The Good Ship Murder is a lighthearted mystery series on Channel 5, which sees an ambitious First Officer teaming up with a cop turned lounge singer when a series of murders occur in and around the cruise ship.
Coronation Street stars Catherine Tyldesley and Shayne Ward lead the cast, and we see new arrivals and exits each week as we uncover a new mystery in every episode.
The first episode starts normally, as we meet the workers and guests aboard the large cruise ship, but it soon descends into chaos when a man's body is washed up on the shore, and he's one of the ship's guests.
So what happened in The Good Ship Murder episode 1? Here's everything you need to know...
Who killed Nathan in The Good Ship Murder?
The first episode introduces us to Jack Grayling (Shayne Ward) who is rehearsing a song to perform aboard the cruise ship later that day. We then jump to him leaning on a balcony people watching, and the ship's entertainment director Beverley Carnell (Claire Sweeney) comes over to criticize him, making it clear the two don't always see eye to eye.
We learn more about the cruise ship which has 18 decks, making it quite an impressive size. First Officer Kate Woods (Catherine Tyldesley) greets the captain, who congratulates her on a "thoroughly deserved promotion".
Meanwhile, Jack wanders the decks and speaks to a lone traveler, who leaves abruptly and decides to go back to her cabin. He also meets Brenda Donnelly, whom Beverley introduces as a "frequent flyer", and her husband Tony who seems a bit more distant and unhappy with the cruise.
Jack sees Kate trapped in a very dull conversation with Tony, and he manages to get her away by pretending the captain wants to speak to her. However, she's unimpressed and claims she "could've handled it".
During their first port of call, Kate takes the opportunity to go for a run and Jack is enjoying some sun. Kate accuses Jack of following her, and he jokingly asks if she's the one who's following him. But their conversation is cut short when they hear a blood-curdling scream coming from the beach.
Kate and Jack rush over to find someone standing over a dead body on the beach. Jack rolls the body over and realizes it's Nathan, the alleged mystery shopper that Beverley had pointed out aboard the cruise.
Jack deduces that it was blunt force trauma to the back of the head and notes that his phone and wallet have disappeared from the body. He reveals he used to be a police officer working in "serious crimes" before he became a lounge singer.
Later, Jack meets with the local police and explains he thinks that Nathan knew his killer. The police tell him to do what he can back on the ship, and they'll take care of things on land.
Meanwhile, Brenda finds Beverely and explains she's worried about Tony, who is "never usually this late" returning from his birdwatching trips. Suddenly, Tony appears and tells Brenda that he got lost in the woods. Suspicious, much?
Kate finds Jack in his dressing room and asks if he has any leads about what happened to Nathan, and he rebuffs her by claiming "he's not a copper anymore", but Kate sees right through him and realizes he wants to solve this. Kate suggests teaming up, as she wants to impress the captain.
Jack enlists another member of staff to help him search Nathan's cabin. He finds a notebook full of photographs and initials and learns that he has been filming the Donnelleys on his phone. He also uncovers a photograph of a man named Pascal, who used to work on the ship but was sacked after stealing from one of the cabins.
On top of this, Jack uncovers a business card revealing that Nathan was a private investigator, hence why he kept making notes. It seemed he was tailing the Donnelleys, and Jack fed this back to Kate.
Pascal soon becomes a suspect in this, and Kate reveals he did 12 months in prison for stealing jewelry. Jack and Kate find Pascal and confront him on the shore, and it's clear Pascal does not like Kate and accuses her of stitching him up.
Pascal also denies any involvement in Nathan's murder, and Jack asks about the pickup. He tells Pascal that a witness placed a similar vehicle near the scene of the crime, but he insists he has nothing to do with it and he was only on the beach catching seafood to sell to local restaurants.
Housekeeping finds a note in the Donnelley cabin which looks to be a meeting point near where Tony had been birdwatching. They give the note to Jack, who then confronts Tony in the casino.
He tells Tony that Nathan wanted to meet with him, right around the time he was murdered, and Tony claims that he didn't know who he was meeting or why. A flashback reveals that Tony and Nathan did meet, and that Nathan had been sent to speak to him.
Not only that, but he was working on behalf of Ray Weaver's sister. Ray was Brenda's second husband, and apparently, she had been convinced that Brenda had murdered Ray.
Ray had fallen and broken his neck in a supposed accident that happened aboard this same ship, but Nathan told Tony that he had "evidence" to prove he was murdered, however, Tony was having none of it and didn't believe him. Jack thinks it's weird that Ray's death occurred on the ship too.
After meeting to discuss their findings, Jack and Kate realize that Brenda is in danger and Ray's sister Maureen is also on board the ship. Jack manages to apprehend Maureen before she attacks Brenda.
A tearful Maureen reveals she'd found Nathan's body as she'd tried to warn him, and she's convinced that Tony is Brenda's next victim. She explains that Brenda had taken a policy a few weeks before she murdered Ray, which paid out half a million.
She also criticizes the police's investigation, as they concluded Ray was drunk when he fell despite the fact he "barely touched alcohol". Jack later speaks to Brenda who claimed that Maureen "had a bit of a breakdown" following Ray's death.
Jack speaks to the doctor aboard the ship who reveals that something bothered her about Ray's situation. The day before his death, he had complained of feeling unwell and that he had nausea, headaches, and vomiting.
Kate finds Jack later on and reveals that the police charged Pascal with Nathan's death after finding blood on his clothing. He was picked up in a bar alongside 50,000 euros in cash, which is definitely suspicious. However, Jack thinks it doesn't make any sense.
Back in the Donnelley's cabin, Tony grows suspicious of the insurance policy that Brenda has taken out, claiming that he's "worth more to her dead than alive".
Jack starts to piece things together and discovers that Brenda hired Pascal to murder Ray, while she went back to the cabin giving herself the perfect alibi. She was also planning to do the same thing to Tony, and he has evidence that she met up with Pascal to discuss their plans.
Now, as for what happened to Nathan. It turns out Pascal got him mixed up with Tony and killed him, and this proved to be a fatal error. They rush to the Donnelley's cabin and Jack realizes that Tony had been drugged after finding an empty wine glass, with Kate finding him unresponsive in the jacuzzi. Thankfully, Tony is alive.
Jack confronts Brenda, saying he knows exactly what she drugged Tony with. She was attempting to emulate the symptoms of a drowning caused by a stroke, but Jack sees right through her. He also tells her he knows that Ray had been experiencing the effects of a slow-release drug that produces the effects of intoxication, so there's a pattern here.
Kate also backs Jack up, telling Brenda that they have Pascal in custody and he's named Brenda as an accomplice. Now, Brenda is done for, and she makes one last jibe at Jack saying "I never got to hear you sing".
The episode ends with a performance from Jack, a nice conclusion to an otherwise dark story!
The Good Ship Murder is an eight-part series on Channel 5 airing on Fridays at 9pm.
