The Debt

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Production notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Cast and production credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Interviews with the cast

Warren Clarke plays Geoff Dresner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Hugo Speer plays Detective Sergeant Ed Foster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Lee Williams plays James Hilden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Martin Freeman plays Terry Ross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Synopses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Debt

The Debt

Warren Clarke, Hugo Speer and Lee Williams leadthe cast of The Debt. Richard McBrien’s wry andwitty look at the lives of three men and just howfar they will go to get themselves out of debt istold from three very different viewpoints: thecrook, the police officer and the lawyer.

Warren Clarke is Geoff Dresner, a safe-breaker byprofession who has gone straight and is working asa baker. He comes out of retirement for one lastjob which is going to save his family. He’s theexpert so it should be a doddle. Detective SergeantEd Foster (Hugo Speer) is the investigating officerdesperate to get a successful arrest. He comeshead to head with Geoff’s keen young solicitor,James Hilden (Lee Williams).

Geoff’s first mistake is to enlist the help of his son-in-law,Terry (Martin Freeman), whose debt to localgangster Tony Stokes (Malcolm Storry) is thecatalyst for a dramatic turn of events with ahumorous twist.

The Debt also stars Nina Sosanya (Teachers) asnewly promoted Detective Inspector Kate Jaspers;Orla Brady (Servants) as Angela Thorpe, Hilden’s

manipulating boss; and Barbara Marten (Bob AndRose) as Geoff’s ex-wife, Gwen, to whom he turnsin his hour of need.

The Debt is written by Richard McBrien, directed by Jon Jones and produced by Pier Wilkie.The executive producers are Sally Haynes andLaura Mackie.

13The Debt

Introduction

Warren Clarke, Hugo Speerand Lee Williams star in

The Debt

“The Debt is a story about a criminal, a detectiveand a lawyer and how their lives collide with eachother,” explains writer Richard McBrien.“I’vewritten the piece from three different points ofview and we follow each of their lives as eventsimpact on them.The idea is that all three men owedebts to their children in some way which affectsthe way they do their job.”

The three men concerned are Geoff (WarrenClarke), a retired criminal who will do anything toprotect his daughter, Stacey, and grandson,Andy.Having been inside and missed out on a large partof Stacey’s childhood, Geoff has now gone straightand is working as a baker. He will do anything tomake things up to her.

Then there’s Ed (Hugo Speer), the detective. He’s awidower, struggling with his finances. He’s taken hisson out of the previous school where he was beingbullied and placed him in a private school, but nowhe has fallen behind with the fees. Only apromotion can help him.And finally there’s James(Lee Williams), who has it all. He’s recently marriedand has a new baby and has secured a job at asuccessful law firm. But then he meets Angela, hisformer lover, who is one of the partners of thecompany. Everything is happening too fast; he’s

weak and he can’t resist temptation which puts hisfamily under threat.

Producer Pier Wilkie says:“Richard has taken thefamiliar element of a crime drama and really givenit a different spin. The Debt is character led; it’s nota whodunit in the conventional sense.The dramacomes from when and how the story is revealed.”

When Geoff’s son-in-law,Terry (Martin Freeman),gets himself into financial difficulty, owing a largeamount of money to local businessman and loanshark Tony Stokes (Malcolm Storry), Geoff feels hehas no choice but to get involved and do one lastjob in order to protect his daughter.

“Terry is really the catalyst for everything thathappens,” explains Wilkie.“Martin Freeman does such a terrific job as Terry and we were delighted that he agreed to do the part.Terry is the kind ofguy that you can recognise: he’s terrifically annoying and you know that he’s always going to get himselfinto trouble. But, on the other hand, there’ssomething very endearing about him and you canunderstand why Stacey hasn’t been able to removehim from her life.”

