Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away!

Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away!
Genre	Factual
Starring	Paul Bohill Steve Pinner Ben Pinner Brian O'Shaughnessy Delroy Angelin Stewart McCracken Iain Taylor Elmore Victor Graham Aldred Kevin Stokes Phil Short Mike Allonby Terry Jones Steve Wood
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	37 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company(s)	Brinkworth Films
Release
Original network	Channel 5
Picture format	576i (16:9 SDTV)
Original release	24 February 2014 – present
External links
Website

Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! is a factual/reality documentary series on Channel 5, following the work of High Court Enforcement Officers (also known as Sheriffs) as they execute High Court writs up and down the country, on those who have failed to make repayments on a debt or refuse to vacate a property. The series was first broadcast on February 24, 2014, and four series of the programme have been broadcast to date.

Production

The series has been broadcast Channel 5 since February 24, 2014. Their brief of the series says; "With exclusive access to some of the most experienced High Court enforcement bailiffs and repossession teams in the country, this series is an eye-opening insight into cash-strapped Britain from the perspectives of debtors, creditors and debt collectors. Produced by Brinkworth Films, the series and its various spin-offs reveal what it means to be a creditor who cannot get back what they are owed, what it is like to be saddled with debt that you are simply unable to repay and what it takes to be the kind of person who can pay but refuses to do so. Cameras capture the daily hassle of dealing with violent confrontations, tearful debtors, downright liars and genuine cases of hardship. Then there are the debtors, many of whom have some distressing tales to tell of how they got into the situation in the first place. No one wants their possessions confiscated, after all. The result is a unique insight into one of the biggest issues facing those who cannot afford to keep paying the bills."

Episode list

Series 1 (2014)

The first series introduces five initial cast members: Paul Bohill, Steve Pinner, Mike Allonby, Terry Jones, and Steve Wood. The day after the broadcast of the first programme, Allonby died aged 47 at his home in Wales. Both Jones and Wood subsequently only appeared in the first series, with Bohill and Pinner the only two cast members who went on to appear in series two. The first three episodes became the most watched programme on the channel that week, with episodes four and five placing at second and third, respectively.

Episode	Title	Written by	Directed by	Viewers (millions)	Original airdate
1	"Episode 1"	TBA	TBA	2.06m	24 February 2014
Mike and Terry head to Liverpool to seize a Renault Clio from a debtor who has refused to pay his bill, but the debtor suddenly becomes violent. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend the eviction of an army veteran whose other outstanding debts have resulted in the repossession of his house, and later to Slough to deal with a troublesome family of sitting tenants who refuse to believe the powers of the high court.
2	"Episode 2"	TBA	TBA	2.19m	3 March 2014
Mike and Terry travel to Cheshire to seize a vehicle from a woman who owes several hundred pounds on a loan, and Mike shows his softer side. Later, they head to Liverpool to recover a vehicle which the owner has failed to keep up the repayments for, and find his son very co-operative. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend an eviction in East London in the week leading up to Christmas, but find a friend house-sitting for the absent debtor. Later, they head to Essex to track down the tenants of a country estate who owe their landlord more than £10,000 - but have since disappeared.
3	"Episode 3"	TBA	TBA	1.88m	10 March 2014
Paul and Steve are tasked to evict a vulnerable pair of hoarders, whose cost of damage to the property is being added onto their debt. Later, they attend the eviction of a young woman with a child, who has failed to keep up with her rent payments, and has fallen to arrears, and also find that a writ to seize a taxi has been made out to the wrong man, but under law, are forced to serve the writ anyway. Meanwhile, Steve Wood has to repossess a classic corner shop, but finds that the condition of the property may cause more problems for the landlord.
4	"Episode 4"	TBA	TBA	1.55m	17 March 2014
Paul and Steve attend an eviction of a house with poor living conditions, but have a decision to make when the eviction runs into nightfall. On their travels, they evict two groups of tenants from a house which the landlord is looking to renovate, but one family are not being very co-operative; attempt to reclaim more than £25,000 from a Chinese businessman who has fallen on hard times and is facing bankruptcy; and attend a flat eviction in an expensive area of London, and attempt to secure the tenants a holiday lease allowing them to return.
5	"Final Demand Special"	TBA	TBA	1.69m	8 April 2014
Paul and Steve attend an eviction in Buckinghamshire where the tenant owes more than £26,000 in rent on his country estate residence. Later, they deal with a family of sitting tenants in a £5 million pound house which is due to be demolished by the developers of the site. Meanwhile, we catch up with three previous debtors to see how life has been for them since the programme aired. Cases featured include the violent car owner from episode 1, the woman who defaulted on her loan repayments from episode 2, and the taxi driver who had a writ written out against him instead of his brother from episode 3.

