# Black Work (2015)

> A police officer must investigate the shooting death of her undercover husband while her own marriage and family unravel around her.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/55561

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 3
- Episode runtime: 46 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Created by: Tom Mullens
- Network: ITV1
- Cast: Sheridan Smith, Matthew McNulty, Douglas Henshall, James Foster, Sharon Duce, Geraldine James, Kenny Doughty, Andrew Knott
- TMDB rating: 6.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3959576/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: tense, gritty, emotional, bleak, suspenseful

## Synopsis

Black Work (2015) is a British three-episode crime miniseries created by Tom Mullens for ITV1. Sheridan Smith plays Jo Gillespie, a police officer whose husband, an undercover cop, is shot dead in the line of duty. Matthew McNulty plays DC Jack Clark, a colleague drawn into the search, while Douglas Henshall plays DCS Hepburn, whose authority shapes the official inquiry. Geraldine James appears as Chief Constable Carolyn Jarecki, and Kenny Doughty plays DS Ryan Gillespie, adding pressure from within the force. Jo must pull apart her own family life and her marriage, asking uncomfortable questions about what her husband was hiding even as her colleagues and superiors start to look like suspects. The engine of the story is a grieving investigator trying to reach a killer while the people around her keep their own secrets. Each of the three 46-minute episodes tightens the net, moving from a shocking death to a hunt that exposes uncomfortable truths about loyalty. Set in present-day Britain, the drama has a tense, grounded and emotionally raw register, with the atmosphere of a british police thriller. Fans of Line of Duty, Happy Valley and The Killing will find resonance in its blend of domestic strain and procedural suspense.

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