Season two of Jimmy McGovern's not to be missed anthology series starts very soon on BBC-One . Timothy Spall as taxi driver still hangs all the stories together but otherwise its an all new cast.In episode one David Thewlis returns to his first television role in over a decade as identical twins Joe and Harry Jennerson.
Joe Jennerson envies his identical-twin brother, Harry. His sibling has the freedom of a comfortable, bachelor lifestyle, funded by a generous Army pension, whereas Joe is in a dead-end job – no money, squabbling children, a live-in mother and a wife who he thinks has fallen out of love with him.
As the brothers watch a football match on the television one evening, Harry chokes on a sweet and loses consciousness. While Joe waits for the ambulance to arrive, he realises that the chance of a lifetime is staring him in the face. Joe swaps clothes and takes on the identity of Harry. The assumed body of Joe is pronounced dead at the hospital, while the real Joe is left comforting his wife, Mary, under the pretence that he is her brother-in-law.
The following days are surreal for Joe, as he walks in a dead man's shoes, learning about the brother that he thought he knew. Maggie, his mother, sees through his pretence. She keeps his secret but Joe knows that he can't play his game forever.
David Thewlis is Joe and Harry Jennerson, Bronagh Gallagher is Mary and June Watson is Maggie, the twins' mother.