Having drawn us in with both the characters and drama of the show, The Smoke’s third episode feels a lot more confident.

This week’s instalment manages to weave more of the characters into the episode and, through a clever narrative structure, pushes their stories forward in a really interesting way.

The episode features the characters in the present moment rescuing a man who is hanging off the side of a building.  However, well-placed flashbacks to the night before drip-feed tension into the episode and keep you guessing. It’s also beautifully directed by Sam Donovan, who employs a simple light and dark tonality to split the past and present scenes.

Having set up so many issues in previous weeks, a lot comes to the fore here. The tension is built slowly until Mal and Trish’s fling is exposed with both Bamber and Whittaker maintaining a chemistry that has you rooting for their flawed, yet obviously loving, characters.

Bamber, as Kev, is exemplary as he deals the betrayals of his fiancée and best friend. We also have more exposition on the Churchill Estate disaster and see a clearer rationale to the character of Asbo (Taron Egerton) and how he feels about Kev and Gog; his loyalties clearly tearing at him, as he tries to better himself over his guilt and involvement. His mother having lied about his whereabouts may have bought him some time, but there seems to be more to be dealt with here. Time will tell.

Writer Lucy Kirkwood maintains the earthy humour needed to break up these suitably intense moments. The episode’s wonderful guest cast includes Sophie Stanton as Kelly, Asbo’s mum, and Sinead Matthews as Trish’s sister, Julia, who gets the funniest one-liners. Kirkwood clearly paints with a very fine brush as she writes, and it shows in the way the characters are fleshed out, despite limited screen time.

At its heart, The Smoke is a drama though, and the dramatic scenes are always the best. Notable expansion of Gerard Kearns’ Little Al character is welcome and Kearns is suitably textured in his portrayal of the hapless idiot facing up to his responsibilities.

The cage fighting scenes are cleverly shot and edited, adding a frenetic pace and aggressive energy which serves as a precursor to the episode’s big car park fight. This is an episode highlight, both for its shooting style and the way it weaves both drama, violence and a touch of comedy into proceedings.

With another five episodes to go, I can’t wait to see how the lives of the White Watch Brigade change in light of recent revelations.

Aired at 9pm on Thursday 6 March 2014 on Sky1.

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