Series 2 (2014)

The second series sees the introduction of five new cast members - Ben Pinner, Brian O'Shaughnessy, Graham Aldred, Iain Taylor and Stuart MacCracken. Paul Bohill and Steve Pinner are the only two returning cast members from the first series. Every episode of the series ranked in the top three most watched programmes on the channel that week.

Episode	Title	Written by	Directed by	Viewers (millions)	Original airdate
1	"Episode 1"	TBA	TBA	1.52m	18 September 2014
Brian and Graham attend an eviction in South London where trouble is expected - but the eviction goes smoothly until they find a Cannabis factory. Later, they visit a Polish Deli to reclaim money on a debt owed to a former supplier, but it's the debtor's wife who has to face their wrath. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend an eviction where a young mother of two is being evicted from her flat, and make an unexpected decision to allow her to stay, and later, they speak to a Freelance employer who is refusing to cough up the unpaid wages of one of his ex-employees, and is still refusing to pay.
2	"Episode 2"	TBA	TBA	1.68m	24 September 2014
Stuart and Iain attempt to reclaim a debt owed by a builder, but are threatened with violence by the man and his friends from the building site. Later, they visit the owner of a pet shop who owes a substantial amount of money to a former supplier, but tries to raise funds to pay the debt. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve deal with the unpaid debt of former professional footballer Neil Ruddock, who owes money to his local dog kennels. Later, they attend the eviction of a school dinner lady who has been given no prior warning of her eviction by her landlord.
3	"Episode 3"	TBA	TBA	1.85m	1 October 2014
Paul and Steve evict a young woman with two children, a task that takes a turn for the worse when her violent ex-partner makes an appearance. Later, they serve a writ on a family who have to pay damages to a former employee, and seize a number of expensive vehicles towards repayment. Meanwhile, Stuart and Iain find themselves in a spot of bother when some angry locals threaten a riot over an unpaid debt at a Liverpool computer shop. Later, they chase down an unemployed decorator who owes more than £3,500 in legal costs, but finds he has no assets to seize and no money.
4	"Episode 4"	TBA	TBA	1.80m	8 October 2014
Brian and Graham head to Wembley, North London to repossess a car owned by a man who owes more than £3,000 to a telephone communications company. Later, they head to Reading to deal with the owner of a dry-cleaning business who has run up a substantial debt for non-payment of rent. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attempt to reclaim £30,000 in rent arrears from a man described by his tenants as a member of a ruthless and possibly violent gang, and later head to Essex to evict a young mum and her two children for non-payment of rent, but discover that she has nowhere to go.
5	"Episode 5"	TBA	TBA	1.83m	15 October 2014
Paul and Steve head to Essex to evict a family for non-payment of rent, but discover a dispute with the letting agent has led to the eviction. Later, they head to North London to evict a Somalian refugee who speaks very little English from her flat which the landlord is repossessing. Meanwhile, Stuart and Iain are faced with threats of violence when they try to reclaim a debt of over £3,000 against the owner of a minicab business, and later deal with the owner of a car dealership who has to choose between repaying his debt or losing vehicles from his showroom.
6	"Episode 6"	TBA	TBA	1.57m	22 October 2014
Paul, Steve and Ben attempt to evict a gang of squatters taking up residence in a central London office block, but struggle to enter the property. Later, they head to the North London home of a heavily pregnant tenant and her family, whom they are forced to evict due to non-payment of rent. Meanwhile, Stuart and Iain are confronted by the family and friends of a debtor in Surrey, who threaten violence against them if they try to seize any assets. Later, they deal with the owner of a horse riding sanctuary who owes a substantial amount of money to one of her former apprentices.
7	"Episode 7"	TBA	TBA	1.85m	29 October 2014
Paul and Steve make an interesting discovery during an eviction at a flat in London's Docklands, where they find $8.5 million in counterfeit notes. Later, Ben joins Paul as they head to Biggin Hill, Kent, to evict a family which they have been told have no children, only to find six children living at the property. Meanwhile, Brian and Graham find themselves in a spot of bother at Swindon Town Football Club as they try to reclaim money on an unpaid debt for seating, and later hunt for a debtor whose business is in the centre of a storage unit facility, but the manager refuses to allow them entry.
8	"Episode 8"	TBA	TBA	1.63m	5 November 2014
Paul and Ben are called in to evict squatters from a residential property, but it soon becomes clear that the property is being used as a brothel. Later, Steve joins Paul to evict a woman living a property which has already been sold by the landlord, although she has nowhere to go. Later, they attend a flat in East London where they must evict a refugee family who have been seeking new accommodation for several months. Meanwhile, Brian and Graham arrive at a restaurant in north London to collect unpaid rent, but the debtor refuses to pay until Brian starts to remove goods, and later attend a Korean education school to collect unpaid rent, but the debtors make accusations to the police that they have been violent.
9	"Episode 9"	TBA	TBA	1.43m	12 November 2014
Brian and Graham head to a Brighton health spa to speak to seize assets against the debt of £20,000 for unpaid legal costs against the owner. On their travels, they also head to South London to find a man who owes £1,600, but have trouble when his wife tries to throw them off the scent; to Sussex to speak to a young mother who has defaulted on a debt payment plan, where Graham shows his softer side; and to Dunsfold to reclaim money owed to a telephone answering service, but find the debtor about to visit his motherʼs grave.
10	"Episode 10: Eviction Special"	TBA	TBA	1.26m	19 November 2014
Paul and Steve attend an eviction with a twist when they discover that the landlord trying to reclaim the property is the debtor's mother. On their travels, they also attend the eviction of a multi-occupancy house where they find a group of tenants who have issues with their immigration status; are forced to evict a man with a history of mental illness, and call on the help of a local minister to persuade the tenant to leave; and attend the eviction of the last remaining tenant in an apartment block which is currently under renovation by the landlord.

