The Pact ending explained: Who killed Jack Evans?
Everything you need to know about the ending to the addictive BBC One crime thriller. **CONTAINS SPOILERS**
Before the first episode of BBC One drama The Pact aired, writer Pete McTighe promised viewers there would be twists and turns aplenty in-store – and the crime thriller duly delivered.
Packing in some irresistible cliffhangers and several gasp-worthy moments, the series easily lent itself to the binge-watching experience and, with all six episodes having been available on BBC iPlayer since Monday night, it's likely that many viewers will have already made their way through the whole series.
If that's you, and you need a little help unpacking all the revelations then read on for everything you need to know about the ending. But if you're still making your way through the episodes then beware – there are major spoilers for The Pact below.
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Who killed Jack Evans?
The identity of the killer was fully revealed towards the beginning of the final episode, having been strongly hinted at at the end of the penultimate instalment.
It turns out that it was Anna's daughter Tamsin who was responsible, although naturally it wasn't quite as simple as cold-blooded murder.
During a heated row with her mother in episode five, Tamsin suddenly revealed that she was pregnant and that Jack Evans was the father.
We learned in the final episode that they had had a one-night-stand after meeting at the arcade before the events of the series and that Tamsin had fallen pregnant soon afterward.
Desperate to avoid becoming a father, Jack used some horribly underhanded tactics – including blackmail – to pressure Tamsin into getting an abortion, laughing off the efforts of Ryan to get him to change his mind.
Tamsin and Ryan had been all set to tell their mother of the pregnancy and its circumstances on the night Jack was killed, but when they arrived at the party, they saw Anna and her friends placing a drunken Jack in his boot and followed him to the woods.
When he was left alone, Tamsin and Ryan confronted Jack, who drunkenly said that he would agree to let her keep the baby after all but would make sure that her entire family's life would fall apart if she did.
At this point, Tamsin walked away and found a plastic bag, which she then used to suffocate Jack before leaving him for dead.
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Why did Nancy confess to Jack's murder?
Despite Tamsin being the real culprit, the series ended with Nancy being sentenced to a prison term after she admitted to the murder, claiming it was her and not Tamsin who killed Jack.
The reason for this stems back to earlier in the series, when it transpired that it was Nancy who had been blackmailing Anna and the rest of the gang – anonymously claiming she knew what had happened and threatening to tell the police if they didn't stump up significant amounts of cash.
She had done this in a bid to solve the money troubles that had been caused by her husband Richard's gambling debts. When she admitted she was the blackmailer to Anna, she was unsurprisingly shut out by her friends and vowed to do anything possible to gain their forgiveness.
After she had been questioned about her presence in the woods that night, Nancy set about cutting several ties from her old life, including her husband and her priest, and handed herself into the police claiming to be the murderer.
The police fully accepted this falsified version of events and ceased their investigations into the other women, with the deeply religious Nancy insisting she was doing her penance for her earlier transgressions.
At the end of the series, the rest of the gang start back working at the brewery – which is now owned by Louie after it was left to her in her brother Arwel's will.
Despite initially refusing to accept the will, Louie has been convinced to keep it by Cat and Tish, who end the series as a stable couple.
The Pact is streaming now on BBC iPlayer. If you’re looking for more to watch, take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage, or check out our TV Guide.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
