Professor T returns with a second series this September on ITV, so some of you might appreciate a handy recap.
The series follows Professor Jasper Tempest, played by Ben Miller, a genius Cambridge University criminologist.
However, his life is complicated by severe OCD and germophobia – oh, and throw an overbearing mother into the mix, too!
In series one, a former student-turned-police detective asked Professor T to consult on a case of a serial rapist.
And the Professor became a full-time consultant for the police.
Here’s your full recap of series one of Professor T…
***Warning: spoilers from series one of Professor T ahead***
How did Professor T start?
At the beginning of Professor T series one, we met the genius teacher at Cambridge University.
His former student, DI Lisa Donckers, visited him to ask for his help on a case, of a young woman who was raped just outside of campus.
And DI Donckers expressed her suspicions that the rape was connected to a case five years before.
Five years earlier, Lisa’s close friend Saskia was raped after her room was broken into.
The marking he made on her bed frame and the locket he stole from her neck were eerily similar to the rape that took place in the present day.
But the unemotional Professor T was having none of it, believing he would not work well as a consultant for the police.
Professor T and Christina’s past revealed
That is until Lisa’s boss, Christina, found out that Lisa tried to bring Professor T in on the case and we found out that Christina and the professor shared a past!
Christina sent Professor T a text asking him to come and consult, but we saw that the last text she sent him was from 2009, which read: “I never want to speak to you again.”
Drama!
The next day he agreed to join the case, just as another young woman fell victim to the serial rapist.
In an attempt to escape him, she fell down some stairs and ended up in a coma.
Again, a carving is left at the scene.
Professor T recognised the carvings as Bible verses about unclean women, but he thinks he’ll need the new victim Diana to talk through the incident for clues.
Using an exercise to guide her through her trauma, Diana reveals a new detail: the assailant had a tattoo with five dots on his hand – a common prison tattoo.
Recognising the tattoo on college cleaner Dennis Banks, he was arrested.
Professor T series one recap: Professor T began as a consultant on the team…
Lisa and Professor T interrogated Dennis Banks, and found out that his wife’s affair was the catalyst for him to rape.
Professor T realised he could be a good asset to the team – and might also be able to get closer to Christina at the same time.
The episode ended with Professor T returning to his childhood home, which his mother has recently tried to sell.
Flashbacks clearly rattled him, and it was revealed that Professor T found his father had hung himself when he was just a child.
Christina and Professor T’s relationship recap…
The series kept us on our toes with details of exactly what happened between Christina and Professor T years ago, with both of the characters tight-lipped on the details!
Christina is now married to another man, but Professor T has remained single ever since.
In the second episode, we got some clues on how their relationship ended though.
Christina told the Professor she had a proposal for him, but he reminded her “proposals don’t work well for us”.
Were the pair once engaged?
Christina offered him a proposition instead – to become an official criminology consultant for the team.
When Lisa begged him to accept the proposition, he admitted he already had.
But the third episode gave us more clues on how the relationship between the pair might have ended as the two butted heads once again.
Christina disagreed with Professor’s T handling of a hostage situation and the two got into a serious argument.
Later on, Christina told Professor T to go home, but spotting a suitcase in her office, he suggested the same to her.
Christina then admitted that she and her husband had agreed to spend some time apart.
At the news, Professor T erupted into a rant that he warned her she would never be happy in that marriage.
Christina responded, saying that Professor T was never able to give her what she wanted.
What happened between Professor T and Christina in the series one finale?
In the series one finale, flashbacks showed that Christina and Professor T were set to marry years before.
But heartbreakingly, Professor T left Christina at the altar just before they were set to marry.
In the present day, Professor T confessed he never meant to hurt her, he just wanted her to be with someone ‘normal’.
With his childhood trauma and OCD, he never felt he could give that to her.
Christina had us reaching for the tissues as she admitted she always knew that, and had forgiven him.
She told Professor T it was time he forgave himself.
We’re definitely rooting for these two in the second series!
Professor T series one recap: Dan and Lisa’s relationship
The first episode of the show revealed that Lisa and her supportive police sidekick Dan Winters had enjoyed a drunken one-night stand the night before.
While Dan clearly had feelings for Lisa, she seemed determined to ice him out, worried that the relationship could affect her career.
But the chemistry kept bubbling over between the two and the attraction was palpable.
Dan kept pursuing Lisa, but it was clear she wasn’t ready for a relationship.
The third episode revealed she was caring for her father who had dementia.
But as Dan and Lisa worked together late at night on the kidnapping of a young boy, they were drawn together once again.
She begged Dan to stop being so nice to her, and finally they kissed.
All finally seemed well between the will they/won’t they couple as Lisa admitted her feelings for Dan, and agreed to go out on a date with him.
But it wasn’t a happy ending for the couple.
Christina confronted Lisa about the relationship, suggesting that Lisa should transfer if it continues.
In response, Lisa sent a friend of hers on the date with Dan instead of her.
He was clearly upset, but continued the date, unaware of the real reasons for the snub.
The series one finale saw Dan cosy up with his new date in bed…
Professor T series one recap: Did Rabbit get fired?
Professor T and DI Paul Rabbit continually butted heads over methods and Rabbit’s messy behaviour…
The first episode revealed that Rabbit’s harsh exterior was as a result of his daughter’s death.
Tragically, she was in a hit-and-run six months earlier.
Viewers saw Rabbit drinking away the pain and relying on alcohol more and more.
As Professor T and Rabbit’s conflict came to a head in episode four, Rabbit lashed out at the Professor and attacked him.
Christina placed Rabbit on sick leave, but he came back at the surprising request of Professor T in the series finale.
Rabbit’s advice proved valuable for the case, and it seemed he was in a better place.
Will Rabbit finally be able to deal with his demons? Or will he and the Professor butt heads again?
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How did series one of Professor T end?
Throughout the series, lots of flashbacks showed us that Professor T didn’t exactly have a happy childhood.
Viewers learnt that Professor T’s childhood was a violent one, thanks to his abusive father.
And it all came to a head at the end of the first series.
While we previously believed Professor T’s father hung himself, that might not have exactly been the case.
As they worked on a case about a son killing his father, Professor T hallucinated blood on his own hands.
The episode ended with Professor T returning to his childhood home, with flashbacks of his father’s violence once again.
As his father choked his mother, a young Professor T held a gun up to his father…
The episode ended just as his father told him to “pull the trigger!”
Traumatic enough for you? Well, it was for us!
Series two will see Professor T finally attending therapy to work through his troubled memories. But is he ready?
Professor T returns to ITV on Friday September 16 2022 at 9pm. The series is also available on Britbox.
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