Episode 5

A drop has been arranged, and the police are eager to be in on it. Geoffrey and Simon are not, and they set up an elaborate scheme to keep the official investigation away from the truth. The episode is about the mechanics of that scheme: the people assigned to each piece of the distraction, and the constant work of keeping the constables pointed at the wrong thing. The scheme is a web of smaller tricks, and the script enjoys laying each strand out.

The plotting keeps a lot of plates spinning. Margaret, Andrew and the rest of the network each carry a thread, and the script keeps them all in the air without letting any of them drop. There is a particular pleasure in watching a diversionary spectacle being built just out of reach of the authorities, and the episode is happy to let the audience in on the construction while the police stay outside it. The episode trusts the audience to follow the threads, which is a compliment the serial pays its viewers throughout.

Peter Barkworth plays Geoffrey Carr, with David Lyon as Simon, Linda Spurrier as Margaret and Nicholas Jones as Andrew. Mark Mulholland appears as Watson, John Kavanagh as Kearney, Oliver Maguire as McLaughlin, Áine Ní Mhuirí as Máire, Kevin Murphy as Fox and Peadar Lamb as O'Hanlon. Peter Barkworth and Peter Ransley wrote it, and Peter Smith directed.

But what stays with you is the balance of the writing. The police are ready to descend on any lead, and the characters on the other side are just clever enough to build the spectacle that keeps them safe. The closer the police get, the more elaborate the misdirection becomes, and the tension never goes slack. It is a confident, clockwork episode, and the satisfaction comes from watching the parts mesh.