Berkeley Square (1999) (Episode 8)

Part 8 of 10 of the period drama. Matty feels burdened by secrets after Hannah confesses the truth about her baby, while also nursing the secret about Ned being wanted for murder. But Hannah's secret is about to become a lot more open when workmen decide to lay new pipes in Mrs Bronowski's neighbourhood. Meanwhile Lydia asks Nanny Collins for help for her family after Lord Hugh's threats to evict them. And things are changing in the St John household. Unnerved by being shot by his son, Arnold decides that Tom must be sent to boarding school, but Tom's mother Victoria is too preoccupied by her affair with Captain Mason to notice much - but she is in for a nasty surprise... Starring Victoria Smurfit, Claire Wilkie, Tabitha Wady, Rosemary Leach, Hermoine Norris, Rupert Fraser, Briony Glassco, Jason O'Mara, Kate Williams, Maggie McCarthy, Ruth Sheen, Jason Cheater, Adam Hayes, Emily Canfor-Dumas, Laurence Owen, Peter Forbes, Stuart Laing, William Scott-Masson, Seam Murray, Amy Hodge, Georgie Glen, Mark Saban, Phyllida Hancock, Nicholas Irons, Merelina Kendall, Rosalind Knight, Sophie Walker, Etela Pardo, Davyd Harries, Maurice Yeoman, Joanna Bacon, June Watson, Rollo Weeks, Sheree Murphy, Louise Heaney, Lucy Maria Hopkins, Catherine Terris, Roger Winslet, Scott Leadbetter, Anna Wilson-Jones, Mark Umbers, Rupert Vansittart and Martin Herdman. Episode 8 and things start to gather pace in this period serial, though it could never be accused of slacking in plotting. The rich folk are rather hard to feel sorry for, so when Lady St John gets a nasty shock regarding her lover it feels more like a comeuppance - especially when she cannot be bothered to notice her son is being threatened with Hogwarts (boarding school), leading one to regret that Tom wasn't a better shot with his gun in the previous episode. Hannah's mad baby scheme suddenly looks very precarious for one character, and what of poor Lydia? As for Clare Wilkie's character, she might be forgiven to think that she's wandered into a period version of EastEnders with her character's dilemmas. Oh, and if you are trying to spot more "Before They Were Famous" faces, another future soap star appears in the shape of Sheree Murphy, who Emmerdale fans will recognize as Trisha Stokes.