The Hothouse: Reps
The Hothouse is a series of eight dramas and documentaries being screened on ITV1 in the
North East from 22 July 2003. Tyne Tees Television has co-financed the £225,000 project with
Northern Film and Media with support from One North East and it is hoped scripts and formats
showcased in the series will be picked up by Network and film commissioners.
Actor-comedian Bradley Walsh stars as a ruthless sales manager in a cautionary tale about the
cut-throat world of high pressure kitchen selling broadcast Thursday 4 September at 10:30pm.
The star plays Arnie - the unscrupulous boss of a fictional kitchen company - in the comedy
drama Reps. He recruits a trio of trainees, Anthony (Elliott Jordan), Jamie (Michael Imerson)
and Rick (Mark Stobbart) by promising them big money.
The story - shot on Tyneside - follows them out of training and onto the streets in a series
of misadventures that culminates in their first sale. Jennifer Ness (Bad Girls) plays Melanie,
the company’s best 'closer' (slang for rep) who teaches Anthony that if he wants to get the
success promised to him by Arnie, the first thing he has to do is close down his morals.
Writer/director Andy Ross from Sunderland developed the idea after studying sales techniques
and working at one stage as a kitchen salesman himself.
Executive producer for Tyne Tees Television Graeme Thompson said: 'We have to hope that none
of us encounter salesmen as unscrupulous as Arnie and his gang! Bradley Walsh turns in a
bravura performance and gets great support from the young cast.'
Reps is an IMP Production for Tyne Tees Television
