Stephen Tompkinson, Andrea Lowe and Caroline Catz return in the award-winning detective series based on three novels by Peter Robinson. In three adaptations: "Wednesday’s Child" (April 3) "Piece of My Heart" (April 10) "Bad Boy" (April 17), the series marks the return of DS Annie Cabbot from maternity leave. With both Annie and DI Helen Morton now on his team, will Banks successfully be able to juggle the opposing views of both these strong willed women?
Episode One: "Wednesday's Child" repeats Friday, April 3 at 10 p.m. - When a man and a woman claiming to be social workers come to Katy Heath’s house and tell her that they need to take away her son Kyle, Katy complies. But when they fail to return her son and are unknown by social services, DCI Alan Banks is quickly drawn into a full-scale search for the missing boy. Why has Kyle been abducted and what are the chances that he can be found alive?
When a search of Katy’s house reveals a drugs connection and different witnesses - including Kyle’s father - begin to contradict Katy’s version of events, even Banks begins to question the veracity of Katy’s story. Banks pushes DI Helen Morton to get close to Katy, but in the face of problems with her own son, the proximity to Kyle’s mother only appears to destabilise the detective.
Meanwhile, returning from maternity leave to join the investigation, DS Annie Cabbot believes she has found a credible suspect for Kyle’s abduction at his school. Yet to Annie’s frustration, Banks appears to be distancing himself from her. With the search becoming ever more desperate, Banks must find a way to reconcile his colleagues conflicting attitudes to children and parenthood, before the hunt for Kyle is too late.
Banks and his team now have a murder enquiry on their hands, as the body found on the moors is identified as eleven-year old Andre Petri. With Kyle Heath still missing, Banks has to divide his team. Is there a connection between the death of Andre and the disappearance of Kyle? When post-mortem examinations prove that Andre was killed by a massive heroin overdose, it appears that the two children are both linked by the illegal drugs trade. Banks and Annie set out to uncover the criminal underworld of the Elthorpe Estate.
Helen, more convinced than ever that Katy’s lies obscure the truth, begins to suspect that Kyle’s abduction may have been masterminded by his own mother to extort money from Paul Cain. But when Helen receives shocking news about her own son’s behaviour, her failing objectivity threatens to derail the case. Can Banks draw the disparate strands of this investigation together and find Kyle Heath before any more children are found dead?
Episode Two: "Piece Of My Heart" repeats Friday, April 10 at 10 p.m. - When investigative journalist Matt Barber is found dead in a holiday chalet in a remote village, Banks and his team are initially confronted by an overwhelming number of leads. As Banks identifies a connection between Barber and a mysterious death in the 1980s revolving around the surviving members of cult rock band The Crystal Kiss, he must begin to unpick decades of lies.
To make matters worse, the victim’s father is Jack Barber, a former senior police officer and now candidate in local police commissioner elections. Despite his formidable reputation, DI Helen Morton is convinced that Jack is in some way obstructing their enquiry. But Banks is shaken to the core when a link between a suspect and Annie Cabbot reveals secrets from her personal life that bring into question her growing relationship with him. Can Annie and Banks ever truly be together?
With David Hornby now a suspect in the case, Annie is forced to admit that the father of her baby doesn’t know anything about her pregnancy. Banks tries to be supportive, but soon Annie finds juggling the affections of her boss and her former lover leads her to a difficult choice.
When Banks and Helen learn that Ian Basset has returned to the country, the surviving members of The Crystal Kiss are reunited, and the trio seem tighter than ever. What is it about John Gaunt’s death that provided the motive for Matt Barber’s murder? When Annie discovers that Martin Harford’s confession in the John Gaunt case is missing and that Jack Barber was the original investigating officer, Helen believes she has the evidence she needs to push Barber harder.
But when Banks learns of a mysterious tape recording that appears to bind both Jack and The Crystal Kiss together, he realises he is in a race to find the tape and understand it’s significance if he has any hope of uncovering the truth.
Episode Three: "Bad Boy" repeats Friday, April 17 at 10 p.m. - When Banks’ old neighbor tells him that she has discovered a gun in her teenage daughter’s bedroom, his instinct is to quietly retrieve the weapon. But when Helen convinces him that she should lead a firearms team to take possession of the gun ‘by the book’, neither she nor Banks foresees that the incident will lead to an innocent man being critically injured.
Soon, an internal investigation threatens to break up Banks’ team when Annie is ordered to scrutinize Helen’s role in the operation. The subsequent professional divisions are made worse by Annie and Banks’ fledgling romantic relationship. Meanwhile, news that the gun has been recently fired leaves Banks searching for both its owner and a potential victim. On the trail of a notorious ‘bad boy’, Banks soon discovers a connection which brings the case worryingly close to home.
Banks begins a desperate search for daughter Tracy and her abductor, Jaff Kitson. Convinced that Al Jenkins is Jaff’s accomplice in the murder of Richard Martin, Banks puts pressure on Al to lead him to Jaff, but Al remains defiant. Meanwhile, the result of Annie’s internal investigation necessitates Helen’s immediate suspension, driving the rift between Annie and Banks deeper.
When Richard Martin’s body is discovered, Al all but confesses to his knowledge of the killing. But when Al makes an offer to help Banks get his daughter back from Jaff, the detective finds himself contemplating breaking every rule he has ever stood for to meet Al’s demands. With Helen’s career seemingly in the balance, his daughter threatened and his relationship with Annie close to breaking point, what lengths will DCI Alan Banks go to to keep his family together?
A Left Bank Pictures production for ITV, distributed by BBC Worldwide.
