The Bank of Dave films are beloved – here’s why
Share:
The films loosely based on Dave Fishwick’s real-life quest to set up his own bank have got Netflix viewers hooked. Katie Rosseinsky explores the secrets to their success. It’s a real underdog story. A bloke from Burnley, who’s made millions selling minibuses, discovers that the big banks are no longer willing to lend money to his friends, neighbours and customers following the financial crisis. So he decides to set up a small bank that will allow him to do just that, offering decent interest, cheap loans and pouring profits back into his community. After going up against City fat cats, he pulls it off. Now, about a decade after the rest of the UK met Dave Fishwick in a Channel 4 documentary about his efforts to launch his bank, the Lancastrian minibus magnate is reigning supreme over the Netflix charts.
![[Rory Kinnear as Dave Fishwick is the glue that holds the films together]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/14/BOD2_2024-03-04_DAY-8-_LP_0830_997A3599_RT.jpg)
In 2023, the streamer released Bank of Dave, a movie based on Fishwick’s story with Rory Kinnear in the lead role, which immediately topped its UK most-viewed charts. That year, it cropped up in Google’s annual list of the most-searched films, alongside blockbusters like Oppenheimer and Barbie. Last week, a “true-ish” sequel in which Fishwick battles against payday lenders arrived on Netflix; its title, inevitably, is Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger. It’s already reached the top spot.
![[Rob Delaney plays a pantomime-worthy villain in ‘Bank of Dave 2’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/14/newFile-3.jpg)
When I opened my Netflix app last night, a huge, grinning image of Kinnear was staring back at me. Banking on Dave has clearly paid off for the streamer. Just as the real Dave vanquished his detractors at the big banks and emerged victorious, so this relatively unassuming Britcom has punched well above its weight to become a staggering success. So how has the tale of a straight-talking northern entrepreneur managed to grab our collective attention over showier, bigger budget fare?.
