BBC’s thrilling Industry exposes the British banking industry
Sex, drugs and drama make for spectacular television, so it might come as a surprise that the world of the British banking industry has rarely been explored (well) on screen. HBO and BBC Two’s new show Industry is here to change that.
The fictional show follows a group of young graduates competing for permanent positions at a top investment bank in London. As the pressure amps up at work, they find their personal lives mirroring the chaos and moral ambiguity of the office. Their’s is a world we all know exists, but most of us rarely get a true insight into – beyond stories at the pub or brief encounters with gaggles of suited and beer-fuelled grads around Liverpool Street station.
The protagonist Harper (played by Myha’la Herrold) is a frank and likeable American whose background doesn’t quite check out. She moves in with Yasmin (Marisa Abela), the rich girl living in her parent’s spare house in Notting Hill, unable to shake her princess reputation at work and move past fetching coffees. Robert (played by Harry Lawtey) and Gus (David Jonsson) are housemates and Old Etonians living in Finsbury Park. Robert is too busy chasing drink, drugs and girls to make any real impression in the company, while the domineering attitude of Gus makes him a company favourite but a frenemy to his peers.
Then, there’s Hari. The workaholic who immediately takes to sleeping curled up on his blazer in the office toilets, popping modafinil (a study drug) and drowning himself in caffeine to stay ahead. His desperate desire for success leads to tragedy before his career has even had a chance to begin.
The tension, both sexual and professional is excruciating. Hearing banking jargon that I could barely spell, let alone understand, had my jaw clenched and breath halted, so impressive are the young actors at bitchy looks, awkward pauses and longing stares. The casting is impressive too, the chemistry between the characters is palpable (though you are constantly on edge as to who might hook up next).
The show, created by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, captures the uniquely anxious and eager to please energy of a grad perfectly. This is perhaps in part due to Lena Dunham (creator and star of HBO’s Girls) directing the first episode; whether you love or hate her, Dunham is brilliant at navigating the lives of this in their early-twenties on screen.
The grads live a fast-paced life driven by intensity, both in and out of the office: if they aren’t working late or pitching ideas to harsh bosses, they are covered in sweat in the gym or drinking to excess in London’s pre-Covid wealth of bars and clubs. In the three episodes so far (though the whole series will be on iPlayer as of Friday), you feel as if you’re part of a speeding car that can’t slow down. A crash is soon to come.
Initially, the show acts as the perfect antidote for the mundanity of work from home, and a reminder of the City at its best. But, a few minutes in, it will have you thanking your lucky stars you never tried to enter this savage industry. It is television at its most thrilling, but my parting wisdom would be – don’t watch this one with your parents or children, as I learnt the hard way.