Personal

Georgios Stelikos is accused of rape and murder, and Gill Murray is determined to see him convicted. There is one complication: of the alleged victims, only Hannah Conway is prepared to give evidence. The case has already cost the office dear by the time it reaches court. Rachel takes the stand, and discovers her ex-lover Nick Savage sitting in the defence barrister's chair.

Nick cross-examines her using things that passed between them when they were together, and the attack is personal in a way no barrister's textbook covers. It works. Stelikos is found not guilty, and days later Stelikos is found murdered. The verdict lands like a slap, and the courtroom empties. The team bring in a bruised and hung-over Hannah Conway, who has become a suspect in the death of the man who attacked her.

Rachel's own life is coming apart at the same time. She miscarries. Nick's wife learns of the affair and throws him out, and Nick reclaims the flat, leaving Rachel nowhere to go. She moves in with Janet and her family, and starts taking an interest in the old Veronica case. For a woman whose professional standing is in shreds, a cold case is a strange kind of refuge.

Sally Wainwright, Diane Taylor and Suranne Jones wrote it, Syd Macartney directed. Suranne Jones's Rachel and Lesley Sharp's Janet are the heart of it, with Rupert Graves as Nick, Nichola Burley as Hannah Conway, Mete Dursun as Stelikos, Pooky Quesnel as Sian Cook, Tara Moran as the prosecution counsel, and Amelia Bullmore, Ben Batt and Nicholas Gleaves in support.

Courtroom and bedroom turn out to be the same room this week. Watching Rachel hold herself together in both is what makes the hour so uncomfortable. But it is also what makes it good. Nothing about it is neat. It is the kind of episode you watch with your shoulders up.