DRAMA
BBC1, 2.15pm Any drama with Jimmy McGovern’s name to it is a must-see. He created this series a few years ago, with each episode a standalone tale about ordinary people facing turning points in their lives. And it is, without exception, a cut above any other daytime drama.
Running every day this week, this first instalment begins with Pat (Sinead Cusack), a cleaner in a local school doing her usual shift. She notices a new teacher, and although she’s sure she doesn’t know him, his voice as he talks on the phone is terribly familiar. Filled with horror, the realisation dawns on her.
He is the teacher who abused her daughter Rachel, when Rachel was a schoolgirl.
But Rachel (played by Jodhi May, who wrote this episode) is now a happily married mum-of-two, and while her mum wants to report him, she is reluctant to revisit the past.
What follows is gripping and emotionally charged.