Glossy rivalry

Press, 20 December 1988, Page 11

Glossy rivalry

Mike Savage and Bo Beaufort are rivals. One is of the old-school-tie clan, with “old money” and family merchant banking connections.- The other is self-made, streetwise, with “new money” made from wheeler-dealing. In “Gentlemen and Players” they are on opposite sides in the cut-throat, ruthless world of City of London finance, where rules are few, and enemies many. In the game of finance, rules do not matter. Success does. They can play it straight or dirty, whatever the prize may be — money, power or people.

Beneath their charm, good looks and wealth, the two men have a dark side. Both are obsessed; driven by a fanatical need to out-do the other. “Gentlemen and Players” (tonight at 7.30

on One) stars Brian Protheroe as Bo Beaufort and Nicholas Clay as Mike Savage, with Edita Brychta as Beaufort’s girlfriend Jane, and Claire Oberman as Savage’s wife Sandy. It is a glossy tale of revenge and rivalry, showing the back-biting between two former friends.

Born-rich Bo and nouveau riche Mike will stop at nothing to gain the upper hand, whether in the City, in cricket on the village green, or simply in trying to destroy each other’s plans. The greater the competition, the higher the motivation and the tougher the challenge, the more thrilling the game. The seven-part series was filmed on location in London, Hampshire and Portugal.