Unforgiven

THE BILL
Episode 012 - Unforgiven
Thursday 17 December 2009, 21.00 to 22.00, ITV1. Repeated ITV3 on Monday 21 December at 23:00
*Guest starring Pippa Haywood as Trudy Vincent. Ali Bastian’s (PC Sally Armstrong) last episode*

D.C.s Jacob Banks (Patrick Robinson) and Mickey Webb (Chris Simmons) work together to investigate the disappearance of 15 year old Saskia Fuller (Jessica Woods).

They discover that Saskia has recently been in touch with her father, Eamonn (Tony Maudsley), who was imprisoned 13 years ago for murder, but is due for release. Eamonn was an alcoholic who, after a heavy drinking session, beat Paul Vincent to death for no reason and couldn’t recall the attack the following morning.

Following all lines of enquiry, Banksy questions Paul’s widow, Trudy (Pippa Haywood) who is still bitter about her husband’s death and refuses to help the police in any way. Frustrated, Banksy visits Eamonn in prison to tell him his daughter is missing.

Eamonn is horrified and tells the D.C. that Saskia has recently been visiting him and confessed that she had a new boyfriend, Rick. Eamonn hands over Saskia’s letters to Banksy in the hope they hold clues and begs him to find his daughter.

As the investigation continues, Mickey and Banksy discover Saskia’s boyfriend ‘Rick’ to be Richard Vincent (Cary Crankson) – Trudy’s son. Has he kidnapped the teenager in order to avenge his father’s murder…?

Banksy updates Trudy who is stunned that Richard is now the main suspect and is terrified she will lose a son as well as a husband. She agrees to help by going to the station and calling Richard, begging him to turn himself in, but Richard simply hangs up.

The officers grow more concerned that he is planning to hurt Saskia and decide that Trudy is still the best person to convince Richard otherwise. Banksy is tasked with asking Trudy to visit Eamonn - if she can somehow come to terms with what happened to Paul, perhaps she can convince Richard to do the same.

Trudy reluctantly goes to the prison with Banksy but is repulsed by the thought of seeing Eamonn again. When the pair finally meet, the atmosphere is thick with tension and as Eamonn begins to offer some kind of an apology Trudy snaps and launches herself at him. Banksy jumps in to pull her away, but is more concerned than ever that they may never find Saskia...

Meanwhile, uniform, questioning the wisdom of introducing Trudie to her husband’s killer, scour the streets for the missing girl. As tensions build between uniform and CID they spot Richard and a frantic foot chase ensues. To their frustration, Richard escapes, and they re-double their efforts.

Later that day, Richard is finally arrested. In the interview room, Banksy uses all of his skills to try and persuade Richard, who is still grief-stricken and angry, to reveal Saskia’s whereabouts. Will he confess, or is it too late for him and for Saskia?

THE BILL is a talkbackTHAMES production and a direct commission by ITV. This episode was written by Roger Gartland, directed by Nigel Douglas and produced by Ciara McIlvenny.