ITV’s Liar – Who do you think killed Andrew Earlham?

Liar, series 2 on ITV. Picture: ITV (Image: ITV)

Liar is back for its second season. But let's rewind a bit. Specifically to the final scenes of season one - Andrew Earlham's greying body strewn across the boggy mudflats like a ragdoll tossed from a dinghy.

Was I the only one left screaming at the screen in a rage? I wanted blood. I wanted him hung, drawn and quartered. I wanted the (imaginary) press to stream his smug Machiavellian face across the news. For him to stand trial and be ripped apart by the prosecution as his web of lies was dismantled, the mounting evidence pulled from the deck to bring down his house of cards.

Alas, it was not meant to be. ITV's drama thriller had millions of us gripped in 2019 as the channel's tautly drawn storyline had us swinging our pledges of allegiance wildly. One week we were metaphorically flinging mud at alleged rape victim Laura Nielsen (Joanna Froggatt) - a fragile, desperate-seeming character who appeared to have misunderstood what happened on her date with Andrew (Ioan Gruffordd). The next, I remember being in the loos at work discussing whether he really could have done it. 'He seems a bit shifty doesn't he?'.

And round and round it went, Laura spiralling into her own despair, unbelieved by her friends, even her family against the solid, upstanding patriarch and widower. Dogged in her determination, teacher Laura stayed true to herself and was vindicated when she discovered his stash of home movies in a family shed. Oh dear Andrew. Oh dear indeed.

Poor Laura never got to have her revenge...or did she? Gum-chewing, plain-speaking DI Karen Renton is on the case.

But who do you think did it?

Luke Earlham (Jamie Flatters)

Andrew's son has motive. After all, his 'mate'/dad has let him down in the worst way imaginable. His mother died six years ago and his dad was meant to be his rock - the only person he could truly rely on. But in episode one of season two we see poor Luke's flung himself off the pier and is in a sorry state. Time will tell just how serious those injuries were and whether he had it in him to confront his dad, making himself an orphan.

Katy Sutcliffe (Zoe Tapper)

She's got previous with her sister. Tension remains between the two following the revelation Katy's had an affair with Laura's ex-boyfriend. Katy looks like a right mess so far...has she been pushed to the edge? Also, she's surely got access to Laura's flat. Did she murder Andrew and deposit his car keys in her sister's bedside drawers?

Winnie Peterson (Amy Nuttall)

The discovery of Andrew Earlham's tapes seems to have imploded this new character's marriage - where there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of trust on her husband's side. She seems an unlikely candidate for the crime at the moment.

Carl Peterson (Howard Charles)

Army vet Carl seemed agitated when we met him in episode one. He clearly has trust issues with his wife, with an insinuation he thought she was having an affair with Earlham -although that couldn't be further from the truth. He repairs boats so must know the area around the waters where Earlham was found like the back of his hand?

DI Vanessa Harmon (Shelley Conn)

Poor DI Harmon. She became entangled in Andrew's web of lies, drawn in by his charisma and professional charm, only to find herself one of his unwilling victims - and while pregnant too. She's clearly rattled by the experience, as anyone would be. Does she have it in her to kill?

Jennifer (Jill Halfpenny)

Military bod Jennifer's pregnant wife (Harmon) was attacked by Andrew. Now that's an axe to grind.

Ian (Kieran Bew)

Laura's new partner seems head-over-heels for her. Would he have killed on her behalf to help her get her life back on track? He seems like a nice chap. Surely not? But then again stranger things have happened.

Oliver Graham (Sam Spruell)

A new character for the series. Stowed away in Oliver's boat, Andrew calls his old acquaintance on some kind of IOU, instructing him to travel all the way down from Edinburgh to help get him out of the situation. It appears there's beef between the two. And Oliver, at this point, is the only person who knows where Andrew is. It would be easy for him to dispatch of the serial rapist without rousing suspicion

Laura Nielsen

Surely this would be too obvious? While Laura probably does want Andrew dead, I get the impression that, like me, she wants to see him pay publicly for what he's done to all the women he's attacked. His car key in her flat is a red flag...she genuinely didn't seem to know it was there. Or had she hidden it somewhere else only for someone 'in the know' to move it, as a tell that they know her secret.