Series 3 (2015)

Cast member Kevin Stokes confirmed on Twitter that the returning cast for the third series was as follows: Paul Bohill, Steve Pinner, Ben Pinner, Stuart MacCracken, Iain Taylor and Brian O'Shaughnessy. New cast members include himself, Dael Angelin, Elmor Victor and Phil Short, who previously appeared in a non-speaking role in series two. Graham Aldred is the only cast member from series two to not be returning for the third series. Every episode in series three placed within the top four most-watched programmes on Channel 5 for each respective week. For eight non-consecutive weeks, it was the most watched programme on the channel. Episode 12 had previously been broadcast on August 4, as part of the "Britain on Benefits" season.

Episode	Title	Written by	Directed by	Viewers (millions)	Original airdate
1	"Final Demand Special"	TBA	TBA	1.35m	14 April 2015
Kevin and Dael serve a writ on a man who owes more than £5,000 for an unpaid bill, but the man turns violent and tries to assault Kevin. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve head up an eviction of a mother and her young daughter, whom Paul is forced to help after the council refuse to step in, and Brian and Kevin play a game of cat and mouse with a debtor when he tries to hide his car in a local pub car park to avoid it being seized.
2	"Episode 1"	TBA	TBA	1.47m	30 September 2015
Brian and Kevin attempt to regain more than £16,000 owed by a travel company. However, one of their employees proves to be less than helpful. Later, they travel to Middlesex looking for £4,500 owed by a computer repair shop, but the manager claims the company have ceased trading. Meanwhile, Stuart and Elmor head to Merseyside to attend the eviction of a tenant with a brain tumour who has been unable to pay the rent on his house, and later attend an eviction with a twist - the tenant is in fact the letting agent and has been living in the house under a false name.
3	"Episode 2"	TBA	TBA	1.38m	7 October 2015
Brian and Kevin head to Surrey to obtain £6,000 owed by former business owners, but during the initial confrontation, Brian is assaulted. Later, Dael joins Brian to chase a debt owed to a vet by the owner of an ill pet, but they discover she does not have any goods worth enough to cover the debt. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend a multi-eviction on a council estate in Barnet, where the tenants are unaware of why they are being made homeless.
4	"Episode 3"	TBA	TBA	1.54m	14 October 2015
Paul and Steve are called to an eviction where the landlord wants to move back into his property, but are greeted by an angry tenant who refuses to leave. Later, they attempt to reclaim more than £11,000 owed by the owners of a family run fish business following a dispute with their neighbours. Meanwhile, Brian and Dael call on a man owing more than £16,000 in maintenance for an aeroplane, but are forced to seize the plane when he is unable to pay the debt. Later, Kevin joins Brian to attend a Turkish restaurant to reclaim £4,500 owed to a company for consultancy fees, but the debtors turn nasty and the police are called.
5	"Episode 4"	TBA	TBA	1.51m	21 October 2015
Paul and Phil head to Kent for an eviction, but when they finally take possession of the house, they discover a full-scale cannabis factory upstairs. Paul later finds himself accused of racism when he and Steve attempt to evict a Kosovan family living in emergency accommodation in North London. Elsewhere, Brian and Dael chase a debt of nearly £3,000 in Hampshire and later attempt to collect almost £5,000 owed by a farmer in Sussex.
6	"Episode 5"	TBA	TBA	1.50m	28 October 2015
Stuart and Elmor deal with a tricky debtor who owes more than £1,000 against a debt previously owed by his small business, Morcambe Textiles. Later, they attempt to collect a debt of £1,600 owed by a self-employed DJ, but discover he may be forced to close his business if he is unable to pay. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend the eviction of a man in Croydon, only to discover that he is on the way to his aunt's funeral, and the council have refused to rehouse him. Later, they deal with a single mother being evicted by her landlady in Hammersmith after amassing more than £11,000 in rent arrears.
7	"Episode 6"	TBA	TBA	1.70m	4 November 2015
