Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp are back on ITV1 to resume their partnership in a second series of northern-based crime drama Scott & Bailey.
> Buy the Series 1 DVD on Amazon.
Episode 1
Monday 12th March 2012, 9pm
Rachel’s (Suranne Jones) estranged brother, 28 year-old Dominic (Liam Boyle), turns up on Rachel’s doorstep in the rain at 11 o’clock at night. Reluctantly she takes him in, but makes it clear that he must get a job and put his criminal past behind him. Rachel tells Janet she’s got a brother, but says he’s been in London. She can’t tell her that he’s a convicted armed robber.
When Rachel is nearly strangled by a murder suspect, sexy, charismatic traffic cop and old flame Sean (Sean Maguire) comes to her rescue. It’s been 10 years since they last saw each other, but it’s clear they’re still attracted.
Janet tells Adrian (Tony Pitts) to leave after he argues with her mother, Dorothy (Judith Parsons), who’s living with them while she recovers from an operation. Janet’s shaken by the huge bust-up and tells Rachel what’s happened, but doesn’t want Gill (Amelia Bullmore) or Andy (Nicholas Gleaves) to know. Gill’s got enough on, but Janet doesn’t yet articulate why she doesn’t want Andy to know.
The story of the week is part one of a grisly two-parter. The badly burned body of a disabled man turns up in a remote part of North Manchester. A few days later another badly burned body is discovered. Syndicate 9 find themselves working alongside Syndicate 3, with the formidable, funny D.C.I. Julie Dodson (Pippa Haywood), who also happens to be Gill’s best mate.
The team start to realise that their victims weren’t just murdered, but were tortured too. They make an arrest, but when their prime suspect’s brother is brutally murdered, it becomes clear that their investigation has just scratched the surface.
Episode 2
Monday 19th March 2012, 9pm
Rachel (Suranne Jones) encourages Dom (Liam Boyle) to try and get a job, but with no success. He’s feckless, poorly motivated and lacks confidence. He goes to Rachel’s birthday celebration with the whole of Syndicate 9, but surrounded by so many police officers, we see how vulnerable he is.
Rachel wakes up to find sexy, charismatic Sean (Sean Maguire) in bed with her. He’s delighted. She’s wondering whether that wasn’t the best idea. He’s on her doorstep later on, wanting to stay the night. Rachel turns him away, too tired, but he does join her birthday celebration, where he charms Kevin (Ben Batt) and Rachel’s other colleagues.
Janet’s mum, Dorothy (Judith Barker), helps with the girls. Taisie (Harriet Waters) continues to be sad about her dad not being there, whilst Elise (Olivia Rose Smith) seems to have taken it in her stride. Dorothy of course feels guilty. At Rachel’s birthday celebrations Andy (Nicholas Gleaves) finds out from Taisie (Harriet Waters) that Adrian (Tony Pitts) and Janet (Lesley Sharp) have split up. He’s amazed and hurt that she hasn’t told him.
Having arrested four people for the series of grisly, brutal murders, the team face a wall of silence. But the Major Incident Team’s calm interview techniques prevail, and the banal truth emerges; in the sad, mindless, drug and alcohol infested world the murderers inhabit, the horrific crimes happened as a result of a five-pound debt over a dog.
Episode 3
Monday 26th March 2012, 9pm
Rachel (Suranne Jones) discovers Dom (Liam Boyle) renting himself out for sex with men. She goes ballistic, but is then heartbroken to realise that this is what he’s had to do in prison. She makes it clear he can’t do this anymore and that he has to get an HIV test. Dom goes AWOL as a result, but eventually comes round to accepting that he should get himself tested. But unknown to Rachel, he’s started drinking again, contrary to the conditions of his license.
Rachel learns from Gill (Amelia Bullmore) that the CPS are not going to charge Nick Savage with her attempted murder. Both women are appalled and Rachel questions her instincts and wonders how she can have been in love with such a man.
The story of the week concerns Jeremy Leach (Oliver Milburn), an infamous serial killer who was imprisoned thirteen years ago for the rape and murder of four women in the South West. Now another woman has been raped and murdered and Leach’s exact M.O. has been used.
Because Gill helped catch Leach thirteen years ago when she worked as a special officer for the National Crime Faculty, she is brought in to advise on the new killing, and decides to take Rachel with her. Articulate and intelligent, Leach plausibly claims to be an innocent man, and that this latest killing shows that the real murderer is still out there.
Episode 4
Monday 2nd April 2012, 9pm
Dom (Liam Boyle) goes for his HIV test and it’s negative. But Dom’s euphoria leads him to do something stupid that not only puts his life in danger, but also means that Rachel misses her sergeant’s exam. She is beside herself with anger.
Sean (Sean Maguire) and Rachel (Suranne Jones) continue to have great sex and make each other smile. He thinks they should stop wasting time, accept that they’re destined to be together, and get married. She’s not convinced.
Janet (Lesley Sharp) has been persuaded to give it a whirl with Andy (Nicholas Gleaves), but now she’s having regrets. She didn’t finish with Adrian (Tony Pitts) just to make room for Andy. She decides to tell Andy that it isn’t what she wants. She thought it might’ve been, but it isn’t. Andy finds it hard to accept. In fact we get the very strong idea that he isn’t going to accept it.
The story of the week involves the hunt for missing 8-year-old Dylan Nicol. When his body turns up, it’s clear that Dylan has been the victim of a paedophile. The story is a portrait of a plausible, deeply deceitful man who consciously puts himself right at the heart of the investigation and right at the heart of the vulnerable family whose child he has cruelly violated.
