Sex, drugs, partying and 120-hour working weeks: How true to life IS hit finance show Industry? Bankers reveal all as BBC series returns

BBC drama Industry depicts the world of banking as a pressure cooker plagued by backstabbing, rampant drug taking and affairs - but how true is it to reality?

Real-life bankers have shared their views on the so-called 'Younger Succession', which returns for a much anticipated third season today.

The show follows five young graduates who are competing for permanent positions at Pierpoint & Co, a prestigious investment bank in London.

While the drama is fictional, it is inspired by co-creator Konrad Kay's three-year stint at a US investment bank and claims to depict the 'unrelenting world of high-finance'.

One financial services worker with nearly a decade of experience of working in the City today told MailOnline that the show covered 'realistic themes'.

'The us versus them situation between seniors and juniors is definitely something you see in real life,' he said.

'And you also have a lot of people being out of their depth and having to hide their inadequacies, like you see in the show.

'One inaccuracy was a scene where you saw a junior making a big mistake and their boss trying to fight for them. In reality they'd just be sacked.'

The source said they had seen colleagues taking drugs and having illicit affairs, even if other aspects of the banking lifestyle depicted in the show were less accurate.

'I saw plenty of cases of people cheating on their partners on nights out and you do see drug taking on nights out,' they said.

'People think banking is glamorous when they're doing training out in New York but it very quickly loses its shine.

'In reality you are doing very long hours and spending evenings at your desk. But there's not much shouting in the office - the atmosphere is fairly civil.'

However, another young banker who has worked at a string of investment banks in London insisted the reality of the job was 'much more boring than it seems'.

'There are never any drugs in the office or at work events,' she told MailOnline.

'I'm sure some people do drugs in their own time, but you'll never see people doing coke or anything like that.

'In the office itself people rarely shout at each other, and there is a huge focus on compliance all the time.

'Of course people have relationships, but they usually have to be declared to avoid any conflicts of interest.

'Believe me - it really is much more boring in reality than what it looks like on TV.'

Working conditions at investment banks are notoriously brutal, with some reporting 120-hour weeks over six days.

But salaries remain eye popping, with first-year analysts at the top end of the pay scale earning an average £85,000 in London, according to recruitment firm Pearse Partners.

This was in addition to a 60 per cent bonus, which brought their total take-home pay to £136,000.

Juniors are also entitled to a series of perks, including ordering takeaways and cabs home.

Even so, younger Gen Z workers are increasingly shunning the tough conditions and either fighting bosses for a better work-life balance or leaving the industry altogether.

Meagan Loyst, 27, who left university five years ago, 'nearly' ended up as an analyst before switching to venture capital instead.

She told the Telegraph that all her friends in banking had already quit.

Lamidé Elizabeth, 26, who joined JP Morgan as an intern during the pandemic, likened investment banking as a 'battle of wills'.

'I definitely had a couple of times where I had to go to the bathroom and just cry for a bit,' she said, describing 'very, very tight deadlines'.

She summarised the ethos of the industry as: 'Are you strong enough to join the elite group of people? Can you keep up with the best of the best?...

'They are able to withstand it, and if you can't withstand it, then you're probably just not good enough.'

In season three, Pierpoint looks to the future and takes a big bet on ethical investing, as the company becomes involved with Lumi, a green tech energy company.

Game of Thrones star Kit Harrington takes the reins on the company, playing British aristocrat Lord Henry Muck, described as the embodiment of 'old money' privilege.

Yasmin (Marisa Abela), Robert (Harry Lawtey), and Eric (Ken Leung) will find themselves front and centre at Lumi's IPO.

Meanwhile, since leaving Pierpoint, Harper (Myha'la) is eager to get back into the addictive thrill of finance and finds an unlikely partner in FutureDawn portfolio manager Petra Koenig (Sarah Goldberg).

The show - which is created, written, and executively produced by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay - is a Bad Wolf Production for HBO and the BBC.

British fans were put on the backburner for season two, waiting almost two months longer for the release, according to Virgin Radio.

It's a scheduling difference that the show has followed for its third season, with the BBC not confirming a specific date for Industry series three to reach UK screens, despite it currently airing in America.

While the series continues to show steamy scenes, the BBC decided not to air a scene showing an erect penis amid the sex scandals involving their presenters.

In the first episode of the third series, viewers could have seen the private parts of Charles Hanani, the father of main character Yasmin who is portrayed by Marisa Abela.

Charles is her billionaire scammer dad who is portrayed by RADA-trained actor Adam Levy, 53.

He will be seen having sex in his yacht with a blonde woman in the first two minutes of the first episode. However, the BBC has confirmed that they decided against using that explicit version.