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The Police
Detective Chief Inspector Natalie Hobbs
- Played by: Katherine Kelly
- Dirty Cop: Downplayed. After keeping Duffy's alcoholism secret, she has the evidence disposed of after it is exposed.
Detective Inspector Tony Myerscough
- Played by: Lee Ingelby
- Endearingly Dorky: Tony is a dorky Father to His Men but is also extremely popular with them, and he has a Ship Tease with Hobbs.
Detective Constable Vanessa Warren
- Played by: Rochenda Sandall
- Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight: Inverted. Vanessa loves her job but hates the limelight, which leads into Hoist by His Own Petard.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Vanessa has no desire to be well known or to move out of the unit. Her more restrained, quieter demeanor leads to Julia not suspecting her at all when Vanessa does what's supposed to be a routine interview with her, and that leads to Julia Saying Too Much. Vanessa immediately tries to back out of the interview and to leave it to someone more experienced, but Tony and Natalie tell her she can't because Julia is comfortable talking to her.
Detective Constable Hugo Duffy
- Played by: Mark Stanley
- The Bus Came Back: He's missing from Season 2 after the Season 1 revelations until the final episode.
- Defective Detective: Is revealed to be an alcoholic
Detective Inspector Paul Ottager
- Played by: Nicholas Pinnock
- Papa Wolf: Emphasises his protectiveness of his fictional daughter when speaking with Dr Fallon.
- Scary Black Man: The shoutiest of the team, user of a Death Glare on Dr Fallon. It's at least partially an act to rattle Edgar and get him to start talking (which works), but he can still be very intimidating.
- Wham Line: "I don't have a daughter"
The Suspects
Dr Edgar Fallon
- Played by: David Tennant
A medical doctor accused of the murder of his stepdaughter.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: For the brief moment he actually converses with the police, he seems to be a well-intentioned, if strict, stepfather looking out for Nicky's well-being. Bastard's lying through his teeth.
- Faux Affably Evil: Attempts to pass himself off as a loving stepfather to Nicky. Couldn't be further from the truth.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Since the police didn't have enough evidence to charge him, he would've gotten away with it had he just kept his mouth shut. But once he starts talking, his arrogance rears its head and he insists on "proving" his innocence by directing Tony's attention to the bruises on Nicky's body, which appears to prove he couldn't have killed her due to the established timeline. In doing so he inspires Duffy to take a closer look at the photo of the bruising, which causes him to notice the evidence that proves Edgar's guilt; something that would've been overlooked completely if Edgar hadn't felt the need to prove his superiority by exonerating himself.
- Pædo Hunt: Accused of raping and murdering his 14 year old stepdaughter.
- The Stoic: Initially just stares into space repeating "No comment".
Stacey Doyle
- Played by: Hayley Atwell
- Big Sister Instinct: Stacey's sister murdered her boyfriend, but Stacey attempts to take the fall for her.
- Lower-Class Lout: Stacey is a stereotypical "chav" with a tracksuit, a thick London accent, and prejudicial views. However, she's not the real killer.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: She calls Hobbs a "dyke", and refers to her sister's boyfriend as a "black bastard".
- Taking the Heat: Is attempting to do this for her sister.
Jamal "Jay" Muthassin
- Played by: Youssef Kerkour
- Dirty Coward: Refuses to tell the police where the truck full of migrants are until it's too late.
Julia Bryce
- Played by: Sophie Okonedo
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She seems to be a sweet lady, with Vanessa taking a liking to her. She committed the murders and framed her husband.
- Saying Too Much: Her rant about what it's like to be married to a murderer, which reveals that she knows details of the murders that are not publicly available. She also mentions buying sleep medication for her mother, tipping Vanessa off that she had access to the same drugs that were in the victim's system.
Alex
- Played by: Kit Harington
A real estate agent accused of rape by a colleague.
- Jerkass: Comes off as arrogant, condescending and sexist.
- Only One Name: His surname is unknown.
Danielle Dunne
- Played by: Sharon Horgan
- First-Name Basis: Addresses all the detectives by their first names.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Masterminded the operation to protect children.
Sandeep Singh
A businessman, convicted a decade prior for the murder of his business partner, now accused of another murder.
- The Alibi: A photo shows him on a cruise on the day Annabelle Ashcombe was killed. He'd flown to one of the places the ship went into port after killing her and boarded there, making sure to be photographed so it would look like he was on board the whole time.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: His attempt to get his sentence reduced by pinning the murder of Alfie Ince on an old acquaintance does nothing other than draw attention to his own involvement.
- Scary Black Man: More cold-hearted than hot-blooded, but just as intimidating.
- Would Hurt a Child: He murdered Alfie Ince to protect himself after Alfie saw the body of Annabelle Ashcombe, who he had just killed.
