Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe star as the tenacious and stubborn Chief Inspector Alan Banks and the feisty and headstrong Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot in four thrilling crime stories. The Yorkshire countryside provides a striking and contrasting backdrop to these four chilling murder stories based on the "Inspector Banks" novels by Peter Robinson.
"Aftermath" airs Thursday, January 10 at 9 p.m. - Number 27 The Hill is a seemingly ordinary house in an ordinary street. But when police officers Janet Taylor (Sian Breckin) and Dennis Morrisey (Myles Keogh) arrive, it is clear things are far from normal.
The young, beautiful Lucy Payne (Charlotte Riley) is unconscious in the hallway of the house, bleeding from a head wound. Hiding in the cellar is her husband – Marcus Payne (Samuel Roukin) – ready to wield a knife at anyone who tries to enter, desperate to protect his secret.
By the time Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks is called to the house, one of the officers is dead, the other fighting for their life and career, and Marcus Payne has been revealed as a serial killer.
Hidden behind the walls and floor of the cellar are the bodies of young women with one thing in common – they all have blonde hair. This discovery marks the start of a shocking investigation that tests Inspector Banks to the limit.
The full episode,"Aftermath," is no longer available for online viewing.
"Playing With Fire" airs Thursday, January 17 at 9 p.m. - In the second episode, when a fire on a houseboat leads to the discovery of the charred body of Leslie Whittaker, Banks and Annie believe they have uncovered a case of art fraud when a briefcase, containing a forgery of a famous Turner painting and £25,000 in cash, is found in the hull of the boat.
At the scene, Banks trawls through the wreckage of the boat, and is informed that an unoccupied second boat, belonging to British Waterways, was moored alongside Whittaker’s boat at the time of the fire, and that it subsequently sank when the fire spread on to it.
The investigation soon leads to Jake McMahon, a local artist known to have connections with Whittaker. When Banks visits his house, he is confronted by a gun-wielding McMahon, who appears to believe that Banks is a man named Morrison. Banks manages to prove him otherwise, but he denies any involvement in art forgery.
The post mortem on Whittaker discovers that he had been drugged prior to the time of the fire, meaning that he had no chance of escape once the fire had started.
Annie enlists the help of art expert Mark Keane (John Light), in an attempt to discover if Whittaker could have gotten away with passing the Turner off as a real painting.
However, things get steamy between the pair, and they subsequently sleep together. Meanwhile, Banks receives a shock when a second body is found - that of local student Christina Aspen.
The full episode, "Playing With Fire," is no longer available for online viewing.
"Friend Of The Devil" airs Thursday, January 24 at 9 p.m. - In the third episode, Annie is called to the scene of a murder on Eastvale moor, and arrives to find a paralysed female in a wheelchair who had had her throat cut.
Meanwhile, Banks is called to the scene of a girl found murdered in an alleyway in the town centre. Hayley Daniels, who had been out partying with her friends the previous night, is found strangled with her knickers in her mouth, and Banks immediately suspects the man who found her - a local shopkeeper, Timothy Randall (Ian Bartholomew).
Annie discovers the identity of the woman in the wheelchair - Lucy Payne. She discovers that Payne had been given a new identity following an acid attack on her whilst she was serving time for being an accomplice to the crimes committed by her husband Marcus.
She discovers that Payne had been living at a care home due to no longer being able to communicate, and on the morning of her murder, had been escorted out for a walk by a woman named Mary.
Meanwhile, Banks visits pathologist Elizabeth Waring (Raquel Cassidy) to discover the circumstances surrounding Hayley Daniels’ death. Banks believes he may have a serial killer on his hands.
The full episode, "Friend Of The Devil," is no longer available for online viewing.
"Cold Is The Grave" airs Thursday, January 31 at 9 p.m. - In the final episode, Banks is asked by Superintendent Gerry Rydell (Colin Tierney) to track down his missing daughter, Emily (Scarlett Rose Patterson), and Annie gets lumbered with an armed carjacking and the murder of a small time crook, Charlie McKay (Sam Chapman).
Travelling from Eastvale to South London, Banks comes across one of Emily’s friends and her ex-flatmate, Ruth (Ellie Jacob), who informs him that since their bust-up, Emily has been living with a well known criminal and drug baron, Barry Clough (Terence Maynard).
Paying a visit to Clough, Banks realizes that Emily could be in danger, and after encouragement from Emily’s mother, decides to try and persuade her to return to Eastvale with him.
Meanwhile, Annie delegates that McKay’s murder and the carjacking are related to a much bigger operation - but without a testimony from the owner of the carjacked van, struggles to find a lead to pursue.
Banks returns to Eastvale with Emily, however, no sooner have they returned than Emily disappears again - and hours later, he receives a phone call relating to a dead body in a nightclub toilet, believing it to be Emily’s friend Ruth - however, when he arrives, discovers that is in fact Emily who is the victim.
The investigation takes a number of alarming twists before uncovering a conspiracy, pointing to one of the team being an informant relating to Clough. As Banks pushes all the suspects hard, the case threatens to undermine his integrity as an officer and brings his relationship with Annie to breaking point.
The full episode, "Cold Is The Grave," is no longer available for online viewing.
"Strange Affair" airs Thursday, February 7 at 10 p.m. - When DCI Alan Banks receives a disturbing message from his brother Roy, he drops everything to find him, just as new recruit DI Helen Morton finds evidence linking Banks to the body of a murder victim.
With his brother dead, Banks and his family struggle to come to terms with his murder, while Helen must now re-examine her own assumptions as she launches a double murder inquiry.
The full episode, "Strange Affair," is no longer available for online viewing.
"Dry Bones That Dream" airs Thursday, Feb. 14 at 10 p.m. - DCI Alan Banks and DI Helen Morton must learn to reconcile their conflicting policing styles and personalities while trying to unravel the increasingly puzzling murder of a local accountant who has been leading a secret double life.
Banks is tempted by an offer from Pamela Jeffries, as he becomes increasingly obsessed with understanding Keith Rothwell, just as Helen finds herself in danger as she closes in on Rothwell’s killer.
The full episode, "Dry Bones That Dream," is no longer available for online viewing.
"Innocent Graves" airs Thursday, Feb. 21 at 10 p.m. - When a teenage schoolgirl is found strangled, Banks and his team quickly identify their prime suspect. But the closer Banks seemingly moves towards a conviction, the more the course of the investigation distances him from Helen.
Adamant that the collapse of his trial proves nothing, Banks is determined to prove the case against Owen Pierce before Ellie Clayton’s killer has the chance to strike again...but are his instincts right?
The full episode, "Innocent Graves," is no longer available for online viewing.
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