Ring of Deceit

A research scientist is found murdered, and it soon becomes clear that she is the latest victim of a serial rapist the papers have nicknamed 'The Mechanic'. The case lands on Taggart's desk. But the most exposed person in it is Alison Bain. She has been interviewing Mike Jardine for her television programme, and she keeps hunting for details about the killer. She is doing her job, and the job keeps putting her closer to a man who does not want to be found. One random phone call promises her a lead, and that single call puts her squarely in danger.

The episode runs on two tracks: the routine grind of the investigation, the forensics and the waiting, and the growing jeopardy around a woman asking too many questions. The threat creeps rather than leaps, and the steady build is the best thing about it. When the danger finally arrives, it feels like something that has been coming for a while, and the audience has had time to care.

Glenn Chandler and Stuart Hepburn wrote it, Mike Vardy directed, and it went out in 1992. Mark McManus is Taggart, James MacPherson is Jardine, Blythe Duff is Jackie Reid, Iain Anders is McVitie. Sara Stewart plays Alison Bain, Anthony Cochrane is Dr Colin Crawford, Robert Robertson is Dr Stephen Andrews, and the wider cast includes Harriet Buchan as Jean Taggart, David Lyon as Maurice Newman and Sandy Welch as Alistair Hogg. The interviews Alison conducts give the episode a newsroom rhythm that suits it.

A serial killer story works when the audience can feel the clock ticking for someone they care about. Here that someone is Alison, and the episode knows it. The tension is all the better for being personal, and it is a slow-burn entry whose patience pays off.