See How They Run: episode guide


Episode 1

Australia: June 06, 1999
Written by Tim O'Mara and Al Hunter Ashton
Directed by Graeme Harper

Emma Cassidy (Katie Blake) returns to her Manchester home from her boyfriend’s to find two unmarked police cars parked outside her house. Her mother, Lily (Anne Looby) and her sister Nicola (Becky Simpson) are in one and her father, Don (Peter O’Brien) is in the other. Emma is bundled into the car with her father and whisked away.

It transpires that Don has unwittingly been the accountant for a major drug mogul. The police need Don to give evidence against the drug baron. This means that Emma and her family must be placed under a witness protection program. Now, if anyone asks, she is Emma Morton.

The family are put in a "safe" hotel but they have hardly arrived before it becomes apparent the criminals have located them. Once more they are uprooted to begin a new life in Stoke-on-Trent. Nicola describes her unknown pursuer as the ’Gorgon’ and the name sticks.

Emma’s boyfriend Sam (Vaughan Sivelle), is growing increasingly concerned about her disappearance. He wants to phone the police, but his father dissuades him.

Emma and Nicola soon make a new friend Christine (Julia Howarth) and with her help devise a plan to enable Emma to go and see Sam play cricket near their old home. Once there, Emma finds it too upsetting and leaves.

Cast: Katie Blake as Emma, Becky Simpson as Nicola, Anne Looby as Lily, Peter O'Brien as Don, Lucy Maria Hopkins as WDC Arnott, Al Hunter Ashton as Inspector Greyson, Vaughan Sivelle as Sam, Christopher Scoular as Graham Foster, Gregor Hunt as Traffic Cop, Shelley King as Nina, Adam Ray as Roy, Julia Sharp as Newsreader

Episode 2

Australia: June 06, 1999
Written by Tim O'Mara and Al Hunter Ashton
Directed by Graeme Harper

When Emma and Nicola return home with Barney from the kennels, Inspector Greyson is furious with WDC Arnott for compromising security and fires her.

Emma and Nicola begin a new school but are somewhat dismayed to discover they have to be escorted there every day.

They soon make a new friend, Christine and with her help devise a plan to enable Emma to go and see Sam play cricket near their old home. Once there, Emma finds it too upsetting and leaves.

Nicola suggests they go and have one last look at their old house. When they arrive, they are horrified by what they discover.

Cast: Katie Blake as Emma, Becky Simpson as Nicola, Anne Looby as Lily, Peter O'Brien as Don, Al Hunter Ashton as Inspector Greyson, Lucy Maria Hopkins as WDC Arnott, Shelley King as Nina, Adam Ray as Roy, Juliette Grassby as WDC Lawrence, Nicholas Caunter as Emma's Teacher, Julia Haworth as Christine, Andrew Lee Potts as Todd Johnson, Colin Spaull as Mr George, Vaughan Sivelle as Sam, James Curran as Headmaster, Andrew Westfield as Cabbie

Episode 3

Australia: June 13, 1999
Written by Tim O'Mara and Al Hunter Ashton
Directed by Graeme Harper

A shocked Emma and Nicola leave their old house. Emma becomes aware that they are being followed. They make a run for the train and manage to shake off their pursuers. Things take a turn for the worse when they return to Christine’s and find Don and Lily already waiting for them, furious that they have breached security.

Later that night, Emma suggests they go and live in Australia. Lily thinks it’s a good idea but Don is not so sure.

Meanwhile, two of the Gorgon’s heavies, Roy and Nina carry out a search of the local schools in an effort to find Emma and Nicola. When the Morton’s return home from a shopping trip they find Barney’s lifeless body in the back garden.

That’s the last straw, the family head for a new life in Australia.

Cast: Katie Blake as Emma, Becky Simpson as Nicola, Anne Looby as Lily, Peter O'Brien as Don, Andrew Westfield as Cabbie, Julia Haworth as Christine, Al Hunter Ashton as Inspector Greyson, Christopher Scoular as Graham Foster, Vaughan Sivelle as Sam, Shelley King as Nina, Adam Ray as Roy, Juliette Grassby as WDC Lawrence, Harry Aitchfielder as Water Van Driver

Episode 4

Australia: June 13, 1999
Written by Tim O'Mara and Al Hunter Ashton
Directed by Graeme Harper

Emma and Nicola start a new school and Emma finds that she has an admirer—Greg. Emma is secretly flattered.