Stuart and Elmor attempt to reclaim a debt owed by a single mother, but are forced to deal with the police after they find two children home alone. Later, they attempt to reclaim a debt owed by the owner of a Pizza restaurant, but find themselves being locked inside the premises. Meanwhile, Paul and Phil carry out an eviction of a multi-occupancy property, but encounter problems when they discover it is being run as a brothel. Later, they carry out an eviction in Barnes, North London, where the tenant owes more than £11,000 to the landlord, who is in ill health.
8	"Episode 7"	TBA	TBA	1.63m	11 November 2015
Paul and Steve attend an eviction of a tenant who refuses to move out of her property, despite it already having been sold on by the landlord. Later, Phil joins Paul to turn detective when they arrive an eviction in East London, where they discover the remaining tenant escaping through the back door. Meanwhile, Brian and Kevin deal with a single mother of three who owes a debt of more than £5,000 to a former landlord for damage to his property, and later try to reclaim a debt of over £11,000 owed by a furniture business, but an employee of the company becomes less than helpful.
9	"Episode 8"	TBA	TBA	1.27m	18 November 2015
Stuart and Elmor head to Liverpool for what they expect to be a routine repossession, but instead face the most challenging eviction of their careers. Behind the front door, they find a critically ill two-year-old child with major heart problems, who is on constant life support and unable to breathe without a ventilator. Later, they encounter another family in crisis in Birmingham, where a retired couple who acted as guarantor for their daughter's tenancy are liable to pay over £3,000 after she defaulted. Meanwhile, Brian and Dael chase £2,000 worth of debt owed by a business based in Kent, and recover £4,000 from a recycling business in Buckinghamshire.
10	"Episode 9"	TBA	TBA	1.38m	25 November 2015
Dael and Kevin face a web of deceit in an Italian delicatessen in South London as they chase a huge debt amounting to £29,000. Later, Brian joins Dael to track down a pensioner in Surrey who owes £15,000 for a business he bought four years ago. Meanwhile, Steve and Paul must evict a tenant in North London who has not paid her rent for over 18 months, before heading to Cambridgeshire to make one of their most emotional evictions to date.
11	"Episode 10"	TBA	TBA	1.18m	2 December 2015
Paul and Steve head to Bedfordshire to try to evict a community of travellers who have set up home in a private car park. However, they receive a hostile response and must react to prevent the situation from spiralling out of control. Later, they attempt to evict a Romanian family who stopped paying rent seven months ago. Elsewhere, Stuart and Elmor chase a debt of over £3,000 in Merseyside, before trying to recover £5,000 owed by a forklift truck company after an agreement went sour.
12	"Episode 11"	TBA	TBA	1.42m	9 December 2015
Stuart and Iain head to Nottingham to recover a debt of nearly £3,000 in unpaid rent from a Turkish takeaway. Later, Elmor joins Stuart to hunt down one of their biggest debts of the year - £66,000 owed by a businessman. Paul and Phil head to a flat in East London expecting a routine eviction, but get more than they bargained for when they find dodgy wiring, illegal substances, and two men sleeping in squalid conditions. Meanwhile, Steve and Ben try to evict a tenant in West London who has broken the terms of her lease, but suspect a subletting scam when they find that the three-bedroom semi has been converted into tiny bedsits.
13	"Episode 12: Benefits Special"	TBA	TBA	1.26m	16 December 2015
Paul and Steve attend the eviction of a family who owe more than £12,000 in rent arrears, but the situation turns confrontational when the landlord arrives. Later, they are forced to evict a hard-working young nurse who is desperately seeking a home for her young family through no fault of her own. Meanwhile, Brian and Kevin deal with a single mother whose overall debts come to more than £45,000, but is struggling with any form of repayment, and later meet an aggressive debtor recovering from a brain tumour who refuses to pay his dues, despite owing more than £2,000 to a lawyer.
13	"Episode 13: Christmas Special"	TBA	TBA	1.55m	23 December 2015
The agents grapple with emotional evictions and moral dilemmas as a young family are made homeless, an acrimonious divorce comes to a head, and an off-licence battles to stay open just as everything shuts down for the holidays.

