Warning: This summary is for those who have seen up to episode six of Sherwood on BBC One.
Who would have had a happy ending when James Graham’s majestic drama reached its compelling climax? And would Wimbledon coverage be interposed again? Here are your Ian St Clair style notes on the end of the series …
“He’s not a beat poet, he’s a psychopath”
As the human hunt entered its second week, the Sparrow crime clan looked at the arrow fired at its front door. The eldest son Rory (Perry Fitzpatrick) insisted it was a message to him, because he had broken his promise to help the rogue archer Scott Rowley (Adam Hugill) escape. No one thought matriarch Daphne (Lorraine Ashbourne) could be the target.
Did the cunning husband Mickey (Philip Jackson) suspect the truth? He certainly delivered an unusual speech. After searching Google for her code name, Keats, who had initially misspelled “Keets,” which would be crucial, Daphne reflected on her famous phrase from Oda in a Greek ballot box: “Beauty is the truth, truth beauty “. Fearing she would be about to be revealed as a covert cop, someone who had lived a lie for decades was left to ponder the nature of the truth.
St Clair was a man on a mission
DCS Ian St Clair (David Morrissey) was on the verge of obsession in his search for the traitor. His marriage was in crisis because he had suspected his wife Helen (Clare Holman), who was actually in witness protection to escape his violent father.
The Home Office confirmed that a covert Met officer had arrived in 1984, but did not compromise his anonymity. Police Chief Fraser (Phaldut Sharma) added that St Clair’s proximity to the case was obscuring his trial and warned him not to prosecute him.
The Jackson family reunited
Magnificent performance … Claire Rushbrook as Cathy. Photography: Matt Squire / BBC / House Productions
It took five episodes, but Rosie Jackson (This is Chanel Cresswell from England) returned from her cruise. She was furious that her father’s killer hadn’t been caught yet, but she was pleasantly surprised that Mother Julie (Lesley Manville) had built bridges with Aunt Cathy (Claire Rushbrook).
When Cathy came to get a cup, it became very clear how long they had been away. Julie had even missed Cathy’s wedding to Fred Rowley (Kevin Doyle), unless she hadn’t. Julie had looked from the cooperative’s nearby parking lot (very Victoria Wood). Even more touching, Cathy knew, “I saw you and I was so grateful.” Magnificent interpretation of both.
The network was shut down to spy police
A Met source gave DI Kevin Salisbury (Robert Glenister) the four issues to which former copper billist Bill Raggett (Christopher Fairbank) sent his latest text, belonging to Raggett’s undercover colleagues. When St Clair called the quartet in turn, only one picked up: “Keats,” also known as Daphne. In an electrifyingly tense scene, the couple had a one-sided phone conversation before Daphne hung up.
The next clue came from a surprise source. Julie realized that Daphne was dodging a question about her alleged mining father and shared her suspicions with Ian. Newcomer Daphne Dunn (her maiden name) always said her father worked at Clipstone mining, but none Dunn had worked there. Had the great suitor reverberated? The SD stole the names of the dead children to construct false identities. Young Daphne Dunn died in 1965 in Peterborough. It was not a trial, but he was convicted.
Sparrow v arrow
I understand! … Adam Hugill as Scott. Photography: Matt Squire / BBC / House Productions
After being kicked out of the woods, Scott slept in the Sparrows’ Shed. When Mickey found him, Scott escaped on his motorcycle, but Mickey chased after him, calling the police as he did so.
In an exciting sequence, Scott roared through the ginnels we’ve seen so much in this series. “Do you think you’re the new villain in town?” Mickey growled behind the wheel of his minicab. “I’ll show you a bad one.” He hurried out in front of Scott’s bike and made him fly over the hood. The limping fugitive pulled out his weapon, but the entire community shut down: cops and criminals, alienated sisters, members of NUM and UDM alike, before Dean Simmons (Sean Gilder) and Leonard Gibson (Charles Dale) showed it off. land. I understand.
For the benefit of the tape …
Halfway through, we were finally able to hear Scott’s motives. He admitted to killing Gary Jackson (Alun Armstrong), but blew with suggestions that it was related to the miners’ strike. Deprived of rights and embittered by his broken home, Scott had fixed his jealousy on the loving Jackson family. That graffiti “You’re all liars” at its closure was not aimed at anyone in particular but at society at large. The Sparrows “owed me,” so they shot at their front door. As for the attacks on the train, golf course and lawyer Vinay Chakrabarti (Ace Bhatti)? “Probably hypocrites and liars.”
