Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger true story – how accurate is the Netflix sequel?

Kinnear recently explained to RadioTimes.com that he could see some similarities between Fishwick and another working class hero whose story has been told in a high-profile screen project – Alan Bates – and it will certainly be interesting to see if this new film can have an effect close to that achieved by the monumentally impactful Mr Bates vs The Post Office last year.

Of course, although it was based on a true story – or at least a "true-ish story" as early on-screen text reads – the first Bank of Dave film notably took a few liberties with the truth, inventing characters, embellishing details and even finding a way to fit classic rock band Def Leppard into the narrative.

So is that the case with the sequel as well?

Read on for everything you need to know about the true story behind Bank of Dave 2 and which parts of the film were embellished - including exclusive insights from the real Dave Fishwick and the film's cast.

Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger true story

As with the first film, Bank of Dave 2 is billed as a true-ish story – meaning that once again it plays a little fast and loose with the truth.

For example, several of the characters that appear in the movie – including Chrissy Metz's investigative journalist and Amit Shah's local Citizen's Advice counsellor Oliver – are not based on specific real people, while Rob Delaney's loan shark Carlo Mancini is also not an actual person and QuickDough and Snapcash Advance are fictional companies

Of course, none of this is to downplay Dave's commendable work. The real story – which was previously told in a documentary, also called The Loan Ranger, which will arrive on Netflix on Wednesday 15th January – did indeed see Dave and his team run into difficulties when he went after payday lenders, with his campaign eventually playing a big role in persuading the UK government to introduce new regulation.

And as a closing card in the film reveals, as many as 50 of the biggest payday loan companies have since gone bust, owing at least partly to Dave's work (one of those companies was Wonga, which had been a key target for Dave).

But most of the film's third act, which leans more and more into genre cinema territory including shady henchmen, bold extradition orders and even a daring escape from New York with the help of Dave's beloved Def Leppard, is pure fiction.

Still, Fishwick has explained that despite the liberties that have been taken, the new film actually has rather more in common with the true story than the first one did.

"Well, on the first one, there was obviously slightly more Hollywood magic, if you will, sprinkled on it," he said. "Because it was the first one, and everybody didn’t know what to expect.

"The second one is hugely more real, because myself and David Henshaw, my right-hand man – he's the bank manager of the Bank of Dave [and] he's been with me right from the beginning – we went after them for real, and we dug a lot of people out of spirals of debt."

He continued: "And when we went after the payday loans, that's real. The origination of payday loans is all in America. So we went after them in America for real. And [then] they came after me back. They really tried some dirty tricks and… it's very similar to the movie.

"It was very important that we put in a lot of what really happened. We went after the payday loans, and we went knocking on the doors where we thought the addresses were, because I tried to pay them back what customers owed to them, and they just wouldn't take my calls so I went after them.

"So me and David H went down to London, buzzing on all the doors. And they were just cupboards with PO boxes on them that related to America. So in the end, I had to go to America!

"These are bad people, you know, they're the worst of the worst, but what this does is it allows us to shine this magnificent torch called Netflix on the top of this problem of 54 banks closing every month, meaning that there's no access to cash for people, there's 15,000 cash machines free to use gone.

"So it's the rise and rise of the loan shark... and I'm going to see if I can get as many as I can shut down. So what this movie does is fun. It's entertaining. It's a feel-good story, but it's real and it has real purpose."

Meanwhile, Fishwick also revealed that he wanted to ensure a level of accuracy when choosing locations for the new film. He convinced Netflix to use a real pub that he regularly frequents in Burnley as a major location in the film, while several scenes were also shot in his actual home.

New cast member Chrissy Metz – best known for her role in This Is Us – might be playing one of the film's fictional characters, but she was especially keen to shine a light on the work of both Dave and his wife Nicky, who she calls "unsung heroes".

She explained: "They're having a light shining on them about something that... you know, people get overlooked all the time, and to give back to the community that you work and live in, I think, is so special.

"And then also to shine a light on the payday loans, like I didn't realise you know how much the interest rates were. I mean, I have taken payday loans out, even for headshots, and I remember thinking, oh my goodness, I'm going to be paying so much money for $300 headshots. I'm going to be end up paying, like, $3,000 at the end.

"And so I really could relate to that, because I've experienced it, but on such a massive scale – I just thought, like, oh my gosh, this is so important."

And Jo Hartley – who plays Nicky – hopes that even if the film includes some fictional elements, it might alert some people to the very real dangers of payday loans that are still out there.

"Hopefully it would stop the people from using those kinds of institutions and entities or whatever they are," she said.

"I was watching quite a lot of stuff on YouTube. And you know, if people are really struggling to get money alone, they're going to try and do what they can, and then they get caught up in the system where they can't even pay back. It's a really nasty system. So hopefully the film will highlight it."

Meanwhile, speaking about why some of the film was not based entirely on the facts, Kinnear explained: "I guess the fact that you have that documentary in existence means that it's quite easy to find out the origin story, as it were.

"And we're not hiding the fact that part of this story is embellished. But if you go back to those documentaries, you will see that, you know, 75 per cent of the film is based in the truth. And I guess you also want to make sure that people watch it and are transported, and that these are meant to be transporting, diverting, inspiring films – rather than just necessarily fact-based documentaries."

Bank of Dave 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

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