Professor T Inexplicably Adjusts to Jail in "Heir to the Throne"

After a season spent watching his love interest date someone else, our titular Professor T, Jasper (Ben Miller), was vindicated when Christina’s (Juliet Aubrey) boyfriend, Simon (Alastair Mackenzie), turned out to be a crooked cop. This led to the season finale confrontation where the Prof discharged an unlicensed rifle in the police station to save Christina. Because she had taken a gun from the police inventory without signing it out, her career would have been compromised, leading the Prof to remain silent rather than implicate Christina. Season 3 begins the day after this incident, with the Prof being taken to jail to await trial.

With a character suffering from OCD as severely as Jasper does, the conflict should have stemmed organically from the prison setting. Situationally, some of it does, but the episode misses opportunities to delve into the professor’s torments and inner landscape. For instance, it avoids showing the indelicacies of the strip search Prof would have been subject to, instead picking up with him after he’s already changed into a prison uniform. I’m not expecting grittiness on the level of Oz – this is PBS, not Max – but the Prof’s reaction is missing. His responses to what would seemingly be his nightmare scenario are largely absent. Think of “The Mask Murders” episode in Season 2, where the Prof was admitted to a hospital and behaved exactly as you expect a germaphobe would.

To be fair, the Prof is clearly in denial upon being brought to jail. Straight-faced, he suggests a list of things the correctional officers can bring from his house so he won’t have to use the standard-issue soap, sheets, and clothing. Prison Officer Steddon (Lee Ross) calls him a comedian and removes the Prof’s surgical gloves, exposing his bare hands with barely any reaction. This should have been a more significant moment.