The Bankrupt

Hayden-Peters has ended up in bankruptcy proceedings in court leaving a trail of creditors behind who are on course to receive nothing.

Hayden-Peters has also cunningly transferred hos assets to his wife two years before he was made bankrupt.

Frank Marker suspects he is up to no good. Marker gave Hayden-Peters a good reference to a finance company and they are going to carry the can and refuse to give Marker further work.

Tom Lewis runs a limousine company who lent Hayden-Peters a lot of money and will end up losing his shirt. He also goes to Marker for help get his money back.

This is the kind of episode where Frank Marker really gets his teeth into his man like a rottweiler. I guess that is because Marker was made bankrupt and has little time for a greedy charlatan like Hayden-Peters.

Even his wife gets taken in by greed when she realises that she now owns the marital home, has lots of money and shares. She is not willing to share it with any of the creditors, even Tom who she is sweet on.

The workings and procedures of the bankruptcy courts isn't a subject one normally associates with entertaining tv, yet i found this a thoroughly engrossing episode. Hayden-Peters, a rather smarmy city type, has swindled a friend of Frank Marker out of a lot of money, and is now trying to pull a fast one on the receivers. Ray Barrett who excelled at playing smooth, villainous types, also excels here and it's great fun to watch his arrogance and crafty subterfuge slowly unravel and then finally crumble thanks to Marker's forensic detective work.

Like most episodes of Public Eye (and unlike most of today's drama alas), The Bankrupt is leisurely paced, but cleverly written, and requires a modicum of intelligence to really appreciate its quality.