Episode 5
Monday 9th April 2012, 9pm
Angry and upset about missing her sergeant’s exam, and about the fact that Nick Savage is not being charged with her attempted murder, Rachel (Suranne Jones) gets drunk with Janet (Lesley Sharp) After a robust night out, Janet puts Rachel to bed, and we see guilty Dom (Liam Boyle) look after her. He’s appalled by the state she’s in – he isn’t used to seeing her so vulnerable.
Sean (Sean Maguire) rings Rachel to say he’s booked the registry office. It’s all a bit of a daft joke, but at the same time he does appear to be serious about it. At a time when Rachel’s inner demons are giving her hell, she’s made to realise that Sean’s relentless cheerfulness does make her smile.
Andy (Nicholas Gleaves) tries to talk to Janet, but as far as she’s concerned she’s stated her case and he should accept that. He insists she’s not in a good place to be making decisions at the moment, and that he’s prepared to give her all the time and space she needs. But when she gets home, Andy’s there, ingratiating himself with her mother and with Elise (Olivia Rose Smith). Janet’s amazed that he’s not listening to what she’s saying. She tells him she finds his behaviour threatening and will tell Gill (Amelia Bullmore) if he doesn’t start to get the message.
In this episode we have two crime stories. Janet finally faces the interview with Geoff Hastings (Kevin Doyle), for which she’s been preparing for months, and learns much more than she bargained for, whilst Rachel and the rest of the team investigate the brutal, racially motivated murder of a 21 year-old taxi driver.
Episode 6
Monday 16th April 2012, 9pm
Rachel (Suranne Jones) finds Dom (Liam Boyle) drinking a can of lager with Sean (Sean Maguire). She takes it off him and tells Sean that Dom has a problem.
Sean wants Rachel to meet his son from his now defunct marriage, if she’s going to be his ‘other mummy’. Haydn (Harry Simpson) is eight years old and a chip off the old block. Rachel can think of nothing worse. Sean continues to talk like they’re getting married, whilst Rachel insists they’re not, even though they’re still very sexy together.
Andy (Nicholas Gleaves) asks Janet (Lesley Sharp) out for a drink, he wants to talk. She turns him down, and he accuses her of having ‘had him on.’
Gill (Amelia Bullmore) has had to leave the briefing on a mercy dash for Sammy (Jake Roche) – Dave’s (Vincent Regan) drunk and maudlin and Sammy doesn’t know what to do with him. Gill calls Janet and asks her to help get Dave round to his mother’s. She tells Janet that she’s noticed a bad atmosphere between her and Andy and worries that it could affect the team. Janet tells her that Andy turned up at her house, uninvited, and that she found his behaviour intimidating.
A woman with a green face and head, and dressed in a sexy Ann Summers’ policewoman’s outfit, turns up dead in a field at Dob Cross. Gill makes the assumption that the killer is a lover. The only trouble is Susie Binns had more lovers than most people have hot dinners. Which one of them will it be? And why has she got a green face?
Episode 7
Monday 23rd April 2012, 9pm
Sean (Sean Maguire) has another surprise up his sleeve for Rachel (Suranne Jones). He’s seen her mum, who he says would love to see Rachel. But Rachel’s spent years trying not to think about her mum, so Sean’s notion doesn’t go down too well. Persistent as ever, Sean shows Rachel some old family photos, and she starts to wonder whether being a mother of three at her age might be a tougher task than she’d ever imagined.
Unable to accept that Janet (Lesley Sharp) has called a halt to their affair, Andy (Nicholas Gleaves) punishes her by keeping her out of the heart of the investigation. When Janet rebels and goes out to meet a witness, Andy’s anger is palpable, and the ensuing row very quickly becomes personal and excruciatingly exposing. Janet can’t understand how the situation has got so bad, but Gill (Amelia Bullmore) can. She tells Andy that he has a duty to tell Janet what she already knows.
When Leon Foster turns up dead, with a bullet hole in his head, it looks at first like a typical gang killing. But the discovery that Leon has been sexually mutilated raises suspicions that this was a domestic murder. When lines of enquiry take Janet and Rachel into a world of baby mothers and line-ups, they’re shocked by what these girls consider to be normal or even flattering behaviour.
Episode 8
Monday 30th April 2012, 9pm
Hung-over from a hen night, Rachel’s (Suranne Jones) day goes from bad to worse when D.C.I. Julie Dodson (Pippa Haywood) arrives at the station to tell her that Nick Savage has been brutally assaulted and that she’s top of the list of suspects. Feeling vulnerable and scared, and unable to recall the events of the previous night, Rachel is struggling to convince even herself that she didn’t do it.
Having thought she’d made her peace with Andy (Nicholas Gleaves), Janet (Lesley Sharp) is shocked to discover that Andy has given her misinformation, resulting in Gill (Amelia Bullmore) missing an appointment with the Coroner. Unable to get to the bottom of who is messing her around, a furious and heartbroken Gill tells Janet and Andy that one of them will have to leave the syndicate.
When Gill first meets Margaret Selwyn, it’s to tell her that her husband’s death seems to have been accidental – he slipped in the bath and banged his head. But when Margaret’s two daughters, Joanne and Catherine, tell Janet that their mother often talked of her plans to kill their dad, Gill is forced to re-investigate the case.
> Buy the Series 1 DVD on Amazon.
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