This is indeed an excellent series, with compelling characters (except for the original Helen), superb acting and usually very good plots. This episode does, however, have a glaring weakness, one that I don't think can be attributed to Elizabeth George, because the credits imply that she was responsible only the characters. SPOILER: At the end, Tommy is defeated by the cynical, ruthless politicians who bribe and murder to further their goal of giving a contract to an American company. Tommy had the condemning evidence against them, but it was stolen, and he gives up. But the now-destroyed evidence (an audited budget that showed the cost to be much higher than claimed) could easily have been reproduced: all Tommy needed to do was contact the Opposition, tell them what he saw and urge them to have another audit conducted. The scandal would've been perfect for the Opposition. My guess as to why the writer didn't take that rather obvious option is that he was happy with a cynical ending, especially since the main villain was the stereotypically evil American businessman (all of whom would happily murder just to get a few more dollars).
Review of The Seed of Cunning
