User Reviews

I agree that Capital City should be on DVD. I watched this show only by accident in 1994 and fell in love with Rolf Saxon as Hudson Talbot. It was nice to see Americans who work abroad in London in the financial industry for a change. I loved Rolf in this role and loved every other role that he has been in. I can't believe the show only lasted 13 episodes. I liked William Armstrong as Hudson's flamboyant charming friend in the series. When they aired this show in the New York City area, it was always late at night or at off times. The show is less than an hour long. I felt this show should have gone on longer but the casting changes in the second season really made the show a little less interesting. I didn't care for Sylvia but missed the actress, Julia Phillips-Lane in the previous season. I felt this show took chances and often it worked. It showed Americans who loved and chose to live in London. The American characters were not arrogant or tried to outdo their British counterparts. I also liked the fact that they had tried to internationalize the cast rather than make them all British. I liked watching Julia Ormond in an early role. I felt this show should have lasted longer. I felt at times that the previews lasted as long as the show in less than an hour. They could have transferred the cast to New York City and it would have been a hit in America.

I remember this series so well. It was excellent - such strong and compelling characters, stylish and sexy ... and so different to everything else on offer at the time - and now ... I am sure that it inspired the also excellent Canadian drama "Traders".

Both season 1 and season 2 are available on DVD region 2 in the UK. Its a treat to watch the series again.

Season 1 is 13 episodes and season 2 seems to be 10 episodes.

Unfortunately, it seems to have ended after 2 seasons.

This series was a lot of fun.

Sometimes you can get it on special at Amazon.co.uk

An amazing series which showcases the early acting talents of Douglas Hodge, William Armstrong (1), Jason Isaacs and Trevyn McDowell to name a few of the stars. Unfortunately it only had a relatively short run but in the 12/13 episodes the audience quickly becomes captivated by the antics and lives of a group of bankers and traders in Shane Longman, a modern snazzy bank in London. If the re-runs ever come back on - it is a "must-see"!

'Capital City' fans rejoice! This first season of this series is now available from Network DVD and I've recently got my copy! Although very much an ensemble piece of key 'maverick' trading floor characters 'CAPITAL CITY' does present us with various moments through both its first and second season when each member of the team plays a significant part in a particular central or peripheral plot line. The cultural mix (English, Irish, American, German, Polish) of Head Trader Wendy Foley's (played by Joanna Phillips-Lane) group of staff is balanced with their own distinctive mannerisms, interests and personalities which helps to make the rather unfamiliar and, to most people, seemingly sterile subject of financial trading reasonably engaging through the engaging performances of the cast. In fact this seemingly dynamic young team of employees is in direct contrast to the rather staid and old-fashioned senior management of Shane Longman as represented by Lee Wolf (Richard Le Parmentier) and James Farrell (Denys Hawthorne). I suspect that such an unconventional way of working as employed by Wendy's team would not have become a reality had it not been for youthful reclusive 'free spirit' Peter Longman inheriting his thirty per cent stock in the company from his father and allowed a more trendy, relaxed modern way of business become a reality. To a certain degree Wendy's (I am led to believe) immediate supervisor Leonard Ansen (John Bowe) follows the establishment in the traditional manner of running the company however his fondness for Wendy rather sees him occupying the 'middle ground' on most occasions. The main interest in the series, I believe, stems from the simmering romantic attraction between Douglas Hodge's Declan and the cool self-assured blonde haired German trader Michelle Hauptmann (played by Trevyn McDowell) which had viewers continually wondering if the situation between these two colleagues would develop beyond the close friendship/fondness that they undoubted have.

Looking forward to browsing through this title, and hopefully the second season of thirteen won't be too far away!

Thankfully both series 1 & 2 are available on DVD and I have them both. At the time it was first shown on TV it was riveting to watch, very gritty, but it had the sparkle and fizz of the 80's London yuppies. I remember the 80's yuppy traders and ironically worked close to where the Shane-Longman building was in the new Broadgate development in London. They used Lehman's offices. It was next door to Liverpool Street Station. I once saw Douglas Hodge at London Marylebone station helping a blind man to his train. He even wore a Declan style trenchcoat in real life.

When I watch the show now on DVD it looks a little dated, mostly because the production quality was sadly lacking but the acting was first class and it really gave you a glimpse into the World of the 80's yuppies.

It could have had a longer run, but as I understand it, not enough people watched it, which killed it off. My understanding is that they wanted to scrap it after the first series, but they made a second after being inundated with letters of support for a series 2. I don't think the writers were adventurous enough and that added to insufficient viewers for Series 2 sealed its fate.