As a white working man from the Midlands, Scott felt abandoned. I knew there was a spy cop to hack Chakrabarti’s emails, but not who he was. He had left that “eye spy” message to lead the police to a merry dance, hoping he could escape unnoticed. When St Clair closed his notebook in disgust, Scott reveled in it “trying to put it all together when now it’s not there to assemble.”
It was hard not to feel as frustrated as St Clair. As the anti-climate interviews go on, he recalled Line of Duty’s “H” revelation. Scott was not a criminal brain, just a disgruntled loner. In real life, things are never in order. Scott’s motivation was not political, but the community projected it toward him and began to break down again. It was a metaphor for the government of the 1980s, separating people from the shadows. St Clair got her husband, but she still needed answers. Could the spy police expose them?
Snog for the old days
When director Jenny Harris (Nadine Marshall) checked into a hotel after leaving unfaithful husband Jacob Harris (Don Gilet), she ran into a resident and old partner Kevin. Full of nostalgic longing, they kissed, before Kevin remembered his father’s death in 1984 and apologized in tears.
It was cathartic for both of them. The next morning, Jenny admitted that she felt liberated by Jacob’s betrayal. Kevin was also looking forward. When she broke up with former coaching partner Ian, the couple had exorcised their mutual demons. Kevin was moved by Ian’s saying that he had “behaved with integrity and professionalism,” in contrast to 1984. However, Kev’s farewell advice (“Don’t torment yourself by chasing old ghosts”) fell on deaf ears.
It’s good to talk
While Ashfield tried to heal after his losses, he held two community events. First there was a public meeting with the police, who briefly looked like they could reunite the premises until they fell into the usual recriminations of striker and “shoulder”. Fred argued that working miners were only trying to reap the last profits from a dying industry. Leonard said the government “used us to break up a whole class of people.” Deano recalled the night of the fire, when miners tried to help the strikers and were offset by domestic fires. Ian’s brother, Martin (Mark Frost), insisted his burns were just a tragic accident, but “That’s not a good enough story, is it? There’s nowhere to put your anger and guilt.” He might as well have been talking about Scott.
In a passionate speech, Julie said they were falling into the trap of blaming each other, rather than the establishment. The “former, post-industrial” city was defined by what it was no longer. How could young people like their grandchildren, or indeed Scott, imagine a future in a place trapped in the past? “We have a life and we spend it hating it,” Julie concluded wearily. “Aren’t you all tired? I’m very tired”.
Stage stuff, as expected from playwright Graham, but full of powerful monologues and heavy performances, especially from Manville and Doyle. However, the Sherwood set has been so uniformly fantastic that it’s hard to pick the highlights. Morrissey, Glenister, Rushbrook, Ashbourne and Adeel Akhtar stood out. Even the dismal Philip Jackson arrived late to the party as the surprise hero Mickey.
Damn, self-correction
‘Modern Robin Hoods’ … the sparrows at the harvest party. Photography: Matt Squire / BBC / House Productions
Then came the school harvest party. Parents could buy Christmas panto tickets for the children by sending a text message to a donation number, so that the promises would appear on the screen. Eager to be “a modern Robin Hood,” Mickey Sparrow wanted to buy the lot. With her eyes staring at her phone because she was not wearing glasses, his wife sent the text message: only “entries” by default was “Keats”, i.e. “Daphne Sparrow all Keats” appeared on the big screen .
He ran out with Ian chasing them. When she arrived at the Sparrows’ farmhouse, she had retrieved her police revolver from a safe like Raggett’s and was preparing to take her own life.
Ian convinced her. Like him, he was young, he was just doing his job and he shouldn’t have put himself in that position. As he had said over the phone, it wasn’t just her who had identified the lighters in 1984. As a young PC with principles, she had corroborated their names, including her father’s. “We need to stop being trapped by the past,” he said, both for him and for Daphne. “What matters is the here and now.” He lowered his weapon. And breathe.
Closure of pits, emotional closure
The Jacksons visit Gary’s grave … and lovingly leave their union insignia. Photography: Matt Squire / BBC / House Productions
Just time for an elegiac ending, combining the personal with the political. An archive news montage showed well closures and unemployment taking its toll. Heavy industry was replaced by warehouses with laid-off workers like Leonard.
The Jacksons visited Gary’s grave, where Julie lovingly placed her union insignia. A weeping Ian (the grip on David Morrissey’s throat said so much) reconciled with wife Helen and brother Martin. Daphne visited Julie, presumably …