Looking After Our Own
The episode focuses on MI5's efforts in bringing down right-wing leader Robert Osbourne (Kevin McNally), who is believed to be planning a series of race riots across the UK.
The storyline was originally slated for the finale of the first series, but was pushed forward when the producers were pressured to deliver the story to the BBC.
Believing the traffickers will change their routes, Tessa Phillips (Jenny Agutter) and Zoe Reynolds (Keeley Hawes) investigate and discover that Osbourne intends to choke the asylum system by overcrowding the holding centres, and after his followers stir up the race riots, Osbourne would encourage independent Member of Parliament (MP) Bill Watson (Jasper Jacob) to raise the issue of asylum seekers in the House of Commons.
Tom and Helen prepare to move out, but are kidnapped by Osbourne's gang and taken to the kitchen of his waste management plant for interrogation.
At the end of the episode, Harry has Osbourne assassinated, and Claire and her son are in an airport about to catch a flight abroad.
In another instance, a long sequence would take place at sea concerning the smugglers dropping off illegal immigrants into the water; the scenes were cut before filming due to time constraints.
Child actor Daniel Chenery, who played the part of their son, Sammy, was chosen due to his likeness of a younger version of McNally.
The footage of the drowned immigrants found at the shore were shot by the second unit headed by producer Simon Crawford Collins on a pebbled courtyard in Kensington to double as a beach.
[2] According to producer Jane Featherstone, the idea to kill off a main character involved a female getting "her head set on fire" later in the series, but she decided "let's move the most dramatic thing you've got to episode two and kill off the only actress the audience recognise [Faulkner was considered the only recognisable cast member when the series was introduced] and then you've got them hooked.
[3] Producer Stephen Garrett wanted to show a more realistic sense of violence, rather than a fantastical "cartoon violence" "in which blows to the head with iron bars leave small bruises rather than crushed skulls, gunshot wounds leave neat abrasions in conveniently fleshy parts of the anatomy rather than eviscerating their victims; and fights that would hospitalise Mike Tyson are walked away from with barely a mark.
Regardless "Looking After Our Own" won its time slot; the finale episode of ITV1 drama Helen West came second, with 4.9 million viewers and a 21 per cent share.
[8] The episode attracted controversy following the demise of Helen Flynn after her hand and head were forced into a deep fryer.
The Broadcasting Standards Commission stated that the content "in the context was acceptable and important for the later narrative"; however, the watchdog still criticised the BBC for failing to warn viewers of the violence to come.
[2] Comedian Charlie Brooker however, commended the scene, as well as the series in general, stating in his Guardian column: "The moment her head was forced into the deep-fat-fryer, viewers reared on the formulaic, it'll-be-alright-in-the-end blandness of cookie-cutter populist dramas like Casualty and Merseybeat sat up and blinked in disbelief: here was a major BBC drama series that actually had the nerve to confound expectation.
