Up Jumped a Swagperson

Ma Kane's twin sister Clara Malone arrives from Australia, and she does not come empty handed. Clara has plans to expand the family network worldwide, which is the sort of ambition that sounds grand until you think about the paperwork. Danny greets her with the enthusiasm of a man who has just seen his diary fill up. She treats the whole thing as a family visit, which is somehow worse than a takeover.

While Clara charms and schemes, the police are stepping up their search for Peter Noonan, escaped and lying low in a derelict pub. He is lying low for a reason, and the reason is a plan for war, aimed at the Kanes. The two threads give the hour its shape: an old woman with a world map and a convicted man with a grudge, with DCI Sarah Turnbull now joining Rosy Campbell's team to chase both.

The episode enjoys itself most when Clara is on screen. She is Ma Kane's twin, which means she knows every corner of the family business and has opinions about all of them. She has an answer for everything and a plan for everyone, and most of her plans involve other people's money. Watching her rearrange Danny's operation while he looks on like a man at his own funeral is one of the series' better jokes.

Murray Smith wrote it, Lawrence Gordon Clark directed. Caroline Bliss's Turnbull, Kitty Aldridge's Campbell, Don Henderson's Frank, Leslie Grantham's Danny, Barbara Wilshere's Carol, Leon Herbert's Polish Joe, Peter Gowen's Jonjo O'Brady, Frederick Warder's Graham, Nigel Harrison's Fielding and James Saxon's Fairweather make up the line-up.

It is a busy hour that juggles a lot and drops very little. The title is an old music hall line given a twist, and the twist lands neatly. And the swagperson of the title turns out to be the one you least expect.