Episode 6

The endgame of series two catches up with Lana Washington in the worst way possible: the terror cell takes her. Her captivity becomes the episode's one long, uncomfortable question about what she will trade to get out. Her duty pulls one way, and the people she loves pull the other. Chris Brandon, Daniel Brierley and Amanda Duke wrote it, and they do not make the answer easy.

Being kidnapped turns out to be the straightforward part of the hour. The harder material is the choice itself. Every scene of Lana in captivity works the same hinge: her obligations as an officer against the lives of the people who matter to her. The script keeps both options alive, and the tension never drains away, even when the episode slows down to watch her breathe. McClure does her best work in the quiet gaps, the moments where Lana is alone with the decision.

Around her, the fallout spreads to the people who depend on her. Hope, Alex, Sonya Reeves and Val Washington are all pulled into the wreckage of her capture, and their scenes carry the emotional weight of an hour that could easily have been all plot.

The supporting cast is on form throughout. Bethan Cullinane's Hope, Tomiwa Edun's Alex, Kevin Eldon's Jeff, Nabil Elouahabi's Hassan Rahim, Kerry Godliman's Sonya, Tamzin Griffin's Val and Lewis Jamison's Josh all feed the pressure closing around her, with Hilary Greatorex's Home Secretary and Lloyd James's security guard hovering at the edges. Audrey Cooke directs with the same steady hand she brought to episode five.

But it is a stark hour, even by this show's standards. A woman in a cell, asked to choose between the job and the people she loves. The series has thrown bombs and blast waves at Lana before; this time the threat is one she cannot defuse.