Watch Free Streaming ASHES TO ASHES 3.4

WRITER: Jack Lothian
DIRECTOR: Alrick Riley
GUEST CAST: Zoe Telford, Peter Guinness, Bryan Dick, Paul Moriarty, Paul Moriarty, Joseph Long, Geff Francis, Ryan Pope & Charlie Roe

[SPOILERS] We're at the halfway point of the final series already, so it was a relief to see a much stronger episode to mark the occasion. And despite the fact I tend to find the sci-fi trimmings more interesting than the show's cop show formula, this episode (written by Jack Lothian) was a great example of Ashes To Ashes getting its balance exactly right. The emphasis was on a down-to-earth plot that was well-told and contained some twists that really worked, while the sci-fi stuff was scaled back and all the better for that.

This week, Gene (Philip Glenister) and Alex (Keeley Hawes) were investigating the murders of local drug-dealers (who've been killed by forced injections), and came to realize that it's the handiwork of Gene's old adversary Terry Stafford (Peter Guinness). Complicating matters is the fact DI6 are operating on Gene's turf under the auspices of DCI Wilson (Paul Moriarty), who has an officer called Louis Gardner (Zoe Telford) working undercover as Terry's lover. After Louise is savagely beaten by Daniel Stafford (Bryan Dick), Terry's rival son who's suspicious of her, both cases collide and it's up to CID to both protect a fellow officer from harm and bring the Stafford's to justice in the process.

To cut to the chase: I really liked this episode. It wasn't quite as emotional, complex and revelatory to make it a classic installment, but it was an hour's procedural that I felt happy satisfied with, blessed with a great performances from Zoe Telford as the incognito 'tec who's become psychologically scarred by the demands of her job, and a nice turn from Bryan Dick as the miscreant who once raped her. It was also nice to see Chris (Marshall Lancaster) given a decent subplot, as he began to develop feelings for Louise's plight, and risked destroying the entire case by beating Daniel in his prison cell after hearing about how he treated her.

The mythos of Ashes To Ashes was also stoked in a way that didn't feel so incongruent and random, especially with Keats (Daniel Mays) now giving is a clearer idea of what his character's all about. He seems to be harvesting souls, and there's the suggestion that this episode's undercover theme in some way relates to Alex when he tells her "you belong here... you look like you're visiting, but you're not, are you... you're staying", which seems to suggest that she's been placed in this world on purpose and has just forgotten her "mission". Later, Alex herself says "you can't just put somebody in undercover and expect them to make sense of things by themselves", which might be a subtle tease that that's exactly what's happened to her.

Overall, episode 4 was the first instalment of this final season that worked on more levels than passing intrigue at its breadcrumb of clues. The story was tight and written effectively, and there was even enough time for some of the comedy that's been underused this year. Indeed, the sequence where it's revealed Gene was responsible for the infamous vandalizing of the Blue Peter garden ranks as one of my favourite ways the show's merged fiction with reality. "It's only a bloody garden!"