Riot: 77

Newly retired detective Nevis ‘Neil’ Armstrong ponders the inscription on his leaving present, a gold watch. ‘Nevis Armstrong – CID’s finest’.

Only Neil isn’t so sure - were there mistakes along the way?

‘There’s nothing doing worrying about the past. What’s done is done,’ argues his former boss. But the watch, ticking away time, makes Neil think. What if what’s done is not done after all?

Twenty-five years earlier. 1977. Britain is suffering with one million unemployed and rampant inflation. Industrial unrest and racial tensions spark violence. Punk rock is the voice of a disaffected younger generation. And in South London, a man lies dead after rioting at a National Front march. Across town, Neil, recently promoted to Detective Inspector, is spending an off-duty evening in The White Horse with a bottle of wine, the latest New Scientist magazine and the pub’s jukebox.

A young woman with blue-streaked hair, a nose stud and a dolphin tattoo sits down at his table.

Neil doesn’t know it yet, but history is about to change.

Time to solve murder.