“He’s a loveable rogue,” agrees McBrien.“He’s notreally a criminal and I wanted to show that hewasn’t really evil, but he likes to take a chance andlive life on the edge.Terry’s the person who makesthe whole thing happen, he starts the ball rolling byborrowing too much money from Stokes, who thenasks his father-in-law, Geoff, to break into a safe for him.”

So, Geoff comes out of retirement to do one lastjob which, with Terry coming along to help, doesn’tquite go to plan. Ed is the detective investigatingthe case and James is the keen young lawyerrepresenting Geoff.

Filming the safe-cracking scenes involved someresearch to ensure that it looked accurate.“Weconsulted a locksmith,” explains McBrien.“Heshowed us how to drill a hole in the safe door andthen use an endoscope to look inside so that you

14The Debt

Production notes

Production notes

Nina Sosanya plays Detective Inspector Kate Jaspers

can see the cogs.Warren Clarke spent a morninglearning how to crack the safe so that he couldlook like a professional.”

What makes The Debt so unusual is the order inwhich the story is told.“I wanted to muddle thestory up so most of it is told through flashbacks,”explains McBrien.“At the start of the first episode,we see Geoff being arrested and then you move onto see what happened in the three weeks prior tothat, so that episode one ends exactly where thestory began. Likewise, episode two starts in thecourtroom with the jury about to give its verdicton Geoff’s fate.Then you slip back three monthsuntil we catch up.

“I wanted the audience to feel that they don’t alwaysknow the whole story so that they make a judgementbased on what they know at that moment.”

“I think telling the story from three differentperspectives is also unusual,” adds Wilkie.“Through this we can see the implications that this case hason each of them and we can identify with theirlives. I certainly sympathise with Geoff and I canunderstand what leads Ed to do what he does. ButI find James a little frustrating. He is essentiallydecent but rather weak.”

“I can sympathise with all three of them as I think, deep down, they all want to do the rightthing,” says McBrien.“I wanted to show that intheir own world, criminals, detectives and lawyersare all good people, not real villains.The three men are trying to lead a good life but becomecompromised by events.”

So, Geoff is backed into a corner and forced to doone last job when he had promised to go straight.But with a young, inexperienced lawyer on his sideand a desperate detective, eager to build the caseagainst him, what fate will befall Geoff when heenters the courtroom?

15The Debt

Production notes

Geoff DresnerDS Ed FosterJames Hilden

Angela JahnsenDI Kate Jaspers

Stacey RossTerry Ross

Gwen Dresner Gillian Hilden

Tony StokesSophie Stokes

WriterDirectorProducer

Executive ProducersScript Executive

Associate ProducerDirector of Photography

Production DesignerOriginal Music

Make-up DesignerCostume Designer

Warren ClarkeHugo SpeerLee WilliamsOrla BradyNina SosanyaAmanda AbbingtonMartin FreemanBarbara MartenHarri EarthyMalcolm StorryJodi Albert

Richard McBrien Jon JonesPier Wilkie Sally Haynes and Laura Mackie Sarah BrownElizabeth BinnsJohn Pardue Lynne Whiteread Martin PhippsKaren Hartley-Thomas Mary Jane Reyner

16The Debt

Cast and production credits

Cast credits

Production credits

Warren Clarke leaves behind DetectiveSuperintendent Andy Dalziel to turn to a life ofcrime, taking on the role of retired safe-breakerGeoff Dresner in The Debt.

“Geoff’s gone straight after many years and is doingwell as a baker; you could say he earns a crust!”laughs Warren.“But suddenly his past comes back

to haunt him in a very devious way and he’s forced to go out and do one more job in order to save hisdaughter and grandson.

“Everything he does is for his daughter, Stacey, andhis grandson,Andy, who he treats very much likehis own son.The only person he doesn’t have timefor is his son-in-law,Terry, played brilliantly byMartin Freeman.”

When Terry gets himself into financial debt to localbusinessman Tony Stokes (Malcolm Storry), heturns to Geoff to get him out of trouble.Reluctantly, Geoff decides to come out ofretirement to do one last job, but things don’t goquite to plan.