I have to agree with the other comment. This series had me spellbound from beginning to end and yet no one seems to ever have heard of it. It is a must see and I wish it would come out on DVD.

I found the characters excellent and cast extremely well. You see some of them from time to time. The story was powerful and really well done. Hats off to those that wrote it and put it all together.

The pressure portrayed in the series was fantastic. You agonized with the characters all the way through. I never saw the series in England but it must have been big there. It certainly was in the colonies.

Again, bring it out on DVD.

Shane-Longman, a mid-size, up-and-coming investment banking house in The City (akin to WallStreet) in London prides itself on its youthfull staff, and an uncanny ability to come through innovative, yet more than usual unconventional financial solutions. Although all the characters in the series come to the spotlight at one point, some might say the series resolves around the relationship of the two primary characters Declan McConnachie, a young, high-riding trader on the primaries desk, and Michelle Hauptmann, a vibrant trader with Shane's German branch, who is temporarily located in England. This series features some other notable actors like Rolf Saxon as the American attorney Hudson Talbot the Third, along with an apprehensive, and almost timid Saira Todd, playing Hillary Rollinger, a new trader, who comes under the wing of Michelle Hauptmann. Who would've thought that Saira Todd would later play a key role in Channel 4's "Queer as Folk!" Through the series, topics such as stress, drug-abuse, insider trading, homosexuality, and black-market trading are addressed through the experiences of the staff. In the United States, this series was originally distributed to PBS stations in the mid 1990s via the Program Resource Group. I eagerly await the series reruns.

As an ex pat Brit now living in Canada I was and indeed am a huge fan of Capital City. So much so in fact that I have both series one and series two of the show on VHS, taped back when it was first shown in the late 80's. To my Aussie friend who's comments are above I can only say..*you're in luck* because in fact there are 26 episodes of the show. Having said that of course how you are going to get to see the others I don't know. I can't understand why the producers don't release the entire series on DVD... there's a load of absolute old rubbish out there so why a great show like this hasn't been exploited I can't understand. Following the lives and exploits of a group of city bond traders, everything about the show was fantastic from the writing to the performances, and especially the production values. It was also the first TV appearance of many many now famous faces. Julia Ormond (First Knight and Sabrina), Clive Owen (Closer), Louise Lombard (Hidalgo and lately CSI)... and of course the utterly gorgeous Jason Issacs who is perhaps best known to American audiences as the hideously slimy Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series. Unfortunately in-spite of all this talent the show's popularity suffered as a result of a sudden downturn in the British economy. Since it's plot lines and characters were inextricably identified with the excesses of the *loads-a-money* 1980's, the advent of a new decade, (and public attitude to money) saw its demise. Which is a terrible shame. I highly recommend the show, and also its close compatriot Chancer, which shared a lot of the same themes and the same high production values. And which of course gave a first starring role the above mentioned and equally gorgeous Clive Owen. If ever the James Bond people had an easy decision to make... SURELY this is the one. How can they not have already handed the man the role he was born to play.!! Watch the two seasons of Chancer, (which I believe in the UK at least ARE available on DVD), and you'll see what I mean.

I also saw this by chance on the CBC and loved it, but their run was too short and I'm sure I missed the last few episodes. Canada's "Traders" drama TV series reminded me of it and thankfully lasted for several years... maybe even better as it really had time to grow into its own. Capital City showed "The City" of London (the financial district) in the heady days after "big bang" (deregulation) and had some great plot lines, characters and typically English take on life there. The mix of Americans, Europeans, etc... only added to a great and colourful cast. Bring on the DVD!

There was a similar movie called "Dealers" with Rebecca DeMornay and Paul McGann that also showed life in "the City", complete with egomaniacs, slippery traders and the lifestyles of the traders, and so-called 'Masters of the Universe'. If you like the financial/Wall Street type of genre you will enjoy it as well.

Series set in a trading room of a bank (Shane-Longman) dealing with the financial goings-on, but, of course, the personal lives of the people involved.

I remember it as very good, and never knew why it only ran for 2 seasons.

I watched this series regularly for about 3 months while I was in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was on the Star(?)TV Satellite network. That was in 1994. As I remember it, it was a great series and was obviously very captivating. This series is very well written and very entertaining. In some ways, the series reminds me of LaFemme Nakita, or the short lived series "The Consulate" or something like that about a US consulate in London. Someone should work toward finding the originals of this series and make copies available on videotape or even better yet, DVD's. If you have any news about this series returning to TV or becoming available via C-band satellite, please e-mail me Thanks.