Series 4 (2016)

A fourth series is set to commence broadcasting on April 13, 2016.

Cast Members

• Paul Bohill
• Steve Pinner
• Ben Pinner
• Stewart McCraken
• Iain Taylor

• Brian O'Shaughnessy
• Delroy "Del" Anglin
• Elmore "Vic" Victor
• RuPa "Ru" Barggi
• Alan Hunt

Episode	Title	Written by	Directed by	Viewers (millions)	Original airdate
1	"Episode 1"	TBA	TBA	1.53m	13 April 2016
Stewart and Iain attend the eviction of a young mother with two young children, but when her boyfriend threatens them with violence, they are forced to call the police. Later, they evict a businessman from his flat who owes more than £4,000 in rent, but discover he has been living a life of luxury. Meanwhile, Brian and Del call on a young mother who owes a bill of £2,300 for childcare, but discover she has no means of making payment, and later, visit a bachelor whose ex-girlfriend is trying to reclaim £12,000 for an unpaid credit card bill, but discover she has already taken assets worth more than the outstanding debt.
2	"Episode 2"	TBA	TBA	1.40m	20 April 2016
Stewart and Elmore attempt to recover a debt of £2,700 owed by the owner of a garage, but find themselves in a stand-off which quickly turns to violence when the debtor tries to ram them off the property using a pickup truck. Later, they call on a student nurse who owes £750 on a payday loan, who has defaulted on her repayments. Meanwhile, Steve and Ben are forced to evict an elderly couple who are struggling to keep up with the rent on their three bedroom semi in Isleworth, and later, Paul joins Steve to chase down a £30,000 debt owed by the Lotus F1 racing team to one of their former suppliers.
3	"Episode 3"	TBA	TBA	1.52m	27 April 2016
Stewart and Iain attend an eviction in Manchester, but on arrival, find the scene crawling with police. A stand-off between the landlord and his tenants then ensues, with some serious threats being made. Later, they call upon a young single parent who is being evicted by her landlord after failing to pay her rent for six months. Meanwhile, Brian and Del attempt to reclaim £3,000 owed to a letting agent, but discover the debtor is an elderly woman claiming disability benefit, and later, they try to reclaim £2,700 owed to an employer after they mistakenly overpaid a former employee, but find themselves forced to seize goods when the debtor refuses to pay.
4	"Episode 4"	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA
This episode has yet to be aired. It was due for broadcast on 4 May, but was replaced with a broadcast of episode 5. In this episode, Paul and Steve are confronted with a serious case of mould when making an eviction; Steve and Ben uncover a sub-let scam involving a tenant who owes £14,000; and Brian and Del attempt to reclaim money owed to a van rental business.
5	"Episode 5"	TBA	TBA	1.63m	4 May 2016
Paul and Ben attend the eviction of a tenant suffering from a mental health disorder, but are met with a frosty reception. Brian and Del call upon a man who owes a personal debt of £1,900, but he claims to have no prior knowledge of the debt and doesn't even know the claimant. Later, they call upon a taxi firm who owe nearly £3,000 to a supplier. Having previously settled half of the debt with Stewart and Iain, Brian and Del are forced to return after the debtor defaulted on his repayments. Finally, Steve and new trainee Ru attend an eviction in Portsmouth, but the situation becomes heated when the angry homeowners decide to clear out their entire house onto the pavement outside.
