Capital City

As an ex pat Brit now living in Canada I was and indeed am a huge fan of Capital City. So much so in fact that I have both series one and series two of the show on VHS, taped back when it was first shown in the late 80's. To my Aussie friend who's comments are above I can only say..*you're in luck* because in fact there are 26 episodes of the show. Having said that of course how you are going to get to see the others I don't know. I can't understand why the producers don't release the entire series on DVD... there's a load of absolute old rubbish out there so why a great show like this hasn't been exploited I can't understand. Following the lives and exploits of a group of city bond traders, everything about the show was fantastic from the writing to the performances, and especially the production values. It was also the first TV appearance of many many now famous faces. Julia Ormond (First Knight and Sabrina), Clive Owen (Closer), Louise Lombard (Hidalgo and lately CSI)... and of course the utterly gorgeous Jason Issacs who is perhaps best known to American audiences as the hideously slimy Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series. Unfortunately in-spite of all this talent the show's popularity suffered as a result of a sudden downturn in the British economy. Since it's plot lines and characters were inextricably identified with the excesses of the *loads-a-money* 1980's, the advent of a new decade, (and public attitude to money) saw its demise. Which is a terrible shame. I highly recommend the show, and also its close compatriot Chancer, which shared a lot of the same themes and the same high production values. And which of course gave a first starring role the above mentioned and equally gorgeous Clive Owen. If ever the James Bond people had an easy decision to make... SURELY this is the one. How can they not have already handed the man the role he was born to play.!! Watch the two seasons of Chancer, (which I believe in the UK at least ARE available on DVD), and you'll see what I mean.

I also saw this by chance on the CBC and loved it, but their run was too short and I'm sure I missed the last few episodes. Canada's "Traders" drama TV series reminded me of it and thankfully lasted for several years... maybe even better as it really had time to grow into its own. Capital City showed "The City" of London (the financial district) in the heady days after "big bang" (deregulation) and had some great plot lines, characters and typically English take on life there. The mix of Americans, Europeans, etc... only added to a great and colourful cast. Bring on the DVD!

There was a similar movie called "Dealers" with Rebecca DeMornay and Paul McGann that also showed life in "the City", complete with egomaniacs, slippery traders and the lifestyles of the traders, and so-called 'Masters of the Universe'. If you like the financial/Wall Street type of genre you will enjoy it as well.

I watched this series regularly for about 3 months while I was in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was on the Star(?)TV Satellite network. That was in 1994. As I remember it, it was a great series and was obviously very captivating. This series is very well written and very entertaining. In some ways, the series reminds me of LaFemme Nakita, or the short lived series "The Consulate" or something like that about a US consulate in London. Someone should work toward finding the originals of this series and make copies available on videotape or even better yet, DVD's. If you have any news about this series returning to TV or becoming available via C-band satellite, please e-mail me Thanks.

Series set in a trading room of a bank (Shane-Longman) dealing with the financial goings-on, but, of course, the personal lives of the people involved.

I remember it as very good, and never knew why it only ran for 2 seasons.

Shane-Longman, a mid-size, up-and-coming investment banking house in The City (akin to WallStreet) in London prides itself on its youthfull staff, and an uncanny ability to come through innovative, yet more than usual unconventional financial solutions. Although all the characters in the series come to the spotlight at one point, some might say the series resolves around the relationship of the two primary characters Declan McConnachie, a young, high-riding trader on the primaries desk, and Michelle Hauptmann, a vibrant trader with Shane's German branch, who is temporarily located in England. This series features some other notable actors like Rolf Saxon as the American attorney Hudson Talbot the Third, along with an apprehensive, and almost timid Saira Todd, playing Hillary Rollinger, a new trader, who comes under the wing of Michelle Hauptmann. Who would've thought that Saira Todd would later play a key role in Channel 4's "Queer as Folk!" Through the series, topics such as stress, drug-abuse, insider trading, homosexuality, and black-market trading are addressed through the experiences of the staff. In the United States, this series was originally distributed to PBS stations in the mid 1990s via the Program Resource Group. I eagerly await the series reruns.