Geoff’s first mistake is letting Terry help him outwith the job, a decision which goes against hisbetter judgement.“There’s this line where Geoffsays: ‘Mistake number one, letting Terry getinvolved’. Geoff’s forced into it when he knows he’dbe better off looking after himself.”

Terry and Geoff go off together to break into thesafe at the warehouse of local businessman Jez Kirk(Douglas Rao). Everything’s going fine until thesecurity guard turns up to investigate and discoversthat a fire has broken out. But was it an accident orwas it arson?

“I don’t think Geoff’s really that bad a criminal,”says Warren.“He’s breaking the law for a villainagainst a villain and when someone gets hurt in themiddle of everything it’s really not Geoff’s fault.”

Geoff is later arrested by DS Ed Foster (HugoSpeer) and DI Kate Jaspers (Nina Sosanya), who areconvinced that Geoff is guilty and are desperate fora conviction.

“When Geoff gets arrested, he feels like it’s the endof his world. He knows that if he’s found guilty thenhe’s going to prison for a very long time. He evenfaces the possibility that he could die in prison.”

17The Debt

Interviews

Warren Clarke isGeoff Dresner

Did you know?

• Warren has worked as a consulting produceron Dalziel & Pascoe since 2000. He also directedFor Love Nor Money, the final story of the last series.• Warren’s first job was as a copy boy on theManchester Evening News.

Born: Oldham, Lancashire.Appeared in: Down To Earth.Upcoming:Warren plays a fictional DeputyPrime Minister in The Deputy for BBC Onewhich has just finished filming, and will be seenin a new series of Dalziel & Pascoe this autumn.

Playing Geoff was clearly a role that Warren hasenjoyed.“Geoff’s very different to the charactersthat I’ve played recently. I spend such a large part ofthe year working on Dalziel & Pascoe that it’s niceto do other interesting pieces in between.”

And Warren has just finished filming the next series of Dalziel & Pascoe in Birmingham.“This willbe the eighth series and it’s still as popular as ever.We’re doing four separate stories and we treatthem very much like separate films. I’m co-producer on this series and I also directed one ofthe films which went out last year. It can be trickycombining acting with producing and directing, butit’s a brilliant buzz.”

Film and television have always fascinated Warrenand it’s been a burning ambition for him to succeedin the industry.“As a child I used to get taken tosee a movie with my mum and dad on a Saturday.Sometimes we’d go to the morning matinee andsee films like Flash Gordon and then Saturdayevenings we’d go and see a double feature. Iremember it being so amazing looking up at the bigscreen and I was totally seduced by it.When Istarted acting I started in the theatre but my goalwas always to get into film, nothing to with thefame but purely because I really enjoyed what thecamera can do. I never dreamt I would actuallyachieve it but now I’m living my childhood fantasy.”

When Warren’s not working, he can often be found on the golf course.“I love playing golf and my handicap is around 16. I haven’t had much timeto play over the past few months so I’d like to play more, but I also like working, so you can’t have everything!”

And Warren’s other love is spending time with hisfamily and, in particular, his four-year-old daughter.“She’s just started nursery school which she loves. Ireally miss her when I’m away filming so I’m tryingto take on work that’s closer to home so I canspend more time with her.”

18The Debt

Interviews

Hugo Speer has played a stripper in the Oscar-nominated film, The Full Monty, a butcher in theBBC One drama, Hearts & Bones, and now he’sturning his hand to detective work in the new two-part drama, The Debt, for BBC One.

Hugo plays Det Sgt Ed Foster, an amiable but slightlydishevelled officer working in CID, desperate forpromotion.“He’s having quite a tough time,” explainsHugo.“His wife died three years earlier and he’sbringing up his young son on his own. His son wasbullied at the local comprehensive school and Ed’sforced to send him to private school, so he’sconstantly financially pushed. He works as a taxidriver at night to make ends meet and thereforecan’t perform at his best in the day. So, he keepsgetting overlooked for promotion.”

