Protection episode 1 recap: Who killed the McLennans?

This Protection episode 1 recap contains spoilers... Get ready for a dark and twisting journey into the secretive and high-stakes world of witness protection in this ITV1 crime drama, which will surely make our best ITV dramas list.

The six-part series starring Happy Valley's Siobhan Finneran and Katherine Kelly begins in shocking fashion when a key witness and his wife are gunned down at the start of this week’s opening double-bill.

DI Liz Nyles (Finneran) and her team had been watching over high-profile criminal turned informant Jimmy McLennan (Kris Hitchen) at a safe house, only for him to be murdered before he could give evidence against powerful drug lord Eddie Crowther (Alec Newman).

It was the job of Liz and colleague DS Raj Kohli (Chaneil Kular) to keep the family’s whereabouts strictly hidden, and the killing raises grave questions about the integrity of Liz’s unit. Has someone in the team been leaking information to organized crime?

Here's how the first episode played out...

Why was DS Brandice at the McLennan's house?

We begin with young Amy McLennan (Tilly Kaye) fleeing her house in the dead of night, only to be picked up by witness protection officer, DI Liz Nyles. The 12-year-old and her family have been relocated to a safe house and the youngster just wanted to see her grandma, however, the detective warns her next it might be "them" who pick her up and not her.

"Them" are the organised crime group led by Eddie Crowther, whom her father —criminal-turned-informant, Jimmy McLennan — has decided to testify against. Liz tells them the trial starts in two days and then they’ll be away, however, it’s clear life in the programme is taking its toll.

Following that intro, we get a look at Liz Nyles' world, which includes a teenage daughter, a stroppy ex and a father, Sid (David Hayman) who’s recovering from a stroke. Let’s face it you’ve not made it as a TV detective until you’ve got a troubled personal life.

We also meet Liz’s colleague DS Raj Koli — “the only other person who should know the witness’s location” — and get a glimpse of DI Paul Brandice (Barry Ward), who we soon find out is cheating on his wife and having an affair with… Liz!

The next day, DI Paul Brandice watches the McLennan’s house from his car, before arming himself with a gun and knocking on their front door. However he isn’t the only visitor and soon masked men break into the back of the house, before executing McLennan and his wife. Young Amy witnesses the whole thing, but survives after hiding in her bedroom.

Yet why was DI Brandice there? Only Liz and Raj were supposed to know the location of the safe house. Had he been tipped off about the attack and was trying to rescue the McLennans? Or was he part of the team sent to assassinate them?

Meanwhile, Liz is taking her father to a hospital appointment, where the doctor tells them he has dementia, when she receives a call alerting her to the attack.

When arrives to survey the aftermath she’s visibly shocked to see DI Brandice being brought out of the house on a stretcher. Raj is shocked he’s even here, but Liz is convinced there’ll be a "good reason" for his presence. We’re not sure what that is at this stage — and nor is she.

DCI Hannah Wheatley (Katherine Kelly) is investigating the murders and wants to know as much as Liz can tell her about the identity of the victims, but Liz isn’t as forthcoming as she’d hoped. With one of her witness protection team in critical condition, she’d hoped for a bit more, but it’s clear Liz is in shock.

With events moving fast and Liz still struggling to process what’s happened Amy is convinced she’s desperately trying to “cover her own arse”. However, when young Amy is discovered upstairs, it seems there might be a witness to the killings...

Who is DCI Amanda Kelman?

Eddie Crowther’s trial is adjourned after the death of the prosecution’s star witness, Jimmy McLennan, which isn’t good news for DI Rick Bewley (Andrew Knott), who’s been building a case against the heroin kingpin for three years. When Liz catches up with him later on, she’s desperate to know if he thinks Crowther has bent coppers on his payroll. He thinks it’s safe to assume he does.

Back at her unit, Liz hears that DS Brandice received a call on the morning of the killings and “seemed rattled”. Yet when her boss asks if she’s "slipped up" in any way, she doesn’t disclose her affair with him.

Later on, Liz and her boss meet DCI Wheatley and DCI Amanda Kelman (Nadine Marshall) from Professional Standards, who doesn’t seem pleased to hear Liz is still on the case.

Yet negotiations boil down to a couple of things, primarily access to the witness, young Amy McLennan, whom Liz’s boss allows to be questioned the next morning, despite Liz’s reservations. However Hannah’s team are also wondering if there’s been a security breach and are deeply suspicious about the presence of DS Brandice at the safe house.

DS Brandice had no reason to be there and Hannah’s team are a bit annoyed that Liz’s unit didn’t share that information, especially as there’s evidence he fired his weapon during the attack. “Are witness protection officers in the habit of carrying weapons?” asks Kelman. “It might be helpful to know what DS Brandice had been up to over the past few days.”

Was DS Brandice carrying out surveillance on Liz?

With few options available to her, Liz decides to take Amy back to her house, before we get an interesting look at her relationship with her old man. It seems he was a legendary police officer, however the death of Liz’s mother has clearly had a very traumatic effect on the family. He can remember DCI Amanda Kelman though.. “Proffessional Standards. Cop who liked busting other cops.. Tough case that one.” Ominous.

There’s more bad news for Liz when she hears the investigation has uncovered a third phone belonging to DS Brandice. It’s clear that would implicate her and she goes looking for it in his car, which is parked around the corner from the McLennan’s house and still hasn’t been found by the investigation.

However she also discovers a collection of disturbing photos that suggest DS Brandice has been following her. Was he using her to get to the McLennans?

With a million questions running through her mind, she goes to the hospital to see DS Brandice, but all he can do is offer vague explanations before passing out. “They sent me there.. It’s not what it seems.. Don’t trust anyone.”