Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Coleman, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan, Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Arthur Darvill, Eve Myles, James D’Arcy, Meera Syal, Carolyn Pickles, Jonathan Franks, Tanya Bailey, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, William Andrews, Matthew Gravelle, Lucy Cohu, Shaun Dooley, Adam Wilson, Simone McAullay, Joe Simms, Tom Rosenthal, Hollie Burgess, Lucas Hare.

The penultimate episode of a long running drama is just as important as the bitter conclusion. The viewer has had the set up in the initial opening episode and stayed the course, but if the penultimate instalment doesn’t leave the viewer hanging on the edge of the chair, shouting in frustration, even if they know that answers are never that easy, then all is lost and time and tide wash away the burgeoning expectation and the final reveal is taken away.