But Ed’s partner, DI Kate Jaspers (Nina Sosanya), isleaping up the career ladder, despite being 10 yearshis junior.

“I don’t think Ed’s resentful of Kate as they get onvery well. He knows that Kate has deserved herpromotion but he also knows that life cansometimes be a struggle and, in order to succeed,he must keep any sort of bitterness or resentmentto one side.”

Ed gets the opportunity to prove himself and earnhis promotion when he and Kate are called to awarehouse fire and they investigate the break-inand attempted murder of the warehouse securityguard. Convinced that local criminal Geoff Dresner(Warren Clarke) is the culprit, all they have to do isprove it.

“The pressure is on for Ed to crack this case to theextent where he might be prepared to bend therules in order to secure a conviction,” admits Hugo.

It’s been a busy couple of years for Hugo Speer,starring alongside Sarah Lancashire and Esther Hallin Sons And Lovers and an episode of Paul Abbott’sClocking Off with Nicola Stephenson. But when theoffer of The Debt came up, he couldn’t say no.

“I loved Richard McBrien’s scripts, particularly theway that much of the story is told in flashbacks, so

19The Debt

Interviews

Hugo Speer is Detective Sergeant

Edward Foster

Did you know?

• Hugo likes to play football and, last year, playedstriker for Rod Stewart’s team at the ChelseaSoccer Six where they reached the final.• Hugo’s first job was as bouncer and roadie for Tony the Tiger who used to advertiseKellogg’s Frosties.

Born: Harrogate,Yorkshire.Trained:Arts Educational School in LondonAppeared in: The Full Monty, Hearts & Bones,Sons And Lovers.Upcoming: Boudica for ITV.

the plot unravels as more information becomes apparent.”

As a child, Hugo was one of the few young boyswho didn’t have aspirations to play cops androbbers for real, he had other ideas.

“I always wanted to be a jockey because I was verysmall at the time. But then by the age of 11, I wastoo tall.After that, I decided I wanted to be aprofessional footballer. I used to have a really goodeye for a goal and if I’d made it then I would haveloved to play for Leeds United.”

“I still support Leeds, we’ve got a big, young squadwho all want to play, but we definitely need adegree of success very quickly.”

But it was acting that Hugo decided to make hiscareer, and he was fortunate to get his first actingjob on the same day that he left drama school, asmall part in The Bill. It wasn’t long before The FullMonty happened which made him an instant hitwith the British public. He went on to staralongside pop diva Lisa Stansfield in Swingbefore landing the role of Rich in BBC One’s Hearts & Bones.

“I made a film called Do Or Die in Australia andthen went to Paris to shoot a French film calledBarnie et ses petites contrarieties, for which I hadto learn to speak French. I’d forgotten most of theFrench that I had learnt at school, I knew how toask a girl out and how to order a beer, which areobviously the essentials! I was the only Englishmanon the set, so I learnt quickly!”

It’s not just work that has led Hugo Speer to travel.He was a patron of the charity War Child forseveral years, travelling to countries as diverse asRwanda, Kosovo, Uganda and Guatemala. NowHugo is involved with the charity No Strings withNeil Morrissey. No Strings’ mission is to usepuppetry as an educational tool in the third worldand other developing countries.

“Our initial project is in Afghanistan to teach thechildren there about landmine awareness.A lot ofthe children are illiterate, so puppetry is a great

way of capturing their imagination.The story isbased on Pinocchio, using Afghan folklore. It’s a funway of getting a very serious message across and Ihope to go out there myself in October.

“It can be hard fitting trips in around my work, butwhenever I’m not working I make myself available. Ifirst became involved with War Child through NeilMorrissey. I did an episode of Men Behaving Badlyand became good friends with Neil, who wasalready a patron.We were chatting one evening andI decided there and then that I wanted to help.”

