about the repayment of a £30 million loan to the bank, from Michael Calderwood, at the Crastock Group. Stapnall-Phillips, head of Corporate Finance, tries to reassure Bruce and Nicholas that Crastock is not going to collapse. Bruce and Nicholas ask Calderwood to repay the loan, and he agrees. Later, Nicholas and Bruce must ask Calderwood, again, for repayment of the loan. Nicholas is thrilled when Calderwood gives him a gold Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...  flute Flute The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... , and invites him and Bruce to his birthday party.

A second series of High Stakes was written and made and was due to air in winter 2001.

DVD releases

The first series and unaired second series was released on DVD in Region 2 (UK) on 14 May 2007, distributed by Acorn Media UK

Acorn Media UK

Acorn Media UK is a DVD publisher which distributes and sells home video products with a particular focus on British television.- Company history :The company was founded in 1997 when Lesley Fromant set up a branch of parent company Acorn Media in the UK....

.