Review:
Ashes to Ashes: 307

Series Three, Episode Seven

‘Did you, or did you not, kill Sam Tyler?’ – Alex Drake

So here we are at last, at the beginning of the end. Ashes to Ashes is going to finish with an almighty two-part finale in which all the remaining questions are answered. Questions like, will Gene and Alex ever get it on? What’s the real reason she was brought back here? And will eighties fashion ever return to the streets of London?

The CID are still mourning the loss of one of their own, all coping with death in different ways. Chris laughs hysterically at things that are only slightly amusing, something that puts him directly in the warpath of Gene Hunt, who starts treating his young DC worse than ever. Ray continues to treat Shaz like an equal – more than ever, in fact, now that they’ve both seen the star field and Keats is piling more pressure on Alex than ever before to reveal what she knows and takes away the roll of film she found stashed in Gene’s desk.

All that is shattered when a call comes in reporting a disturbance in a South African-run restaurant. However, nobody who was at crime scene claims to have witnessed everything and all the potential suspects remain quiet, putting Gene in a very difficult position – can he crack this last case in front of Keats before the investigation into CID’s methods is closed?

If last week’s episode had a massive amount of things happening in it, then this time around the content matter is doubled. The case itself actually finishes about half way through the episode, leaving a full half-hour to focus on the really important stuff – like tying up this enormous and extremely convoluted storyline.

This is, quite possibly, the very finest episode in Ashes to Ashes entire three-series run. The case is a tricky bugger to work out (for once), the character relationships are at their most fraught and tense and the situation feels as though it’s been held over a pressure cooker for far too long.