Hugo is currently working on his first theatre job,with Sir Peter Hall’s company.“It’s a season of fiveplays,” explains Hugo.“I’m in two of them – Betrayal by Howard Pinter and Design For Living byNoel Coward. I’ve done 11 years of television andfilm so it’s nice to do something different. I’mfinding it very liberating doing a live gig in front ofso many people every night. I’d love to do more inthe future.”

And there’s one other big role that Hugo wouldlove to fulfil in the future:“I would love to play aBond baddie! I loved all the Connery and Moorefilms, it felt like part of an era.The character that Iwould play would be really nasty and threaten toblow up the whole of civilisation!”

20The Debt

Interviews

A singer in a boy band and an impulsive, 20-something student doesn’t seem ideal preparationto become a lawyer. But for Lee Williams, roles inChannel 4’s Boyz Unlimited and BBC Two’s No NightIs Too Long proved to be the perfect platform totake on the role of James Hilden in the new two-part drama, The Debt.

James is a young lawyer, recently married and with a baby on the way. He seems to have asuccessful future ahead of him, so what couldpossibly go wrong?

“James has just started work at a law firm and oneof the partners is Angela Jahnsen who was James’stutor at college and with whom he had an affair,”explains Lee.“They rapidly resume their affair buthe doesn’t tell Angela about his wife. I think hemeans to but he’s quite a weak character, there’s ascene where he goes to put a photo of his wife onhis desk so that Angela will see it but, in the end, hejust can’t do it.

“I think it’s all pretty exciting for James. He’s boughta house with his wife, who’s pregnant, but it’s allhappened a bit too fast for him and now his futureis looking pretty much mapped out for the next 20years.Angela, however, represents everything thatJames thought he wanted to be: independent,successful and without ties.”

Nevertheless, James is keen to prove himself in hiscareer and when the opportunity comes along totake on a pro bono case, which is something thatall young lawyers have to take on, he jumps at thechance to show Angela what he can do.

“He represents Geoff Dresner, who is beingaccused of arson and attempted murder.The policeseem to be on a mission to pin this on Geoff, butAngela is insistent that Geoff pleads not guilty,which James can’t understand. But she promisesnot to tell his wife about their affair if he goesalong with it. So, at the end of the day, James thinksmore about himself than his client.”

“I think, when Geoff first sees James, he thinks:‘Oh, great!’ He realises that James isn’t going to bethe best lawyer in the world but his future dependson him.”

James ultimately wants to do the right thing byeveryone but he’s weak and he’s got himself in toodeep and is unable to control events spiralling

21The Debt

Interviews

Lee Williams isJames Hilden

Did you know?

• Lee was down to the last two auditioned toplay the part of baddie Tom Riddle in HarryPotter film The Chamber Of Secrets.The parteventually went to Christian Coulson.

Born:Warrington, Cheshire.Appeared in: Me Without You, No Night Is TooLong, The Forsyte Saga.

around him. In contrast, Lee is totally in control ofhis career and is thoroughly enjoying the variety ofroles that are coming his way.

“In The Forsyte Saga I played the new lead, Jon, whois the son of Jolyon (Rupert Graves) and Irene(Gina McKee). My mum and my sister both lovedthe first series so it’s nice to be doing somethingthat they will like.”

Lee also starred as Anna Friel’s boyfriend in MeWithout You, played Stuart Sutcliffe in a film aboutJohn Lennon called In His Life and appeared in theBAFTA-nominated Losing It, about teenage suicide.

Despite his success, Lee came very close todiverting his talents elsewhere.“When I was atschool and I said that I wanted to be an actor, a lotof the teachers tried to discourage me.At the time,I really trusted the teachers so I went to art schoolinstead. I did my first year in Lancaster and then mysecond year in Suffolk and then moved to Londonto do a degree in art. I didn’t finish the degree inthe end but fortunately things seemed to haveworked out for the best.”

