The psychological screws were turned again in the second episode of this gripping drama as Tash blamed Emily for the disappearance of baby Sally and Jack’s whingeing reached fever pitch. With two obvious candidates for Emily’s murder, towards which the story lurches in flashback, two further much less obvious possibles emerged during the course of the hour. It’s clear that Lucy Gannon is going to keep us guessing until she’s wrung the very last drop of emotion from her compelling script.

Jack continues to dig himself further into trouble. Having given Emily the idea of the warty man, upon whom she can blame the disappearance of baby Sally, he gives her another scare while she’s relieving herself behind a tree on the school Fun Walk (not quite sure where the fun was in the walk, although Cameron appeared to be getting along famously with his assistant Polly). He complains that there’s no room for him in anyone’s life – or at least, there’s only the spare room, and that’s painted violet.

If he’s trying to repair the damage with Em, creeping into her room at dead of night is probably not the best way to go about it. Emily chooses her moment to reveal this latest breach of her personal space – dinnertime around the table when his Dad is bemoaning the fact of his being dropped from the school team for hitting another team member. Drink problem, yobbish behaviour, what’s next wonders Cameron? He’s a paedophile says Emily. A sad reflection of the times when an eight-year-old knows a word like that (but is strangely innocent regarding her babysitter’s graphic use of a saveloy).

All this royally buggers up the sleeping arrangements, with Cam relegated to the sofa so that Emily can enjoy the safety of sleeping with her Mum. Thus Cam enters the frame as someone with a motive for getting Emily out of the way. And taking Polly for post-Ofsted drinkies isn’t going to help his cause at home, is it? Even if she is way more attractive than Sue.

Anne’s new bloke proves to be a bit of a tosser when she suggests going away to Morocco for a week. He’s done marriage, he says, and he’s done living together. Commitment phobia much? Still, she’s enjoying the single life. Too much to entertain the possibility of Jack coming back to live with her, after all the problems he’s had settling in at Sue’s. Anne blames Emily of course. The “little princess” who, although she’s so far stopped short of accusing Jack of anything more serious than scaring her, clearly knows how to manipulate the grown-ups, albeit – possibly – unconsciously. But that’s the crux isn’t it? Is her behaviour the unconscious reaction of a small child trying to work out how all those new relationships fit together? Or is it the juvenile machiavellian mind at work? At least she finally got her hands on her kitten, much to Cameron’s displeasure.

Sue attempts to defuse the ticking timebomb of her homelife by suggesting Emily has another visit to her Dad’s new place. The prospect doesn’t fill her with glee. Indeed after Tash has related the baby-dropping incident to Social Services, and with her Dad and Tash beginning to plan another addition to their new nuclear family, it’s horror she’s filled with more than glee. So much so that she uses her new-found power over Jack to kibosh the idea. “He did sex stuff,” she says to her Mum.

And that is a whole other turn of the screws that will certainly result in more pain for more people, in the final instalment next Monday.

The Children: Episode 1