Fatal Inheritance

Dr Janet Napier walks free from court on a 'Not Proven' verdict, and Taggart cannot let it go. It is a verdict that leaves everyone guessing, which suits this story down to the ground. He begins a more personal investigation, the kind that follows a man home and sits in his chair. And as more murders are committed, he has to face an uncomfortable thought: he may have been wrong about the good doctors all along. The body count keeps rising while he works, and none of it does anything to steady his hand.

That is the real subject of the episode, professional certainty coming apart at the seams. Taggart is used to being right, and watching him have to unpick his own assumptions is the most interesting thing on screen. The case itself is content to let that happen at its own pace. This is a slow burn rather than a chase, and the script trusts the audience to sit with the ambiguity. The killer, whoever they are, has the advantage of knowing exactly how much Taggart does not know.

Glenn Chandler wrote it, Alan Macmillan directed, and it aired on New Year's Day 1993. Mark McManus is Taggart, James MacPherson is Jardine. Hannah Gordon plays Dr Janet Napier, Francis Matthews is Dr Gerald Napier, Caroline Hunnisett is Belinda Napier and Scott Cleverdon is Jeremy Napier. Blythe Duff, Iain Anders, Robert Robertson and Harriet Buchan fill out the regulars. The Napier family portrait is drawn with just enough warmth to make the doubt uncomfortable.

It is rare to see a detective story where the detective's own certainty is the thing on trial. The episode makes room for doubt and lets the audience feel it too. The ending leaves you with the nagging sense that being sure and being right are not the same thing, and that counts for a lot.