Gently Going Under

S6 E4: Throughout the sixties, the Northumberland coal mining was decimated, as competition from oil, gas, cheap imports and nuclear power led to the closure of dozens of collieries. Communities were crushed; with the young moving on to new, lives while the old were left behind to haunt ghost towns. Burnsend is one such community. Once a thriving colliery town the future of the pit hangs in the balance as the National Coal Board (NCB) consider closing it. A mysterious death in the mine leads Gently and Bacchus to explore the tensions and relationships in the community. They encounter families riven by politics and caught in grudges that date back to the Second World War.