Absolute Conviction

Bailey, Thornton and Cryer were entrepreneurs until it was found that they had stolen millions of pounds from their investors. All three are serving sentences in the same prison where Cryer is found dead in his cell. It looks like a heart attack but the pathologist's report quickly points to murder. Morse and Lewis go behind bars to investigate, but find they have to tread carefully with the prison governor, Mrs. Stevens, who is concerned about the institution's reputation.

When Chief Inspector Morse (John Thaw) goes to prison - not permanently, but to solve the killing of a convicted real-estate swindler - he discovers that it's no easier to trap a murderer when the suspects are already locked up. The dead man, Lawrence Cryer (Tony Steedman), was one of an "unholy" trio of real-estate entrepreneurs who stole millions of pounds from their investors.

They were convicted and sent to serve out two-year terms at Farnleigh, an experimental low-security prison, where the inmates are known as "guests". Morse is sure that a large amount of money from the swindle is hidden away, and Cryer's two remaining partners-in-crime - the cynical Alex Bailey (Sean Bean) and the born-again Christian Brian Thornton (Richard Wilson) immediately come under suspicion.

In their investigation, Morse and Detective Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately) enter the world of the prison, where they soon discover that everything is not as "progressive" as it seems. While Morse must tread carefully with the prison's warden, Mrs. Stevens (Diana Quick), whose reputation is on the line, Lewis must keep his eye on an ambitious young police cadet who is trying to crack his first big case. And where does Charlie Bennett (Jim Broadbent), a man who claims he was mistakenly sent to prison for his wife's murder, fit in?