When he’s not acting, Lee loves writing andrecently wrote a play which was performed inFrance.“It is called Round Robin and it’s about apainter who develops Alzheimer’s and it exploresthe effects that the illness can have on the family. Ialso want to do more painting and I’d really like tobuy my own flat, probably in London. I’ve beenworking such a lot over the past couple of yearsbut I want to make sure that I don’t stop doing thethings I enjoy.”

22The Debt

Interviews

Best known for playing Tim Canterbury in BBCTwo’s hit comedy series The Office, Martin Freemanloves doing comedy and making people laugh. Butin The Debt he turns his hand to straight acting,playing Terry Ross, a scaffolder who’s never far awayfrom trouble.

“I’ve mainly done comedy over the last couple ofyears and I want to make sure that I don’t get

pigeon-holed. I’ve done straight roles before,including Channel 4’s Men Only, but this is definitelythe biggest,” says Freeman.“I want to have abalance. I would be as proud of being a Stan Laurelas I would of being a Robert de Niro.”

In The Debt,Terry seems to have an uncanny knack of getting into trouble and constantly relieson his father-in-law, Geoff (Warren Clarke), to helphim out.

“Terry is married to Stacey and, together, they havea young son called Andy. He’s one of those peoplewho can’t stop getting involved with things that heshouldn’t. He’s a dreamer and has high hopes. Isuppose he’s a bit of a loveable rogue, I don’t thinkhe means to let his family down, he’s just a bit of an idiot.”

Terry finds himself owing a large amount of moneyto a local businessman called Tony Stokes (MalcolmStorry).When Terry starts to miss the repayments,Tony loses his patience and sends his heavies roundto try and make Terry pay up. It is then that Terryturns to Geoff.A retired safe-breaker, Geoff agreesto come out of retirement to do one last job andget the money to pay off Terry’s loan for the sakeof his daughter and grandson.

“I don’t think Terry appreciates what Geoff doesfor him.When he helps Geoff with the job,Terryseems to think it’s all a bit of an adventure. Becausehe isn’t really a criminal at heart, it seems quiteglamorous to him.Whereas Geoff knows all toowell that it isn’t glamorous at all because he’s been inside.”

With Terry involved, inevitably the job doesn’t gosmoothly and Geoff finds himself in the frame notonly for breaking the safe but also for burningdown the warehouse and the attempted murder ofthe security guard.

“I don’t think Terry ever realises that he could be inserious trouble. I don’t know what goes on inTerry’s mind, I think he’s emotionally immature.”

23Canterbury Tales

Interviews

Martin Freeman isTerry Ross

Did you know?

• Both Ralf Little and Martin Kemp are big fansof The Office.• Martin loves clothes and never leaves thehouse in an un-ironed shirt.

Born:Aldershot, Hampshire.Studied: Central School of Speech and Dramain London.Appeared in: The Office, Men Only, Hardware.Upcoming: Charles II for BBC One this autumn,Richard Curtis’s film Love Actually, Margery &Gladys for ITV.

For Martin, working on The Debt was a bit like ahome from home as his real-life girlfriend,AmandaAbbington, plays his on-screen wife, Stacey.

“We met when we were filming Men Only but wedidn’t have many scenes together. Since then, wehaven’t worked together, although we have wantedto do something for a while. She’s a brilliant actressbut it’s a bit strange playing husband and wife!

“And it’s been great having Warren Clarke as afather-in-law! Virtually all my scenes have been withhim so it’s really important that we get on well. Hemakes you feel like an equal part of whatever’sgoing on.We had a really good rapport and werealways taking the mickey out of each other!”

Later this year, Martin turns his hand to perioddrama, starring alongside Rufus Sewell in Charles IIfor BBC One, in which he plays Shaftesbury. He alsotakes his talents to the big screen where he can beseen in Richard Curtis’s new film, Love Actually.

