Flesh and Blood

Flesh and Blood sets two respectable tradesmen in the crosshairs. A butcher and a local pathologist find themselves the targets of harassment, and Inspector Kate Longton's suspicion settles on animal rights activists who have crossed the line from protest to persecution. The episode is about where conviction stops being principled and starts being criminal. Butcher and pathologist: the pairing is odd enough to be deliberate, and the episode knows it.

John Stratton's John Batley and Christopher Ettridge's Dr. Cattrell are the men in the middle, with Janet McTeer's Esther Pearson and Tom Marshall's Benbow among those caught up in the campaign. Esther Pearson, in particular, gives the campaign a face the police have to look at. The town watches the campaign grow from leaflets to something uglier, and the police have to pick the moment to step in. Longton works the case with Sergeant Joseph Beck, Sergeant George Parrish, PC Brian Kelleher and PC Danny Sparks, with Detective Chief Inspector Mark Perrin (Edward Peel) on the senior side. The harassment is persistent enough to be frightening, which is the point.

Don Webb wrote it, Ron Jones directed. Anna Carteret is Kate Longton, with David Ellison as Beck, Noel Collins as Parrish, C.J. Allen as Kelleher, Mark Botham as Sparks and Edward Peel as Perrin. John Stratton plays John Batley, Christopher Ettridge is Dr. Cattrell, Janet McTeer is Esther Pearson and Tom Marshall is Benbow.

The episode is careful not to sneer at the cause while it investigates the methods. But the officers ask how far belief can take people before it curdles into harassment, and they let the answer sit where it falls. There are no easy heroes here, which is exactly right for a story about people with causes. The episode's sympathy is wide enough to cover almost everyone, and that is a trick. It is a thoughtful hour that treats its subject like an adult, a story about the ties between people and where they snap.