The Bank: A Matter of Life and Debt - Season 1
Season 1
Episodes
Episode 1
Armed with boundless enthusiasm and some inspiration from Walt Disney, deputy bank manager Claire has got 12 weeks to improve the customer service score at NatWest in Huddersfield.
The first episode of this series - with unique, behind-the-scenes access to a high street bank and its customers - looks at NatWest's bid to win back its customers' trust.
Clare and her straight-talking team are desperate to succeed, but it is not going to be easy. Since the 2008 banking crash, faith in banks has slumped to an all-time low and some customers are quick to anger when it comes to banks. NatWest is owned by RBS, which was bailed out by the government and is still 79 per cent owned by the taxpayer.
One customer, Alan, is livid. He says a cheque has gone missing and he has missed out on a precious eBay auction. Chris feels that he has been given bad advice on a mortgage. With weekly automated phone calls asking customers how satisfied they are, staff are under pressure to get it right.
Claire and her team admit that the banks have got it wrong, but they say customers have to take responsibility too. Tracey is thousands of pounds in debt and facing repossession of her home. There is not much the bank can do to help. Sarah Iqbal sells life insurance at NatWest, but her father is the last person you would see in the bank. He has built his whole life around being super-frugal and avoiding debt.
Can Claire and her team persuade the people of Huddersfield that NatWest is putting the customer first? And is it fair for customers to point the finger at the bank every time? What does the relationship between us and the bank tell us about our thorny relationship with money?
Love and Money
The second episode of this series, with unique access to the staff and customers of a high street bank, is about love and money.
All of life passes through NatWest bank in Huddersfield. The staff there see customers at every milestone of adult life. Young love, settling down, parenthood, divorce, old age, illness and death. That's not to mention the staff, who between them have clocked up one engagement, three mortgages and three divorces, just in the last year.
While bank staff open up about their relationships, their divorces and about who calls the shots with money in their house, they also meet customers who juggle money and their hearts. Money can provoke strong feelings in relationships.
Victoria and Matthew have just moved in together and opened a joint account to test out their relationship, while Helen is trying to unpick the financial mess of her divorce. Melanie's husband has clocked her obsessive bargain hunting habit, while Kevin is looking after his father's pension money so the 79-year-old can go looking for love in Africa. Andy's homeless and so can't close the joint account he shared with his ex. Deputy bank manager Claire is still living at home with her parents, until she and her boyfriend can afford to get on the property ladder.
Lending
Back from maternity leave, young bank manager Clare Atkinson needs to focus her team on lending money to customers, whether it's for a new car, a new home or cosmetic surgery.
We're borrowing more than ever before in Britain - household debt now totals £1.47 trillion. Brian and Elizabeth need a loan to pay off £26,000 they've spent on seven credit cards. Farid, who came to Britain from Afghanistan aged 17, wants a small mortgage to buy his council flat. And John wants a loan of half a million pounds for his luxury housing development.
Clare's branch of NatWest in Huddersfield has an annual profit target to hit and in six months the bank will announce whether or not it's made a profit for the first time since the banking crash seven years ago.
Mortgage advisor Gary is trying to drum up new business with a giant coffee cup while customer advisor Richard is trying to take his own advice, stop over-spending and resist the temptation of buying a remote controlled drone on eBay.
The final episode of this series - with unique, behind the scenes access to a high street bank and its customers - looks at how we borrow money and how banks lend it. Will Claire and her team help bring the bank into profit for the first time in years? The bank needs to lend money to make money, but why do we borrow so much?
Recently Updated Shows
Chicago Fire
No job is more stressful, dangerous or exhilarating than those of the Firefighters, Rescue Squad and Paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51. These are the courageous men and women who forge headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way and whose actions make the difference between life and death. These are their stories.
Tyler Perry's Sistas
A group of single black women from different walks of life navigate their complicated love life status, careers and friendship through the ups-and-downs of living in a modern world of social media and unrealistic relationship goals.
The Repair Shop
The Repair Shop is a workshop of dreams, where broken or damaged cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life.
Furniture restorers, horologists, metal workers, ceramicists, upholsterers and all manner of skilled craftsmen and women have been brought together to work in one extraordinary space, restoring much-loved possessions to their former glory.
Many of these items have incredible stories behind them and a unique place in history: from an accordion played in the Blitz by a woman who is now in her 90s, to a beautifully crafted clock made by a father who was completely blind; a Pinball machine that is currently being used as a kitchen counter, and a Davenport desk with its trademark fake drawers which fooled burglars - and their crowbar.
The Repair Shop is an antidote to our throwaway culture and shines a light on the wonderful treasures to be found in homes across the country.
Abbott Elementary
In this workplace comedy, a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal — are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do — even if they don't love the school district's less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.
Son of a Critch
Based on the award-winning, best-selling memoir from Mark Critch. This new original comedy is the hilarious and very real story of 11-year-old Mark coming of age in St. John's, Newfoundland in the 80s. It's a heartfelt window into the life of a child – much older inside than his 11 years – using comedy and self-deprecation to win friends and connect with the small collection of people in his limited world.