What a wonderful series; Sean Bean and Jimmy McGovern to start with will win BAFTAs. Terrific ending. I do hope there will be more Father Michaels - we need him. And Andrew the good cop; I only hope Surrey Police were watching and feeling shame.

Didn't any of our regular posters watch this? If you missed all the series, the last Episode alone is worth watching on iPlayer. Superb television.

I watched it all and loved it. The ending was heart breaking and joyous at the same time. I can't imagine anyone other than Sean Bean playing the role. I think we've all felt like Father Michael, self-doubt, guilt, heart-break. Only the bbc or channel 4 could produce this (no dragons or superheroes in it for netflix or amazon).

Staggeringly good television; the entire series.

I also enjoyed the series. I love the way great drama such as this has a way of revealing complexities going on beneath the surface that are otherwise invisible or difficult to see in everyday life or newspaper stories. The 'locked horns' mediation scene in Episode 5 was my favourite. This could have ended badly with perhaps Carl storming out or Daniel losing his temper. But when Daniel caught sight of the priest's bemused response, something suddenly changed and shifted - perhaps it was an awareness of a contradictory thought or feeling - within his own mind. This was a 'breakthrough' moment causing him to switch from a state of explosive aggression to one of calm and constructive questioning. Probing the priest about his feelings seemed to me an indirect way of getting in touch with confused and conflicting feelings he had probably experienced himself but was unable to openly acknowledge. It's scary to confront these feelings - easier to project elsewhere. Even Father Michaels had difficulty getting to the bottom of what he felt - his memory and experience of the 70s wasn't a feeling as Daniel was quick to point out.

The story of 'Roz', by contrast, was one of 'breakdown' (and out) with her children left to pick up the pieces. One of the last things she said was: "I suppose everyone has their thing - the thing that makes them feel something when they can't feel anything and when they want to disappear. And those machines they were my thing - I cared more about them than anything. And if my boss, my friend hadn't found out, they would still be my thing". But it wasn't her boss finding out (he was distraught at her funeral) or the fruit machines that were responsible for Roz's demise. I believe hers could also have been a 'breakthrough' story had she, like Daniel, managed to find a way to connect with her feelings to explore and examine what was really going on inside her head. As she was a perfectionist and afraid of public opinion, I suspect the guilt and fear tormenting her was also blocking awareness of other deeply hidden feelings and self-limiting beliefs, particularly those of unworthiness and not being good enough.

I'm so glad you spotted all that md - exactly; the complex observations; never going for the obvious. That's what I love about McGovern.