By George Frew

ALL the way through Undercover Heart, we had never been sure if loopy Lois would end up back with her husband Tom, or whether she'd settle for fancy-man Matthew instead.

The series ended last night and we still don't know. But we do know who committed the murder. It was the pimps and the social worker wot done it, guv.

Peter Bowker's script was fresh, original and a cliche-free zone right from the word go.

And he was brave not to take the easy way out by writing a cosy, feelgood ending where Tom and Lois got back together, or she and Matthew strolled off hand in hand into the sunset.

Instead, she muttered something about 'The Truth', to which Tom replied, "All we've done is hurt each other - what sort of truth is that?"

Intelligent and true to life TV dramas such as this are a rare breed indeed and if the BBC has any sense, they'll already have given Mr Bowker the nod to produce another series. Lennie James, Daniela Nardini and Steven Mackintosh were superb in this series, but special praise must surely go to Mackintosh who, as the tortured and tormented Tom, had to portray just about every range of emotion known to man.

Frustration, tenderness, hate, love, anger, bitterness, hurt - Mackintosh was asked to dig deep into his actors' bag of tricks, and managed to come up with the goods every time.

Indeed, at times it was difficult to believe that all this raw-edged stuff was coming from one actor - it seemed as if he was playing a gallery of characters instead of one man.

Praise too, for Lennie James whose portrayal of the decent but seriously flawed Matthew was a revelation. Casting directors should be supplied with a map and a key to this man's door, pronto.

We knew, of course that Nardini was the business. She was excellent in her breakthrough role in This Life and hasn't put a foot wrong since, but in Undercover Heart, she was totally convincing as a woman caught between two men she obviously cared for. She was supposed to be some sort of hostage to her emotions and she played it right to the hilt.

This series proved yet again that if good actors are presented with a good script, the chances are that what will emerge is television of the highest order - which is just what we got.

And there are still enough shots in Peter Bowker's locker for a second series.

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