After the loss of original cast members Marc Warren and Jaime Murray, we had our doubts that the Hustle craft would remain afloat, but the gang continue to prove us wrong.

Evidently there is still some undeniable allure to seeing heinous people receive their comeuppance in real style. As the most watched series yet, last year’s run proved Hustle still delivers bang for buck.

Series 7 gets off to a rollicking start with mark numero uno; a model agent a.k.a a thinly veiled attack on the industry and its notoriously odious inhabitants. The abhorrent Wendy Stanton (played to perfection by the ever agile Anna Chancellor) makes a tidy sum on the side by scamming eager youngsters like Eddie’s naïve northern niece. Well, the chaps aren’t just going to let her get away with that are they? No siree. Chancellor’s terrific facial tics alone rank Stanton highly in the table of Hustle mark nasties.

Other series highlights include the audacious 9 foot hole dug under a police station in broad day light to recover lost diamonds, the return of an old grifter acquaintance with a hidden agenda, and the rescue attempt of Ash’s beloved Railton FC.

Whilst the time tested structural formula is firmly in place, the cast are still being put through their paces with any number of ridiculous new personas to convincingly embody. Especially memorable is Adrian Lester’s Hilary King, a cameo so on the pop culture pulse that by the end of the episode #hugs was trending on Twitter. Pat on the back for the writers for that one.

Indeed, with little room for further character development within the crew, it is the supporting characters – often gleefully vile caricatures – we turn to for entertainment. David Harewood’s glorious performance as machismo-fuelled Don Coleman, yobbish football agent extraordinaire, is a particular favourite.

However, a reoccurring challenge resurfaces when the writers open up the personal lives of the crew. Much as we long to know how Albert learnt his craft, or about Mickey’s love life, any conclusive illuminating only serves to ruin the mystery.

What Hustle is undeniably good at is stylised finesse. Slick transitions, snappy split screen direction, deliciously horrendous characters and an overdose of self-indulgent London panoramas. In short, not naturalism. Predictably then all attempts to take a serious or sentimental perspective fall flat. Old flames fizzle and long lost family members fail to light up the plot.

Such is the case with Albert’s back story. After an old girlfriend locates Stroller years following their parting, the casual way she broaches the subject of his previously undisclosed 30-something daughter and Albert’s emotionally blank reaction leave us screaming for some reality.

Hustle has certainly been a slick client since first gracing our screens in 2004. With threats from silly story lines and cast shifts it was at the risk of capsizing at times in Series 5 and 6.

However, this seventh offering, whilst not rife with innovation, proves the attraction of the complicated long con and subsequent ‘how’d-they-do-it?’ has not lost its appeal just yet. Surviving the loss of some stellar cast members has not sunk the ship, but the upcoming final series will have to pull out some blinders to dock this vessel with success.

Released on DVD on Monday 9th January 2012 by Warner Home Video.

> Buy the Series 1-7 boxset on Amazon.

Watch a clip from Series 7…