Emma has sent Sam a birthday card. This alerts the Gorgon who dispatches his people to Australia. Don is forced to reveal to Emma that the Gorgon is in fact, Sam’s father.

On Emma’s birthday, Greg leaves a present for Emma on the doorstep. Unfortunately, it is mistaken for a bomb and this sets off a chain of events that means the Morton’s must move on again.

The family return home to collect a few belongings before heading away, only to find that the drug baron is one step ahead of the police and Emma and Nicola are kidnapped!

Cast: Katie Blake as Emma, Becky Simpson as Nicola, Anne Looby as Lily, Peter O'Brien as Don, Tessa Wells as Sharon Hargreaves, Christopher Scoular as Graham Foster, Vaughan Sivelle as Sam, Nicholas Caunter as Emma's Teacher, Brendan Donaghue as Greg, Shelley King as Nina, Adam Ray as Roy, Oliva Pigedt as News Reporter Judith Wright as Rogue Policewoman

Episode 5

Australia: June 20, 1999
Written by Tim O'Mara and Al Hunter Ashton
Directed by Graeme Harper

Sharon Hargraves (Tessa Wells) and Don (Peter O’Brien) chase the car with the kidnapped Emma (Katie Blake) and Nicola (Becky Simpson) but lose it. Lily (Anne Looby) is devastated.

Emma and Nicola wake to find themselves tied up and blindfolded inside a vehicle somewhere in the countryside. Roy (Adam Ray) and Nina (Shelley King) allow them to speak to Don and Lily on the phone. Nina tells Don that if he gives evidence he won’t see his children again.

Don is forced to return to the UK to testify at the trial. Once back in England he manages to slip away from the police escort and goes to Sam’s (Vaughan Sivelle) house to confront his father. When Sam realises the truth about his father, he decides he must go to Australia to help Emma.

Unfortunately Sam ends up getting grabbed himself and imprisoned with Emma and Nicola.

Now it is a race against time as Emma, Nicola and Sam try to escape their captors while Don waits in a prison cell resolutely refusing to give evidence until his daughters are free.

Cast: Katie Blake as Emma, Becky Simpson as Nicola, Anne Looby as Lily, Peter O'Brien as Don, Tessa Wells as Sharon Hargreaves, Judith Wright as Rogue Policewoman, Shelley King as Nina, Adam Ray as Roy, Al Hunter Ashton as Inspector Greyson, Vaughan Sivelle as Sam, Christopher Scoular as Graham Foster, Nicholas Caunter as Emma's Teacher, Brendan Donaghue as Greg, Oliva Pigedt as News Reporter

Episode 6

Australia: June 20, 1999
Written by Tim O'Mara and Al Hunter Ashton
Directed by Graeme Harper

Emma and Sam escape from the crashed van but their progress is slow because Sam’s leg is injured.

Meanwhile, Roy and Nina arrive at the overturned van with Nicola still tied up in the back of the transit van. They decide to start looking for Sam and Emma at first light.

Emma and Sam spend the night outside but wake to discover they are close to a farmhouse. Emma runs to the farmhouse for help but when she gets there is is obviously deserted. In the distance, she hears a car approaching and runs out to greet it but realises too late that it is Roy and Nina and their gang of thugs. She makes a run for it but the thugs catch up with her and tie her and Nicola up in the attic of the farmhouse.

The next day, Hargreaves and her team of police discover the crashed van. Lily is horrified to see the damage and the blood.

Roy and Nina are certain that nobody will find them and decide to sit things out until the trial is over but Sam, who has witnessed everything from his vantage point at the top of the hill, has hobbled off and found Hargreaves and her team, who are combing the countryside looking for the girls. Hargreaves and the police surround the farmhouse.

Emma and Nicola manage to escape through a hole in the roof but Nina is not prepared to give up her quarry that easily and clambers after them. A rooftop struggle follows, Emma loses her footing and falls from the roof into a water tank below. At this point, the roof give way and Nina and Nicola fall through in a cloud of dust.

Don hears that Emma and Nicola are safe just in time to give evidence at the trial. He returns home a free man and the Mortons are left to pick up the pieces of their lives.

Cast: Katie Blake as Emma, Becky Simpson as Nicola, Anne Looby as Lily, Peter O'Brien as Don, Vaughan Sivelle as Sam, Shelley King as Nina, Tessa Wells as Sharon Hargreaves, Adam Ray as Roy, Al Hunter Ashton as Inspector Greyson, Christopher Scoular as Graham Foster, William Christopher French as Barrister