The Big Crunch

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The Big Crunch (Series 2)

Written by: Ted Whitehead

Produced by: Paul Abbott

Directed by: Julian Jarrold

Originally Screened: 31/10/94 (Part 1), 07/11/94 (Part 2), 14/11/94 (Part 3)

In a leafy suburban community, Kenneth Trant is a headmaster of a local school and leader of a religious sect, and his brother Michael runs a packaging firm. Their wives, Virginia and Norma respectively, are friends. Norma finds out that Kenneth has been having an affair with student Joanne Barnes and tells Virginia. Norma and Virginia persuade Joanne back to Virginia's house one day where they end up kidnapping her and locking her in the basement. When Kenneth and Michael arrive, the four of them give Joanne an overdose of drink and pills and plan to dispose of her unconscious body in the crusher at Michael's factory, despite Joanne's confession that she is expecting Kenneth's child. But Michael gives the crate containing Joanne to his backwards young employee Dean who lets her go. Meanwhile, Judith announces her intention to Fitz to sell their house, news he reacts badly too. However, he is soon back working with the police when Penhaligon suggests he talks to the parents of Joanne, who have now reported their daughter as missing. Joanne is eventually found and is admitted to hospital, where Fitz tries unsuccessfully to find out what happened to her before she dies. Kenneth tries to convince the others to let the police think that Dean was responsible for Joanne's death, but Fitz and Penhaligon are less than convinced.

As they continue their investigation by interviewing Joanne's former priest and her fellow schoolmates, Beck and Harriman arrest Dean and through their pressurising force Dean into confessing to Joanne's murder. Fitz and Wise head for the police cell where they are holding Dean so Fitz can convince Wise of Beck's mistake, only to find Dean has hanged himself. Now with Dean's death, Fitz and Penhaligon remain more determined to trap the Trant's. As they start to spend more and more time together as the case progresses, the pair finally spend the night together, something that doesn't go down too well with Fitz's son Mark when he discovers them together the next morning. Fitz immediately targets Michael and Virginia as the weak links in the group, but getting through Norma and Kenneth doesn't prove very easy. As none of the Trants seem to be breaking with their constant interviewing, Fitz and Penhaligon eventually resort to turning up at one of their church meetings where Fitz, infront of all Kenneth's followers, reveals the truth behind the Trants. Eventually Michael, unable to live with his guilt over what they did, starts to hands out the photos Norma had taken of Kenneth and Joanne having sex and admits to his part in the Joanne's death, as well as also implicating his brother, his wife and Virginia. The Trants are then finally arrested.