Press

At The Herald, a left-leaning broadsheet struggling to adapt to the age of digital news, deputy news editor Holly Evans pursues a lead over the death of a young woman following a hit-and-run by a police car. When she learns that a nearby shop has already given its CCTV footage of the accident to The Post, a thriving populist tabloid sharing a building in the same square as The Herald, Holly approaches editor Duncan Allen and asks for the tapes. But Duncan still remembers an uncomplimentary article Holly once wrote about him. At The Post, Oxford graduate Ed Washburn is given his first 'death knock', interviewing the parents of Shawn Kingsley, a footballer who has committed suicide. When details emerge about Kingsleys' private life that prompt his distraught parents to withdraw the interview, Ed comes under pressure to run the story against their will. Duncan is delighted to be approached with compromising pictures of Carla Mason, a front-bench MP known for her feminist stance. The Herald is also following the story, but from a more sympathetic angle. When editor Amina Chaudury reassures Mason that the splash will soon die down, it proves to be premature. Duncan is pleased with his day's work, but on leaving the office he is stopped by Worldwide News chief and his boss George Emmerson, who reminds him that he is employed to deliver news as well as entertainment.

Leaving the London flat at which he regularly meets Krystyna, a sex worker, Duncan receives a text from "Matthew" asking for a favour. At the Post's daily conference Duncan orders his staff to uncover anything they can about steel union boss Frank Powell, in order to discredit Powell's calls for renationalisation. Duncan messages Matthew, who is clearly very powerful, to inform him that he has fulfilled the favour.

Responding to an emergency call, Holly rushes into The Herald in the early hours of the morning. When the call turns out to be a false alarm, Holly takes the opportunity to talk to Amina about the lead she is following regarding business tycoon Joshua West. Knowing that levelling any charge against a man with West's power will be almost impossible, Amina gives Holly the nod to investigate. As both papers go to print, Amina and Duncan make bold moves that could risk their careers. As both papers go to print, Amina and Duncan make bold moves that could risk their careers.

Amina feels defeated in the immediate wake of the Joshua West scandal. Holly, angered by her editor's floundering leadership, ignores Amina's request to write a front-page apology on behalf of The Herald and presses on privately with her investigation into the high-profile entrepreneur's sexual past. On the other side of the square, amidst a flurry of phone calls from women reporting their own experiences of West's abuse of power, Duncan is shocked to learn that The Post has been banned from the daily press conference at Downing Street.

Ed's pride in his soaring professional achievements is marred by the arrival of a surprise new colleague at paper. Duncan, whose personal life is floundering, buries himself in his work and tasks the new arrival with getting the scoop on the government's secret Resonance programme. Meanwhile, Holly is accused of losing her professional integrity when she mishandles a source, Leona finds an opportunity to impress her colleagues, and Peter and Amina clear the way to make a big announcement about the future of The Herald.

Duncan attempts to spend quality time with his son Fred. Holly struggles to separate her personal grievances from her professional ambitions. She adds to Duncan's troubles by threatening to publicly expose his relationship with Kristina, the sex worker with whom he has a longstanding arrangement. James reopens communication with Jon Brooks, an MI5 source who is ready to blow the whistle on the government's Resonance programme. Emmerson presents Duncan with a seemingly impossible task, and Ed is forced to examine his own journalistic ethics, while Holly and Duncan go head to head.

The cast give insight into the two newspapers.

The cast discuss a day in the life of a journalist.

The cast introduce the premise behind the show.