Under Salt Marsh: Episode 1 of brilliantly atmospheric crime drama left us with so many tantalising questions
Our favourite crime series of 2026 so far. FACT!
Under Salt Marsh has started strong with one of the most intriguing and atmospheric starts to a TV crime drama in recent years – and episode 1 left us wanting more.
The first episode of the murder mystery (Friday, January 30, 2026) introduced likeable but flawed – and secretly pregnant – heroine Jackie Ellis. A former detective turned teacher, Jackie discovered the body of her eight-year-old pupil, Cefin, dead in a drainage ditch. And it soon became clear that it was no drowning accident.
With the backdrop of a once-in-a-generation storm brewing, the residents of tightly-knit community Morfa Halen prepared to bunker down and brave the tempest – and the aftermath of the tragedy. And it wasn’t the first time the village had been affected by catastophe.
Cefin’s death revived “the ghost of an unsolved cold case that rocked the town three years prior”. An “intimate and cinematic story”, Under Salt Marsh took us into the “heart of a community bound by nature and fractured by an unthinkable crime”.
Here are all the questions that we need answering after Under Salt Marsh episode 1 on Sky Atlantic.
***Warning: spoilers from Under Salt Marsh episode 1 ahead***
Who killed Cefin Hill? All the clues we have so far
At first, it looked like young Cefin’s death was an accidental drowning. But the autopsy soon proved that the water in his lungs was NOT the same water as in the ditch. Although he was found in the drainage ditch which had sea water in it, his lungs were full of fresh water. That meant that somebody had moved his body to make it look like an accident.
We also know that:
- There was an unaccounted for handprint in the mud near his body.
- The blue wellies he was wearing were missing.
- He had a bee sting on his neck.
- He had a hair on his t’shirt that wasn’t his.
- The whites of his eyes were yellow.
Under Salt Marsh episode 1: Who was Nessa Taman and what happened to her?
Just three years before Cefin’s death, Jackie’s niece Nessa disappeared. She was the same age as Cefin at the time. The town still mourns the tragedy, and the perpetrator was never found. We know that Jackie’s sister moved away, being unable to stay in the town where the devastating event occurred.
Convinced the cases of Nessa and Cefin are linked, Jackie and Bull must reconcile and race to uncover long-buried secrets inside Morfa – before the storm breaks and all the evidence is gone for good. One thing we know for sure is that DI Eric Bill is an unnerving presence in the village. Unnerving, full stop actually.
What is Jackie’s relationship with DI Eric Bull?
We know that Nessa’s disappearance, and the investigation that followed, “cost Jackie her career”. We also know that her former partner, Detective Eric Bull, had a large part to play in her downfall. He was also part of the investigation into Nessa’s death. But, at that time, Jackie was his supervisor.
DI Bull, back in Morfa Halen to lead the investigation into Cefin’s death, is clearly unwelcome. He “failed the community before” and “destroyed one family with his investigation”. However, as yet, we don’t know exactly how.
When Jackie first discovered the police force had sent DI Bull to investigate the death of Cefin, she couldn’t believe he “had the nerve to come back here”. She said: “I can’t believe they sent you. You are not the right person for this. You stay away from this beach, these children, and me.”
Later, when Eric attempted to get a statement from Jackie about finding Cefin’s body, more of the truth spilled out. He told her she “should never have left the force”. And her response revealed a lot about their shared past.
She said: “Yeah, but it got a bit personal, didn’t it? My partner, who I worked with every day. Who I trusted had my back, with my life, [bleeped] it up and betrayed me. So it got a bit tricky.”
However, whatever Eric had done to Hackie, he still hadn’t apologised.
Under Salt Marsh episode 1: Who is the father of pregnant Jackie’s baby?
Viewers saw Jackie was secretly pregnant in Under Salt Marsh episode 1. She used a Fetal Heart Monitor to check her baby’s heartbeat. Although her bump is small enough to hide at the moment, it won’t be long before everyone knows.
So who is the dad? Well, that we don’t know. Although we DO know that she is having a secret sexual relationship with Morfa Halen resident Dylan Rees. He’s – how shall we put this delicately? – not the sort of man we’d expect a teacher to be in a relationship with.
So is he the father, and why is she keeping her fling with him a secret? All will be revealed in the next five episodes!
