Above Suspicion

Special airing of the first two episodes in one feature length showing over Christmas 2009 - When several young women are brutally murdered, DC Anna Travis is determined to prove her worth under the guidance of DCI James Langton and uncovers a piece of evidence that seems to link a famous actor with the victims. Drama, starring Kelly Reilly, Ciaran Hinds and John Savident, written by Lynda La Plante

For eight years, some has been murdering women, following the same brutal ritual each time. The most recent victim doesn't fit the profile, but evidence links her to the others. Rookie DC Anna Travis volunteers to go undercover to crack the case.

DCI James Langton permits Travis to go on a date to the ballet with superstar Alan Daniels, the prime suspect in serial killings involving low-rent prostitutes to gain information and mislead him.

The discovery of the mutilated body of a young woman seems to echo that of the notorious unsolved 'Black Dahlia' murder of 1940s Los Angeles.

Travis becomes romantically involved with the tabloid journalist covering the murder, and an anonymous phone call leads Langton to aristocratic ex-army surgeon Charles Wickenham as the chief suspect.

The case is drawing to an end as Travis and Langton close in on the copycat killer, their investigation of the main suspect uncovering long-buried secrets of sadistic cruelty and murderous intent.

When a man brutally murders the surgeon who has just changed his face, the team find themselves in the middle of a double murder investigation as they also investigate the shooting of a retired police officer, known by Langton at a dealer's den on a seedy estate, which links into one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted, a dealer who vanished over ten years ago.

Whilst Roache admits to shooting Frank in a panic, he denies killing Danny. Middle-class dropout and user Julian D'Anton's prints are on Danny's car, though Langton considers him too small-time to be a murderer. From a photograph, Travis identifies Julia's ex-husband as an international criminal and asks Sam Power to contact the FBI for details of his crimes in America.

A fraud inspector visits Langton for Julius' whereabouts, but this proves to be Alexander Fitzpatrick in disguise, who stole all the Drop Dead after finding them in Danny's car. Fitzpatrick retrieves his haul after killing Julius's wife, but a vital clue is provided when DNA found at the crack den matches that at Helga's farmhouse.

Frustrated at being passed over for promotion to commander in favour of the younger, less experienced Sam Power, Langton heads the investigation into the murder of temperamental, promiscuous film star Amanda Delaney, who was seemingly about to embark on tell-tale memoirs. Langton and Travis are interested in a crucifix found on a corpse not belonging to the victim.

After interviewing Josh Lyons, publisher of Amanda's scandalous memoir, Travis convinces Langton she did not ruin his promotion chances. The police also pull in Helena Mitchell, wife of another of Amanda's lovers, who visited to ask her to end the affair, but left while she was still alive. She does however report seeing a man at the flat, and then, another corpse is found.

After the body of Felicity Turner, another of Amanda's old flatmates, is dragged from the river, the remaining college contemporary, Jeanie Bale, is brought in. She admits to having Amanda's diary, which she was planning to sell for £5,000.