With Mia taken into custody and the Dryden Commission preparing to initiate the Basswood solution, it’s up to Max to regain control of the mutinous synths before there’s all-out war.

One of the frustrations of this third series of Humans is its building up of tension and then dissipating it in an unsatisfactory way. Episodes 1, 4 and 6 all had great conclusions but were then followed by lower-octane drama, sapping the tension from what had immediately gone before. Here at the start of the penultimate episode the show we should be firing on all cylinders, but unfortunately there’s a number of threads that just aren’t engaging.

The Mattie/Leo relationship, Max losing his leadership and Mia’s plight are all very workaday, and even Niska’s initially interesting quest has dragged on for far too long in a quest that goes from A to B to C, each time adding another element to the mythos – The Hilltop, The Cabin, The Synth Who Sleeps. Thank goodness for Katherine Parkinson’s Laura and Tom Goodman-Hill’s Joe who manage to be human in a sea of broadly drawn characters.

Verdict: As the episode finishes, we’re in a strong position as Mia is back on the streets and Max back in control. Let’s hope that the final instalment lives up to the earlier promise, with less emphasis on the thinly-disguised allegory and a focus on a satisfying ending. 6/10

Nick Joy