Friday 30 April 9.00-10.00pm BBC ONE

DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) and DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) are suspicious of Hunt’s former colleagues
DCI Gene Hunt immediately smells a rat when two former Manchester colleagues turn up on his patch, as the police drama set in the early Eighties continues.

DCI Litton and DI Bevan are on the trail of Northern comic Frank Hardwick, who is wanted for stealing £2,000 from the Police Widows’ Fund. But their desperation to track him down leaves Gene and DI Alex Drake suspicious of their real motive.

Litton and Bevan quickly get their feet under the table at CID, with DCI Jim Keats offering them the full co-operation of the team and DI Ray Carling joining them in reminiscing about the good old days.

In a show of machismo, there is soon a race between Gene and Litton to get to Frank first. Gene resorts to underhand tactics and, in a desperate bid to catch the comic, attempts to plant stolen pornographic videos on him via “lady of the night” Gloria. However, it is Alex and WPC Shaz Granger who beat the boys to the punch and bring Frank in for questioning.

During the interrogation, Alex discovers that Frank is terrified of someone at the station. There is more to the case than meets the eye. The team needs to bring the corrupt cop down but it becomes apparent that Frank’s adversary may be smarter than anticipated.

Meanwhile, Alex takes advantage of having some of Gene’s old Manchester colleagues around to delve deeper into the disappearance of Sam Tyler.