DVD & BluRay

INNOCENT: SERIES TWO Acorn, cert 15

DVD £24.99 & on Digital Katherine Kelly’s one of a select group of actresses who first appeared in Coronation Street, and then went on to star in quality drama outside the soap bubble.

She fires on all cylinders in this second story about a former prison inmate who claimed she was innocent don’t they all? - of the crime for which she was convicted. Forget all memory of Lee Ingleby having a hard time convincing everybody he shouldn’t have been banged up for his wife’s murder in the first Innocent, this is a fresh story.

Katherine (pictured) plays Sally Wright, a teacher jailed for murdering teenage pupil Matty Taylor, after claims she seduced him. Five years on, she’s cleared when new evidence comes to light, and returns home to Keswick in the Lake District. But, Sally discovers there’s virtually no chance of picking up the pieces of her old life as the community has turned against her.

Her ex-hubby Sam (Jamie Bamber) has also moved on, and moved in with Sally’s former colleague Karen (Priyanga Burford), and the school warns it will fight off any bid to get her job back. But, she does, at the price of having to withstand verbal insults from staff, pupils and parents. Luckily DCI Braithwaite (Shaun Dooley) is keen to make up for the force’s errors and help Sally in any way he can, while catching the real killer. He also fancies her. You can see many of the twists from writer Chris Lang (of the Unforgotten series) coming, but it’s still gripping stuff thanks to steely-eyed Kelly’s fireworks display of determination.