6	"Episode 6"	TBA	TBA	1.71m	11 May 2016
Stewart and Elmore attempt to reclaim a £3,000 debt owed by the owner of a dog kennel business, but when they arrive, Stewart is threatened and angrily confronted by the debtor's dad. Steve and Ben find themselves caught in the emotional eviction of a refugee, who appears to speak very little english. After the eviction, they become concerned for her welfare and try to track her down. Stewart and Elmore try to find a debtor who owes £2,000 for an engine he bought on Ebay, but he tries to outsmart the agents by claiming he knows the law better than they do, before Paul and Steve are forced to break into the property of a tenant who owes nearly £8,000 in unpaid rent.
7	"Episode 7"	TBA	TBA	TBA	25 May 2016
Paul, Steve, Stewart and Elmore are faced with a potentially volatile situation when they are forced to evict a large scale traveller community in Birmingham, and soon find themselves under attack from children living on the site. Brian and Del attempt to reclaim a £6,000 owed by a jeweller in Hatton Garden, but he tries to claim that the business which owns the debt is no longer trading. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve find themselves in the middle of a tenancy dispute when they try to evict a man and his partner who owe their landlord more than £4,000 in unpaid rent, while Brian and Del visit a debtor who owes nearly £4,000 to a former customer of his web design business.
8	"Episode 8"	TBA	TBA	TBA	18 May 2016
Paul and Steve evict a tenant who owes more than £8,000 in rent arrears, but discover her property has been sub-let and that she has multiple occupants living there. Brian and Alan attempt to reclaim more than £7,000 from a drainage firm who owe money to a former supplier, but discover the debtor has very few assets to offset the debt. Paul and Steve then attend an eviction in North London, where the tenant has been behind on her rent for nearly six years - but to their surprise find a menagerie of electrical goods including TVs, Laptops, games consoles and designer clothing. Brian and Del try to reclaim £38,000 owed by a cafe owner in unpaid rent.
9	"Episode 9: Big Family Bust Up Special"	TBA	TBA	TBA	30 May 2016
Stewart and Elmore attempt to reclaim a debt of £6,500 owed by a self-employed builder, but are confronted by his angry parents, who claim that none of the goods in the house belong to him. Meanwhile, Paul and Steve attend an eviction in Tottenham, but are faced with one of their most heartbreaking evictions ever, when the council refuse to provide emergency housing for a mother and her three young children, forcing Paul to take drastic action. Stuart and Elmore then head to Wales in an attempt to reclaim an unpaid debt owed by a plumber, but are forced to seize and remove goods when the debtor makes no attempt to even communicate with the agents.
10	"Episode 10: Secrets and Lies Special"	TBA	TBA	TBA	6 June 2016

External links

• Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! (Channel 5)
• Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! (My5)
• Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! (Brinkworth Films)
• Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away! at IMDb
• Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away! at Radio Times