Radio Times: Review by:; Alison Graham

DCI Gill Murray is in the ladies’ loo, nervously practising a speech in front of subordinates Scott and Bailey that she’s about to make to the ravening hounds of “the press”. It’s a nicely understated opening to series two of Sally Wainwright and Diane Taylor’s hit crime drama, one that, like all of Scott & Bailey’s polished procedural elements, has the ring of truth.

As we return to Manchester, the Major Incident Team is investigating the torture and murder of a vulnerable adult. Though there are everyday office squabbles about food left to go rank in the fridge and lots of ribald joshing, there’s a strong work ethic; the killer must be caught. Of course, Bailey and Scott (Suranne Jones and Lesley Sharp, both excellent) have personal problems; Scott’s marriage is crumbling and an unwelcome visitor turns up on Bailey’s doorstep. But these potentially soapy plot bubbles don’t overwhelm the core drama.

Work is what’s important, particularly when the squad latches on to a woman suspect, described as being “like a wall with a perm” (a sporting Lisa Riley, aka Mandy Dingle from Emmerdale).

About this programme

1/8. Lesley Sharp and Suranne Jones resume their partnership as the northern-based crime drama returns. In the first of a two-part story, the badly burned body of a disabled man turns up in a remote part of Manchester and a few days later another corpse is discovered. The detectives start to realise the victims were not just murdered, but tortured too. They make an arrest, but it becomes clear their investigation has just scratched the surface. Meanwhile, Janet throws her husband out and Rachel's estranged brother turns up on her doorstep. With Lisa Riley and Pippa Haywood.