“Apparently, Richard Curtis is a big fan of TheOffice!” says Martin, proudly.“Love Actually starsHugh Grant and Colin Firth and the plot involves anumber of different love stories, one of whichcentres around my character, who is a movie stand-in. Nina Sosanya, who plays DI Kate Jaspers in TheDebt, is also in the film, so it was nice to work withher again.”

Away from the screen, Martin has also appeared onstage, most recently alongside Gimme, Gimme,Gimme’s Kathy Burke in Nick Grosso’s Kosher Harryat The Royal Court Theatre.

“Theatre takes a lot of beating – it’s the attentionto detail as well as the immediacy of the audience. Ilove the care and attention that you can take in afew weeks’ rehearsals for a play. It takes somebeating in terms of fulfilment. I don’t have plans todo any theatre for a little while but if someoneoffered me the chance to play Hamlet then I wouldjump at it!”

So, with appearances on the small screen, in thecinema and also on stage and a talent for bothcomedy and drama, what’s Martin Freeman’s secret?

“I only ever choose to work on things that I thinkI’m going to be really proud of.With The Office, Ithink it’s brilliant and I know that, even if I wasn’t init, I would still love it and that, to me, is the mostimportant thing. It’s like my record collection orbook collection, I don’t really care if it matches upwith what’s popular at the moment but it meanssomething to me and that’s what’s important.”

24The Debt

Interviews

Episode One

Retired safe-cracker Geoff Dresner has been makingan honest living as a baker since his release fromprison three years ago. He’s determined never to goback inside but when his son-in-law,Terry, gets intodebt with local loan shark, Stokes, Geoff ispersuaded to do one last job to pay off Terry’s debt.

Stokes tells Geoff to break into a factory and stealthe wages from the safe.Terry talks Geoff intoletting him accompany him on the job and, together,they evade the security guard and steal £50,000from the safe. Geoff and Terry are leaving thefactory, job completed, when Geoff notices that thefactory is on fire and the security guard is trapped.

The police have Geoff down as a prime suspect,though Geoff denies involvement in the robberyand the fire. DS Ed Foster, a single parent with aflagging career, needs to solve the factory job if he’sto finally win the promotion that he feels hedeserves. But the case against Geoff looks shaky.

To add to Geoff’s problems, he isn’t yet off thehook with Stokes. He gives him the cash from thesafe, but Stokes thinks he’s keeping some back andtells him he’ll be keeping a close eye on him.

Geoff lies to Foster and tells him that he was with his estranged wife, Gwen, on the night inquestion and Gwen grudgingly agrees to back up Geoff’s alibi.

Geoff is taken in for questioning and young lawyerJames Hilden is assigned to the case.To get the jobin his prestigious law firm, James has concealed hiswife and young child from Angela, a senior partnerat the firm and James’s former lover.

Geoff, meanwhile, is worried. He’s made too manymistakes and the police are onto him. James seemsconfident they can win the case but does he knowsomething Geoff doesn’t?

Episode Two

The security guard has died so Geoff is about tostand trial for arson and murder as well as theft.

Geoff’s lawyer, James, has been unable to break offhis affair with Angela – who, strangely, seems to betaking a keen interest in Geoff’s case. DS Ed Foster,meanwhile, is moonlighting as a taxi driver to payhis son’s school fees. He’s constantly tired, makingmistakes and close to breaking point.

Geoff by now is starting to suspect that Stokes’smotive in putting him up to the robbery isn’t assimple as it appeared.Why did Stokes get him tobreak into the safe for just £50,000? It’s smallchange to him. Is he actually a pawn in some biggergame? Geoff tells Stokes there’s no way he is goingto jail for him but Stokes is unruffled – as long asno one tells tales to the police, they’ll all be safe.Does he have something up his sleeve?

Will Geoff go down again and miss out on hisgrandson growing up as he did previously with hisdaughter? Will James persuade the jury that Geoff isinnocent? Have we seen the last of Terry’s meddlingand just how far will Ed go to get that promotion?

25The Debt

Synopses

The DebtEpisode synopses