Land's End

A photograph, taken with a telephoto lens, shows Wycliffe apparently handing money to Susan Brookes. She's the woman who once helped him put her homicidal husband away, and she has reappeared out of his past demanding help. Before Wycliffe can explain anything, thirty thousand pounds lands in his account, the corruption allegations start, and he's suspended. The photograph is the kind of evidence that fits a headline better than a court.

DI Lane is in the middle of her own case, two dead drug dealers, when the news breaks. But she does the only thing that makes sense to her: takes immediate maternity leave and goes to work clearing his name. The trail leads to Selby, a notorious computer hacker and the ex-cell-mate of Susan's husband. He's the connection between the drug murders and the frame-up, and the pieces click into place. The case against Wycliffe is built from circumstance, and Lane knows better than most how little that proves.

The climax comes at Land's End, the very tip of the county, in a showdown that serves as both the end of the drug case and Wycliffe's reckoning. The episode carries a lot, from the old history to the scandal fallout, with the procedural thread running underneath. It doesn't all fit perfectly, but it fits well enough, and the setting does its part. The showdown is a proper Cornish one: wind, rocks, and the sea behind everyone involved. There's no better place in Cornwall for a man's reputation to be tested than the place where the land runs out.

Written by W.J. Burley and Kevin Clarke, directed by Alan Wareing. Jack Shepherd as Det. Supt. Wycliffe, Helen Masters as DI Lane, John Castle as Selby, Marian McLoughlin as Lynne Carney, Ann Beach as Mrs. Wimble, Jan Graveson as Rosie, Lou Wakefield as DCC Roth, Lynn Farleigh as Helen Wycliffe, Brian Croucher as Det. Supt. Healey and Cristian Solimeno as DC Hall.