Snow Business

A hard-drug deal goes wrong, and the wheel man, shot by police, ends up in Frank's care. Frank patches him up, does the decent thing, and then discovers the driver is an undercover detective. The kindness was wasted in the most awkward way possible.

Danny, meanwhile, is offered a share in the deal that has gone so badly wrong. But the offer arrives at exactly the wrong moment, with the club caught between the dealers and the detectives. Danny's share of the deal is the bait, and he is the sort of man who has never met bait he did not like. The episode keeps everyone guessing about allegiances right to the end.

Frank's discovery puts him in an impossible spot. The man he has been sheltering is the law, and the law does not stay grateful. Every choice Frank makes from then on is watched, and the episode does not let him forget it. Every kindness he shows the driver is now a favour to a man who might be building a case against him.

The police side is well staffed: DS Jack Nesbit, DS Dennis Last, DCS Flemyng and WDC Tilly Spink all have their moments, and the hunt for the missing driver's identity gives the middle of the hour its push. Tilly Spink is the kind of detail this show does well, a name that sounds like it escaped from a music hall.

Murray Smith wrote it, Ken Hannam directed. Don Henderson, Leslie Grantham, Barbara Wilshere, Peter Gowen, Leon Herbert, Kevin Short, Jack Galloway, Oona Kirsch, Oliver Smith and Des McAleer make up the cast.

Snow Business is a tight, suspicious hour, and the ending leaves the question of who knows what hanging in the air, which is the right call for a story about undercover work. It is also a reminder that in this world, hospitality is a risk.