Back in 2020, a new drama about a group of postgraduate bankers trying to make their way in London’s high-finance scene first aired on TV. At the time, the biggest story around the joint HBO and BBC series Industry was that the first episode was directed by Girls creator Lena Dunham.
Initially, the show failed to make that much of a splash on either side of the pond, earning a miniscule viewership. But, six years on and with the fourth series kicking off last weekend, the outlook is very different: ratings improved by 40% between seasons two and three, and it was moved to a plum Sunday night slot on HBO, while its stars are gracing magazine covers. Certainly, no-one could have predicted back then just how buzzy it would become – or just how macabre.Â
From the beginning, Industry always offered the superficial glamour of 20-somethings partying and hooking up in fancy locations, but that was curdled by the toxic workplace culture they found themselves in, in which horrific behaviour – bullying, misogyny, harassment and sexual assault, amongst other things – seemed to be completely normalised.Â