Playing Nice is an intense psychological thriller set in Cornwall where two couples discover their toddlers were somehow switched at birth, all down to a terrible hospital mix-up.
What comes next is a horrifying dilemma — do they keep the sons they have raised and come to love dearly, or reclaim their biological child? As the drama unfolds between the couples, it turns out this nightmare is only just beginning.
Here is everything that happened in Playing Nice episode 3...
The penultimate episode opens where the second epsiode left off, right after Pete's arrest for Theo's abduction from the hospital when he was a newborn. Anika, Pete and Maddie's lawyer is there while he is being questioned by the police, who don't seem to have much to go on, only hearsay from Miles and Lucy Lambert. When the police suggest that Pete swapped the babies at birth becasue he thought his own son was brain damaged, Pete is sickened and Anika pulls him from the interview.
Outside the interview room, Pete admits to Anika that he vouched for Stella when he actually can't remember if Theo had a name tag on or not. She tells them to keep their noses clean between now and the custody hearing if they want any chance of winning.
On the way home, Maddie gets out of the car to get some air and Pete follows her. She asks if it was him who switched the babies, and he is shocked that she would even ask him that. But she points out that someone did and that is how they have ended up in this mess. She asks why he lied about the name tag and Pete admits that Stella came to see him and asked for help, and she is fuming that he thought he could cover for her and it wouldn't come back on him.
When they get home there is a journalist on the doorstep from The Mail, and when Pete tries to push past her, a photographer takes photos and the press run them the following day becasue it looks like Pete is pushing her, even though he wasn't.
The next day a Family Court Advisor visits Pete at home and tells him that she is there to work out what is in Theo and David's best interests. Pete tells her he will do anything to make sure they don't lose their son, and she suggests that as Theo's primary carer, he should take parenting classes. However, Pete's day soon gets worse when he finds another article has been written using his diary that he let Miles read, and then he is sacked from his job as the baby swap drama is causing unwanted attention to the landscape company he works for.
Later that night, Maddie reads what Pete said in his diary from an online article and it doesn't reflect well on them at all. Pete points out they were private thoughts and never meant to be read by anyone else, let alone the public, and tells her Miles asked to read them and he trusted him. Maddie is upset that Pete wrote things in his diary that he never discussed with her, and now the world can read them. She tells him she needs space and asks him to leave for a few days. Pete points out this is exactly what Miles wants, but she says this is what she wants and that she will meet him at their session with David in a few days.
Pete goes to stay with his dad while Maddie drops Theo off at Miles and Lucy's. While there Miles refers to their house as being the 'big house', teaches Theo how to punch 'like a real boy' and tells Maddie that he knows Theo isn't sleeping well at theirs so if she wants him to stay with him and Lucy is it fine and will be good practice for when it is a permanent arrangement. Maddie bites her tongue the whole time, especially when she asks to take David to the beach during their visit on Thursday, and Miles says no. He pretends to be sympathetic about Maddie having a tough time over Pete's diary being published, completely ignoring the fact it was him who sent it to the newspaper.
Later, Pete meets Gem and asks if he can stay at her house for a bit. She says she'd love to have him there but Maya isn't sure and says they can't understand why they're letting Miles pull their family apart. She tells Pete that he needs to fight fire with fire and there must be some dirt on Miles that he can use against him.
This chat with Gem gives Pete a fire in his belly and when calling all Pete's former colleagues hits nothing but dead ends, Pete Googles the Lambert family in Scotland and finds out that a fire destroyed their home, killing a young boy and leaving Miles's mum, Edith, in hospital. Pete finds a number for Edith and calls her. To his surprise he gets straight through but as soon as he mentions Miles she hangs up. Convinced he is onto something, Pete books a flight to Scotland and jumps in a taxi to Newquay airport.
Thursday arrives and Maddie is at her visit with David, but Pete is nowhere to be seen. She messages him, but he doesn't reply... and she has no idea that he is in Scotland.
Meanwhile, Pete is visiting the tearooms where Edith works, but when he introduces himself she doesn't want to talk until Pete reveals Miles is trying to take his son away from him, and this catches her attention.
Back in Cornwall, Miles asks Maddie where Pete is, and she claims he is working. He already knows that Pete got sacked, and quickly works out that Maddie doesn't actually know where her partner is.
Back in Scotland, Pete tells Edith all about the baby swap at the hospital and how things have turned nasty because Miles has gone back on his word and wants custody of both boys. When Pete tells Edith that Miles told them she was dead, she tries to walk away, but Pete shows her a photo of Theo and it stops her in her tracks. She says he looks just like 'him' but while Pete assumes she is talking about Miles, she means David, Miles' brother who died in the fire. Edith is reluctant to bring up the past and tell Pete what happened with the fire and asks him to leave, but he's not giving up, knowing she can help keep Miles from taking the boys away from him and Maddie. Pete shows Edith a photo of David and she is shocked to hear Miles names his son after his brother. Pete writes his number on the back of the photo just in case she changes her mind about opening up.
Pete goes to see Maddie and tells her about his trip to see Miles' mother, but she isn't impressed becasue he only came back with a hunch and nothing concrete they can use. He gets back to his dad's house late that night to find Miles there. Miles tries to play Mr Nice Guy in front of Pete's dad, but when he is out of earshot, he threatens Pete before leaving just as Pete tells him about his visit to see Edith.
Maddie is at work the next day when she gets a call from Lucy, who says Theo is in hospital after eating more cannabis gummies. Pete and Maddie race to see Theo, and Miles blames Pete for everything, saying he must have got them from his house, but Pete is confused because he got rid of them all after the last time Theo took some. The sickening realisation dawns on Maddie and Pete that Miles must have taken them when he went to see Pete's dad the night before, and given them to Theo.
The meeting at court begins and it is decided that a full court case will have to take place due to the complexity of what has happened and that a psychological assessment of both boys will have to be done to see what the impact of moving families will have on them. But, a huge blow arrives when the judge decides that Theo will live full-time with the Lamberts until the next court hearing. Maddie and Pete are devastated, especially when the judge then also reveals that they will both have to undergo drug testing before the next court date, too.
As everyone leaves the courtroom, Maddie and Miles are last out and he violently throws her against the wall, pinning her hands above her head and threatening her with sexual innuendoes, leaving her terrified and speechless. After he has left Maddie, still terrified, goes to find Pete, she asks him to take her home. But once there, they see Theo's yellow coat hanging in the hallway and they are heartbroken over losing their son.
Will they manage to turn this around and win Theo and David back?
Playing Nice is a four-part series that started on Sunday, January 5 and Monday, January 6. The final two episodes air on Sunday, January 12 and Monday, January 13 also on ITV1 at 9pm.
All four episodes are available as a boxset on ITVX now.
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