Solution

A case about a mercy killing is a case with no clean answers, and this one gives Maggie Forbes and Russell a hard hour. Personal tragedy sits at the heart of it, forcing both of them to examine their feelings about ending a life out of kindness, and the episode does not rush them. Maggie in particular has to look at her own judgment of the case and find it wanting in ways she didn't expect.

The investigation matters less than the question underneath it. The law is not built for the person who acts out of love or desperation, and the episode lets that sit. The squad moves around the edges: Barratt, Fenton and Croft do the legwork while Maggie and Russell talk themselves through the business of what they actually believe. John Tyson and Jean move through the edges of the story, and Pamela Buchner's Mrs Russell appears in the margins, which is more than enough to suggest the case follows the Russell household home as well. The episode's courage is in slowing down long enough to let the question breathe, and in trusting two fine actors to carry the weight.

Peter Hammond and Terence Feely wrote it, Carol Wiseman directed. Jill Gascoine is Maggie Forbes and William Marlowe is Russell, with Paul Moriarty's Barratt, Derek Thompson's Fenton and Brian Gwaspari's Croft supporting. Nigel Rathbone plays Steve, James Ottaway is George Taylor, Pamela Buchner plays Mrs Russell, John Pennington is John Tyson and Fiona Walker plays Jean.

The episode ends without letting anyone off the hook, which is the honest way to treat a subject like this. And that honesty is worth a lot in a genre that usually wants its endings tidy. The episode is not in the business of tidy verdicts, and that's exactly right. It doesn't wave at the audience on the way out; it just closes the door quietly.