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James Cromwell (Six Feet Under, 24, W, LA Confidential), James Bolam (New Tricks), Ben Daniels (Law And Order: UK, The Passion), Michael Landes (Love Soup, Material Girl) and Corey Johnson (Spooks, United 93, The Bourne Ultimatum) will star in The Last Days Of Lehman Brothers, a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Drama Production for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two.

A work of fiction inspired by the real events that took place on the weekend of 12 September 2008, The Last Days Of Lehman Brothers tells the story of what happened the weekend that Lehman's Bank went to the wall.

Executive Producer Ruth Caleb (Short Stay In Switzerland, Born Equal, Judge John Deed) says: "In the year following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, writer Craig Warner has written a very engaging script inspired by those events.

"We are also very fortunate that we have an exceptional cast, including James Cromwell, Ben Daniels and James Bolam to bring those events to life."

By Friday 12 September 2008 confidence in the American bank Lehman Brothers had plunged.

Its clearing bank was demanding more collateral, its attempts to raise money from a Korean bank had stalled and credit agencies warned that, if it did not raise more capital, it would be downgraded.

The heads of Wall Street's biggest investment banks were summoned to an evening meeting by the US Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson (James Cromwell), to discuss the plight of another – Lehman Brothers.

After six months' turmoil in the world's financial markets, Lehman Brothers was on life support and the government was about to pull the plug.

Lehman CEO, Dick Fuld (Corey Johnson), recently sidelined in a boardroom coup, spends the weekend desperately trying to resuscitate his beloved company through a merger with Bank of America or UK-based Barclays.

But without the financial support of Paulson and Lehman's fiercest competitors, Fuld's empire – and with it, the stability of the world economy – teeters on the verge of extinction.

The Last Days Of Lehman Brothers (1 x 60-minutes) was written by Craig Warner (Maxwell, The Queen's Sister) for transmission on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two this autumn.

It also stars Alex Jennings (The Queen, The State Within), William Hope (Aliens, Sherlock Holmes), Michael Brandon (Dead Man Weds, Dempsey And Makepeace) and Peter Polycarpou (Holby City, Empathy).

It was commissioned by Janice Hadlow, Controller, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two, and Ben Stephenson, Controller, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Drama Commissioning.

The director is Michael Samuels (Caught In A Trap, The Curse Of Steptoe) and the producer is Lisa Osborne (Little Dorrit).

TD

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