Actor James (Reece Shearsmith) waits to film his scene in a true-crime reconstruction of a baby's kidnapping with famous actor Adrian (Adrian Dunbar). However, as he is waiting, he begins to suspect that the family who owns the trailer in which he's waiting has a big secret.
Tropes include:
- Accidental Misnaming: In his self-absorption, Adrian Dunbar misnames James as Justin when talking to the director on the phone.
- Adam Westing: Adrian Dunbar stars as a narcissistic version of himself.
- Advertised Extra: Stan refers to James as such whilst watching the finished drama on TV.
- Baby Be Mine: Subverted. This is James's assumption of what happened - that Stan and Oona kidnapped Ryan and raised him as Bev because they couldn't have kids of their own. He's wrong.
- Baby-Doll Baby: Both this and Living Doll Collector may apply as we're never quite sure when Bev killed Ryan or why.
- The Bad Guy Wins: The episode ends with the revelation that Bev killed Ryan and has gotten away with it completely.
- Big Ham: Adrian Dunbar's melodramatic acting in the actual show.
- Big Secret: Oona and Stan's family conveniently disappeared from the local area at the time of Ryan's disappearance, leading James to conclude they were involved. Turns out they were "only" lying low after committing welfare fraud.
- Cassandra Truth: James was ultimately correct that Stan and Oona were responsible for Ryan's disappearance but because he got the details of what they actually did with him wrong, no one believes him.
- Celebrity Paradox: They make reference to "Sheridan" filming, which is probably a Shout-Out to Sheridan Smith (who played Christine in "The Twelve Days of Christine") and was also in a similar Ripped from the Headlines television series about a missing child called The Moorside. She starred in it with Gemma Whelan, who guest-starred in "Wuthering Heist".
- Cliffhanger: In-universe. The last scene of the crime show's first episode ends with the detective getting a report about a highly potential suspect.
- Convenient Photograph: Oona and Stan just happen to have a photograph of Stan wearing a red tracksuit after Adam reads in his script that baby Ryan was kidnapped by a man wearing a red tracksuit.
- The Dreaded Pretend Tea-Party: James joins Bev for a pretend birthday tea party in her room.
- Enfant Terrible: Bev was one, given that she would have only been ten when she murdered a baby.
- Evil Uncle: It's mentioned that Ryan's uncle was the prime suspect in his disappearance and is still widely believed to be guilty. Subverted as it turns out Bev is the killer, meaning the unseen uncle was completely innocent.
- Flashback-Montage Realization: Downplayed. When James has his mistaken revelation about Bev being Ryan, he hears the mother in his head repeating the line about Bev being such a tomboy.
- Heh Heh, You Said "X": The mother asks James if he has got a big part which makes her daughter giggle.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Ryan, missing for years, is actually inside Bev's doll that she has with her in every scene.
- I Heard That: Oona says that Bev was ten years old when Ryan disappeared, but looks younger because she has a fat face. Bev responds "I can hear you, you know".
- Insistent Terminology: James insists that his part is called "Bobby" rather than "the bobby" as he doesn't want to admit that he's playing an unnamed extra.
- Karma Houdini: Bev ends the episode with nobody any the wiser that she killed baby Ryan and turned him into a doll.
- Living Doll Collector: Well, baby Ryan was living...at one point. Now his skeleton is all that remains inside Bev's doll.
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: Adrian Dunbar plays a version of himself who's incredibly vain and selfish despite being known for his heroic screen roles.
- Obligatory Earpiece Touch: Hilariously averted when Bobby confides in Jo about his abduction theory but it turns out she wasn't actually listening to him but somebody else speaking to her over the earpiece.
- Older Than They Look: According to her mother, Bev is 30 and not 20 like Ryan would have been. Apparently, her "fat face" made her look younger.
- One-Line Anxiety: Downplayed. James is a bit actor with three lines to deliver. During the rehearsal with Adrian, he is so nervous that he has to read them off a sheet. The humor comes from how Adrian manages to transfer more and more of James' lines to himself. In the final scene, James is only seen from behind nodding to Adrian delivering everything James was supposed to say. It didn't help that Stan gave him a black eye right before the shoot.
- Psychopathic Womanchild: Bev, a mentally stunted 30-year-old who collects dolls, watches Disney movies and kills babies.
- Psychotic Smirk: Bev gives one as the closing shot while she cradles her doll.
- Raised as the Opposite Gender: That's what James believes has happened to Ryan/Bev in order to conceal his identity. Turns out James was completely mistaken.
- Red Herring: The dinosaur shawl with "Ryan" embroidered on it turns out to be a set prop.
- Set Behind the Scenes: This episode plays out on the set of a TV show.
- Shameless Self-Promoter: Adrian insists on rewriting the scene for his own benefit, so that all three of James' lines go to Adrian, and James is only seen briefly from the back (admittedly the last one was to conceal the fact that Stan gave him a black eye).
- Siblings Wanted: The reason behind Bev, at the age of 10, abducting Ryan was her being an only child and suffering from the isolation her parents subjected her to. Bev also displays Attention Whore behavior towards James because of it. At least that's what the mother thinks.
- Stereo Fibbing: When James asks if the family lived at the trailer park at the time of Ryan's disappearance, Stan answers yes while his wife says no. They then settle on no. Later the mother trips over her tongue again mentioning that they were around at the time which makes Bobby certain he was onto something.
- Trashy Trailer Home: The trailer where the story is set is populated by a Lower-Class Lout and his killer daughter among others.
- Wham Shot:
- When James flips over the cloth to reveal the "Ryan" embroidery. Subverted as it turns out to be a prop a few minutes later.
- Of the baby's skeletal hand sticking out of Bev's doll's sleeve.
