In Deep: Men and Boys

I used to believe it was a sign that a police series is running out of steam when it’s plot drifted into either one the following clichés: the hero of the show is framed for a crime he did not commit; the hero goes undercover in prison.

BBC One’s undercover cop drama opts for the latter as it continues with this, the third two part story of the third series.

In this one, a major drug lord, Vincent Hunter (David Schofield) is appealing against his conviction. In the midst of this, a key piece of evidence, a yacht, is destroyed. Fearing for the safety of the witnesses, our heroes Liam (Nick Berry) and Garth (Stephen Tompkinson) are dispatched to a Category A prison in which Hunter resides.

Liam gets the sticky end of the stick, posing as inmate Lee Kershaw, while Garth takes on the role of warder Gavin Hanson. While “Lee??? gradually wins the trust of Hunter, his partner seems to be putting more energy into getting into the …erm..“affections??? of a female warder much to the chagrin of his incarcerated colleague. Further tension between the two is caused by the fact that Garth is loath to contact Liam’s son for him.

The lad in question, in an irritating subplot, is being bullied by a bunch of young tearaways on his way to school and resorts to stealing money and carrying a knife as a means to extricate him from the situation.

Meanwhile things begin to get more heated as a witness, the yachtsman, is found murdered and the undercover cop who put Hunter away, Debbie Coleman (Debby Bishop) is forced to move her family to a safe house. When it becomes evident that Hunter knows the location of this, it appears that one of squad must be leaking information.

From this point the plot becomes a chess game in more ways than one as Hunter utilises his son’s interest in computer chess as a means of communication.

At times this feels like formulaic television, the plot could just easily have popped up in The Bill (probably has) but it’s fairly well put together and Schofield puts in a decent turn as villain of the week. The success of the series is undoubtedly down to the two leads and there is nothing particularly spectacular or surprising here.

There is some daft nonsense at the end of part two in a car-crushing yard which doesn’t really seem necessary or sit with the plot and a euthanasia sub plot involving one of the prison officers also seems slightly out of place.

This is safe populist entertainment and I suppose that’s no bad thing.

Rating 8 out of 10

In Deep airs on BBC One on Monday 24th February at 9pm with Part Two on Tuesday 25th