Coming soon to ITV1 is a promising new comedy drama series set in the world of estate agents and starring the excellent Kris Marshall as well as the always worth watching Anthony Head.The series is set in the world of Colubrine’s Estate Agents, where the unscrupulous staff are masters of high-pressure selling and dirty tricks. However, there’s one notable exception at Colubrine’s - our hero Danny (Bryan Dick – Bleak House, Marple, The Virgin Queen).
Danny is a rare breed: an estate agent with a heart. He understands that while money can’t buy you happiness, your dream home really can.
A master of intuition, Danny is able to see the hopes and fears of the buyers and sellers that he meets. Once he’s understood their dreams, he does everything in his power to make sure they come true. But Danny has to work alongside a team of snakes and manipulators, notably amoral money-mad Matt (Kris Marshall – Catwalk Dogs, Murder City, My Family) and bitch-from-hell Mel (Christina Cole - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Casino Royale, Jane Eyre). Anthony Head (Persuasion, Little Britain, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is their ruthless leader Mr. Colubrine, who rules the gang with an iron rod via a web link from his tax haven.
The staff of Colubrine’s also includes Ella Smith (Cape Wrath) as bubbly man-eater Phoebe and stand-up comic Dan Johnston as debt-ridden Jonty.
Producer Philip Trethowan says: "The world of estate agents opens up a limitless supply of stories. Moving house is often prompted by very dramatic changes in people's circumstances – marriage or divorce, having a baby or children leaving home, to name but a few. It gives us a chance to explore these huge crossroads in people's lives and at such moments it is estate agents who literally hold the key to your future happiness.
"Britain is a nation obsessed by property. People are transfixed by every aspect of it from new curtains to a new mortgage. Obviously this obsession has been capitalised upon in a host of factual entertainment shows. We felt it was the right time for a drama which delivers some unlikely heroes."
Phil explains the name behind the brand: "Steve Coombes, our writer, came up with the name Colubrine’s. It derives from a Latin word and means 'of or resembling a snake'. I think we all know why he chose it! But at the end of the day this is a comedy drama, not a documentary. Of course there is a stereotype of estate agents as the masters of dirty tricks and underhand behavior that we play up to, but we’re making fun of that stereotype as much as endorsing it."
Writer Steve Coombes says: "There's a difference between buying a house and buying a home. Most estate agents flog houses; most punters are looking to buy a home. The tension between the two is the stuff of drama. In Danny, our estate agent with a heart, we wanted a character who grasps the aspirations and dreams that lie behind a buyer's impulse to choose one property over another. Danny has a unique insight into the secret hopes that drive people to move home. He cares so much since he has never really had a home himself. At the other end of the scale Matt (Kris Marshall) is the man who puts ass into aspiration."
Steve continues: "Ultimately, it's all about relationships and life-changing decisions. Buy one property and your future life could look like this but buy another and something entirely different could happen to you. Hence the dream sequences we devised as a way of dramatising the truth. Most of us are unrealistic about what we want but Danny is able to feel these self-deceptions and guide his client towards the property they should want."