Warning: as you’ve no doubt guessed, this article contains spoilers for BBC One’s Noughts & Crosses. Read on at your own peril…

It’s a terrible start to the episode for Meggie when she finds out that her husband has died from a newsreader on the TV, and Helen Baxendale’s portrayal of her character’s confusion and grief as she waits to hear what happened is heartbreaking. The McGregors are soon told that Ryan (Ian Hart) killed himself, but their suspicions are raised when they aren’t given any details or allowed to see his body.

Before long, Jude (Josh Dylan) is approached by Dorn (Shaun Dingwall), who hints that his father’s apparent suicide was really the government’s way of silencing him. Jude takes this back to his family and, although he initially brushes it off, Callum (Jack Rowan) eventually starts to question if there’s some truth to the theory.

Sephy (Masali Baduza) doesn’t want to listen to Callum’s accusations. Why? Because… well, because look at what they say about her own father. And so, despite what it might mean for her and Callum’s relationship, she is by Kamal (Paterson Joseph)’s side at his public inauguration ceremony.

It is here that the now-Prime Minister emphasises the need for public safety and tighter security controls. In fact, one of Kamal’s first moves in his new role is throwing out his predecessor’s proposed Interracial Bill, asserting that “our priority no longer lies in the appeasement of noughts, but in the enforcement of greater segregation laws”.

Noughts & Crosses episode 5: how the TV show will end differently to the book