Adultery on ITV ending explained: Beth and Tom faced the reality of their choices after 'giving up everything for each other'
Hearts were broken!
Adultery on ITV came to a conflicted ending, with “adulterers” Tom and Beth facing the consequences of their decisions.
The six-part series introduced us to two families who, on the surface, seemed happy enough. Beth and Neil Brookes were a working class, 2.4 children family. Their son Ollie was in love with Jess, the daughter of GP and charity worker Tom and Hannah Kirkman. Big house, nice clothes, perfect image. You know the type.
On paper, the two families had nothing in common apart from their kids. But when their parents met, fireworks flew between Jess’ dad Tom and Ollie’s mum Beth. And they acted on it pretty quickly!
Beth and Tom fell in love, and fell hard. They tried to end it, but their feelings were too strong. It was hard to watch objectively, without inserting your own feelings about love, loyalty, and betrayal.
But what happened in the ending of Adultery on ITV? Here’s the series finale unpacked and news on a possible series 2.
***Warning: spoilers from the ending of Adultery on ITV ahead***
What happened in the ITV drama Adultery ending?
In the penultimate episode of ITV drama Adultery, Jess had discovered her dad Tom’s affair with Beth. She was obviously distraught. After all, her dad was having sex with her boyfriend’s mum. That would make the future for the teenage lovebirds horribly awkward. A joint wedding would save money, but it’s not a classy act.
As episode 6 began, Jess begged with “whore” Beth to end the affair. She told her: “I love Ollie and I want to be with him forever.”
She promised that no one needed to know if Beth simply cut things off. But Beth admitted she couldn’t. She loved Tom and they wanted to be together. The last act of a desperate schoolgirl, Jess told her parents she was pregnant, in the hope it would stop Beth and her dad being together.
But things had already gone too far. Beth was determined to start her new life with Tom, no matter the cost. We later discovered that Jess wasn’t pregnant. She’d lied as a cry for help.
Did Tom and Beth leave their families?
In the Adultery ending on ITV, Beth and Tom both left their families to be with each other. But Beth was the catalyst. When they agreed to go home and admit the truth to their spouses, Beth went through with it – breaking Neil’s heart. She told him: “It’s over. We’re done. I’ve changed. And you haven’t noticed.”
She continued: “For a while, we were a happy family. But that was then. And this is now.”
It all felt a bit unfair on poor Neil. Yes, perhaps he was guilty of taking his wife for granted. But he was hardly a bad person. Was it right for Beth to dream of more? Well, that’s up to each viewer to decide. The death of her best friend had “turned on a light inside of her”, and she wanted to live a more selfish life.
Meanwhile, at his house, Tom chickened out of telling Hannah. It was only when a furious Neil arrived at Tom’s house to confront him that the ugly truth spilled out. Hannah chucked Tom out of the house. In fact, she seemed to find a new steely energy about her. We could tell she was going to be alright, with or without Tom.
D0n’t forget this is a woman who discovered a dark secret in her own past. One that subsequently ruined her mental health, causing her to have anxiety and panic attacks. When Hannah’s mother died, she found out that she’d lied to her about the identity of her dad. The man Hannah had grown up with was not her real dad, who had actually been stabbed to death outside a pub. So she knew something about lies and secrets. And she wasn’t prepared to put her children through that.
We loved the strong, face-slapping Hannah!
Adultery on ITV ending: Did Tom and Beth stay together?
Tom and Beth did stay together in the ending of Adultery. But for how long? They planned to get their own places – separately so they could have their children visit.
There was no doubt that they were in love. But would their relationship survive “reality” once the “fantasy” was over? Perhaps most importantly, would Tom ever forgive himself for becoming a man who cheated on his wife, just like his dad and brother did? Tom wanted to be a better man, but was fallible just like everyone else.
He “fought against being this man”. But he became him anyway. The affair, the fallout, and the heartbreak was a big messy grey area. Is one person’s desire more important than another’s happiness? Should a person stay unsatisfied to keep the peace? Writer Danny Brocklehurst isn’t giving moral judgement here. He seems to be saying that there’s no right or wrong, it’s not easy on anyone, and there can be regrets. Tom and Beth did not go skipping into the sunset together. It was hard on them, even though they had given up everything for each other.
Tom admitted he missed his family. Even though he loved Beth, he’d “never felt so lonely”. Put simply, the grass isn’t always greener. He loved Beth, but he loved and missed his family too.
Beth told Tom: “You can’t expect every moment to be perfect. That’s not reality. It’s a fantasy.” But wasn’t that why they left their families? Because it wasn’t as perfect as they wanted?
Was Beth and Tom’s affair worth it? In short, no. Lives were ruined, and hearts were broken. But time would heal. Would Beth and Tom have regrets, though? Undoubtedly, yes.
‘Adultery is still such an emotionally charged subject’
Taking about his drama Adultery, writer and creator Danny Brocklehurst said: “An affair is a good way to tell stories about modern families, about social media, about grief, about class, about loneliness.
“Adultery is still such an emotionally charged subject. The cast, crew, and other people involved in the making of this show have had a lot of different reactions to it. People bring their own baggage to it, be that their own relationships or their parents’ relationships or their friends. You’ve got people with all kinds of different attitudes to cheating, some sympathetic, some absolutely 100% not. It wasn’t originally called Adultery. It was called Play with Fire, but I changed it. First, I think Adultery is a great title, but I also wanted it to be provocative. There is something about that word that feels quite charged for some people.”
Danny admitted he wrote two potential endings for Adultery on ITV. He explained: “In the end, we went with what we felt was the most truthful. People will respond to that however they respond to it. Some people will not want it to end that way. The main thing is that an affair, no matter what kind of an affair it is, is essentially built on a fantasy. You are sneaking around but not in a real situation. Then, when it ends, even if you deeply love that person, and even if you spend the rest of your lives together, the fantasy is now over, and you must face reality. That’s the theme of the show.”
Is there a series 2 of Adultery?
ITV has not confirmed a series 2 of Adultery. Often a decision is made depending on how well the series is received with viewers.
Danny Brocklehurst is known to write one-off drama series like The Five, The Driver, and No Return. But he’s also been at the helm of several long-running series such as Brassic, Ten Pound Poms, and Ordinary Lies.
If ITV does recommission Adultery, the series would catch up with the realities of Beth and Tom’s relationship after the “fantasy was over”. We’d also see the continued fall out, with each other, their exes, and their children – especially Ollie and Jess, who clearly still had feelings for each other, even though they’d split in the aftermath of the affair being exposed.
Talking about a potential series 2, executive producer Preethu Mavahalli said: “Our sense is that this is its complete story. But never say never. There were some interesting discussions about the two potential endings. We didn’t know until we got to the edit and even then, there was some debate over what it should feel like. I felt different things as I watched it than I had when I read it. I think the ending will make people talk. Some people will be happy, some people won’t. It depends on what you want for these characters.”
Read more: ‘Powerful’ ITV drama tackles a ‘heartbreaking’ assisted dying case that saw Mavis Eccleston charged with the murder of her husband
