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2023 Netflix film Bank of Dave was a triumph of what you’d call ‘not letting the truth get in the way of a good story’. It was a good story, about a working class Northern hero standing up to snooty Southern toffs to provide for his community, and that community uniting to help him do it. There was a sweet romance, there were rousing courtroom scenes, and it was all capped off by a blistering fundraising concert by local band Def Leppard.
How much of it was real? Premise aside, not much. That’s why the film came with the caption “Based on a true(ish) story” (if only Netflix had done the same for Baby Reindeer, the streamer could have avoided a defamation lawsuit).
Played by Rory Kinnear in the films, Burnley businessman Dave Fishwick is as real as they come, and he did indeed fight the FSA to try to open a Burnley community bank, the profits of which would go to local charities. But unlike in the film, Fishwick’s proposed “Bank of Dave” didn’t win regulatory approval to operate as a bank, and has technically been an “independent lending company” since 2011. (In real life, the sign outside Fishwick’s Burnley Savings and Loans town centre premises reads as slogan “Bank on Dave” instead of the fictional title “Bank of Dave” as seen in the 2023 film – note that the angle of the real-life photos at the end of the feature doesn’t show the full sign).
The first film’s fundraising Def Leppard concert was also fictional, as were the characters of lawyer Hugh (Joel Fry) and doctor Alexandra (Phoebe Dynevor). Dave Fishwick’s fight to simplify banking for the people of Burnley though, is absolutely real and was documented in a three-part Channel 4 series in 2012.
Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger
Spoiler warning: Bank of Dave 2 plot details below
Netflix’s Bank of Dave was such a hit that it’s now spawned a sequel: Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger from the same writer and director team Piers Ashworth and Chris Foggin. In it, Dave responds to community outcry over the unethical methods of payday loan companies who exploit impoverished people.
Film-Dave goes viral online with a series of videos showing him taking on local people’s payday loans and attempting to repay them in cash. Unable to find occupied premises or any way to transact with these firms in person, his videos highlight payday loan companies’ approach of getting vulnerable people on the hook and keeping them there accruing interest – sometimes at a rate of over 1,000% – for as long as possible.
In the film, Dave targets the founder of one company in particular “Quick Dough”, which is backed by New Jersey criminal Carlo Mancini (played by Catastrophe’s Rob Delaney). After Mancini’s operatives frame the Bank of Dave for money laundering, Dave fights the charges in court and eventually wins an extradition order for Mancini to be charged back in the UK, which he serves in person before making a quick getaway via Def Leppard’s private jet.
All of which has fans asking the same question: how much of this second “true(ish) story” really happened?
Are Payday Lender “Quick Dough” and Carlo Mancini Real?
No, but fictional companies Quick Dough and Snap Cash Advance are inspired by real payday loan companies such as Wonga, Payday UK, Payday Express and Ladder Loans, while Rob Delaney’s fictional character of Carlo Mancini was invented to stand for the individuals backing such companies from countries other than the UK.
There’s no record of Dave Fishwick being framed for money laundering or serving an extradition order to anybody, but his campaign against companies like the since-dissolved Wonga certainly raised public and political awareness in the run-up to governmental reforms that led to many such companies being dissolved. He did make a series of videos showing him taking on people’s payday loans and attempting to repay them at various premises, and travelled to the US in an attempt to track down the people behind the payday loan companies. Legislation was passed in 2014 which forced Wonga and others to pay compensation claims to customers who were sent faked solicitor letters, and to write off loans they’d made to clients who had no means of repaying them.
Did Def Leppard Smuggle Dave Out of the US in a Private Jet?
Unsurprisingly, no. Speaking to Kat Deeley on ITV’s This Morning in January 2025, Fishwick explained: “That bit is slightly magical.” There was no Def Leppard concert at the MetLife Stadium, and no smuggling Dave out of the country disguised as a bit of musical equipment. That all evolved out of Dave’s fandom of the band.
However, that really was Def Leppard in both films, and the band did film karaoke scenes singing “Stand By Me” at Burnley music venue The Talbot for the movie sequel.
Who Played Themselves in Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger?
Aside from the members of Def Leppard, This Morning presenters Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond had cameos as themselves, as well as BBC Lancashire radio DJ Graham Liver, on whose phone-in show Dave is seen appearing.
Two other cameos to look out for are by the real Dave Fishwick, who is credited as playing one of Mancini’s henchmen in the New Jersey-set scenes, and who also appears along with wife Nicky (both wearing wigs) in the background of the sequel’s final karaoke scenes.
Bank of Dave: The Musical
What next for the Dave Fishwick story? A stage musical is in the works, with original songs being written about Dave’s original banking campaign and the town of Burnley. After that, speaking to ITV’s This Morning in January 2025, Fishwick hasn’t ruled out the possibility of another Netflix sequel.
You can also see the 2014 Channel 4 documentary that inspired the sequel on Netflix from January 15.
Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger is out now on Netflix.
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