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Rinton, a small town in the North East of England, is shocked and outraged when, in the run up to the general election, the local mill manager, Patrick Fuller, is found hanging from the rafters. It looks like suicide, but Chief Inspector George Gently (Martin Shaw) and his side-kick Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) suspect foul play when Julie (Kate Heppell), the mill's dolly-bird secretary (who catches Bacchus' eye) confirms that there is money missing from the office safe.

With missing money, no suicide note and the rope tied off to a hoist, Gently speculates that it could be a murder, made to look like a suicide, and he quickly lines up several suspects amongst the mill workers: the lazy, insolent foreman Draper (Tom Goodman-Hill), who seems to have a massive chip on his shoulder about authority; his bete noir at the mill, the wayward, jittery mod, Jed Jimpson (Justin McDonald), who has his own personal demons to deal with; the miller, and best friend of the dead man, Henry Blythely (Nicholas Jones); and his much younger, fragile wife (Anne Hornby). Also, the strangely withdrawn Mrs Fuller (Julia Ford), the bitter widow, who accuses her husband of having a sordid affair.

And when forensics discover a lost earring and a snagged pieced of material that matches the dead man's jacket, it seems as if the mill was indeed a hotbed of passion and intrigue.

The local Labour candidate for the election, Geoffrey Pershore (Tim McInnerny), and owner of the mill, seems particularly concerned about the missing contents of the safe; and when Bacchus discovers that the dead man was a Mason, Gently and Bacchus realize there is more to this case than meets the eye.

Bacchus suspects corruption, and that the Masons may be responsible for Fuller's death. Gently thinks it's a waste of time and tells him the Masons are impenetrable. But Bacchus goes against his orders, and tries to secretly infiltrate them. This puts further pressure on the already strained relationship between Gently and Bacchus, and, as Gently is unexpectedly drawn into Bacchus' personal life, when Lisa Bacchus (Melanie Clark Pullen) turns up, it looks as if the partnership may not recover.

Blackmail, affairs, hush money, jealousy, politics and more murders are to come – before Gently and Bacchus can solve the case of Gently Through The Mill.

Behind the scenes on Gently Through The Mill:

This is the first time in Inspector George Gently that we actually get to meet Mrs John Bacchus, played by Melanie Clark Pullen. No stranger to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One, Melanie played Mary Flaherty in EastEnders for two years. This is not the young Irish actress' first role playing a Geordie character: she played the lead in Dinner Of Herbs – opposite another guest star in this Inspector George Gently film, Tim Goodman-Hill.

The location for Gently Through The Mill is the disused Shackleton's Mill just outside Dublin city in Lucan, on the banks of Dublin's famous River Liffey.

Cast list:

George Gently – Martin Shaw

John Bacchus – Lee Ingleby

PC Taylor – Simon Hubbard

Chief Constable Lilley – Mal Whyte

Henry Blythely – Nicholas Jones

Jed Jimpson – Justin McDonald

Draper – Tom Goodman-Hill

Patrick Fuller – Joe Duttine

Lilley’s Clerk – David MacCreedy

Geoffrey Pershore – Tim McInnerny

Nicholas Mundy – Trevor Cooper

Julie – Kate Heppell

Mrs Blythely – Anne Hornby

Mrs Fuller – Julia Ford

Maurice Hilton – Alan McKenna

Lisa Bacchus – Melanie Clark Pullen

Brother Mason – Martin Berridge

Election Worker – Eve Macklin