PICK OF THE DAY

Too Close

ITV, 9pm, Monday to Wednesday

There’s a certain kind of tale in which happy, middle-class family life is revealed to be a deceptive surface hiding dark secrets. So it is with this three-part thriller.

The story centres around two women. Emma Robertson (Emily Watson) is a psychiatrist with a clandestine smoking habit, so what else isn’t she telling her husband? Her latest patient has made the news in a sensational case: Connie Mortensen (Denise Gough, near right with Watson) is accused of attempted murder after driving her car with two children into a river. Now in a psychiatric hospital, she claims to have no memory of her actions.

In flashback the story reveals that Connie seemed to have a comfortable life, so what possessed her to try to throw everything away? Meanwhile, back in the present, Emma is drawn far deeper into Connie’s predicament than she should be. ★★★★★