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How could you do if your most reckless companion from your youth got back in touch? Imagine if you were battling a terminal illness and felt completely unburdened? Consider if you felt guilty for getting your friend imprisoned 10 years ago? Suppose you were the one she landed in the clink and your release was granted to die of cancer in her custody? If you used to be a nearly unbeatable pair of scam artists who retained a collection of costumes from your prime and a longing to feel some excitement again?

All this and more form the core of Frauds, a new drama starring Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, presents to viewers on a wild, thrilling season-long journey that follows two conwomen determined to executing a final scheme. Similar to an earlier work, Jones co-created this with a writing partner, and it has all the same strengths. Much like a suspense-driven structure served as a backdrop to the psychodramas slowly revealed, here the grand heist the protagonist Roberta (Bert) has carefully planned in prison after learning her prognosis is the vehicle for an exploration of friendship, betrayal and love in every variation.

Bert is released into the care of Sam (Whittaker), who resides close by in the Andalucían hills. Guilt stopped her from ever visiting Bert, but she remained nearby and worked no cons without her – “Bit crass with you in prison for a job I botched.” And to prepare for Bert’s, if brief, life on the outside, she has purchased numerous undergarments, because there are many ways for women companions to show repentance and one is the purchase of “a big lady-bra” after a decade of uncomfortable institutional clothing.

Sam aims to continue maintaining her peaceful existence and look after Bert till the end. Bert possesses different plans. And if your most impulsive companion devises alternative schemes – well, those tend to be the ones you follow. Their former relationship gradually reasserts itself and her strategies are already in motion by the time she lays out the full blueprint for the robbery. The series experiments with chronology – producing engagement rather than confusion – to present key scenes initially and then the rationale. So we watch the pair slipping jewellery and watches from affluent attendees at a memorial service – and acquiring a gilded religious artifact because why wouldn’t you if you could? – before removing their hairpieces and reversing their funeral attire to transform into vibrant outfits as they walk confidently down the church steps, filled with excitement and loot.

They require the stolen goods to finance the operation. This entails recruiting a forger (with, unbeknown to them, a betting addiction that is likely to draw unneeded scrutiny) in the form of illusionist’s aide Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), who has the technical know-how to help them remove and replace the intended artwork (a renowned Dali painting at a prominent gallery). Additionally, they recruit feminist art collector Celine (Kate Fleetwood), who focuses on works by artists depicting female subjects. She is equally merciless as any of the gangsters their accomplice and the funeral theft are attracting, including – most dangerously – their former leader Miss Take (Talisa Garcia), a modern-day Fagin who had them running scams for her since their youth. She did not take well to the pair’s assertion of themselves as independent conwomen so unresolved issues remain there.

Unexpected developments are layered between deepening revelations about Bert and Sam’s history, so you get all the satisfactions of a Thomas Crown Affair-ish caper – executed with no shortage of brio and praiseworthy readiness to overlook obvious implausibilities – plus a captivatingly detailed portrait of a bond that is potentially as harmful as her illness but equally difficult to eradicate. Jones delivers arguably her best and multifaceted portrayal yet, as the damaged, resentful Bert with her lifetime pursuit of excitement to distract from the gnawing pain within that is unrelated to her medical condition. Whittaker supports her, doing brilliant work in a slightly less interesting part, and together with the creative team they create a fantastically stylish, emotionally rich and profoundly intelligent piece of entertainment that is feminist to its bones without preaching and an absolute success. Eagerly awaiting future installments.