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What would you do if that wildest companion from your youth got back in touch? Imagine if you were battling a terminal illness and felt completely unburdened? What if you were plagued by remorse for getting your friend imprisoned 10 years ago? Suppose you were the one she landed in the clink and you were only being released to succumb to illness in her custody? What if you had been a nearly unbeatable pair of scam artists who still had a stash of disguises from your prime and a longing to feel some excitement again?

These questions and beyond form the core of Frauds, an original series featuring Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, flings at us on a exhilarating, intense six-part ride that follows two female fraudsters bent on pulling off one last job. Similar to a recent project, Jones co-created this with a writing partner, and it retains similar qualities. Just as a suspense-driven structure served as a backdrop to emotional conflicts gradually unveiled, here the grand heist Jones’ character Roberta (Bert) has carefully planned while incarcerated after learning her prognosis is a means to explore an exploration of companionship, deceit, and affection in all its forms.

Bert is released into the care of Sam (Whittaker), who resides close by in the Andalucían hills. Remorse prevented her from seeing Bert during her sentence, but she remained nearby and worked no cons without her – “Bit crass with you in prison for a job I messed up.” And to prepare for Bert’s, albeit short, life on the outside, she has bought her plenty of new underwear, because there are many ways for female friends to show repentance and a classic example is the purchase of “a big lady-bra” following ten years of underwire-free prison-issue rubbish.

Sam wants to carry on maintaining her peaceful existence and care for Bert until her passing. Bert has other ideas. And if your most impulsive companion has other ideas – well, you often find yourself going along. Their former relationship gradually reasserts itself and Bert’s plans are underway by the time she lays out the full blueprint for the robbery. The series plays around with the timeline – producing engagement rather than confusion – to give us the set-pieces first and then the explanations. So we observe the duo stealing gems and timepieces off wealthy guests’ wrists at a funeral – and bagging a golden crown of thorns because why wouldn’t you if you could? – before ripping off their wigs and turning their mourning clothes inside out to transform into vibrant outfits as they walk confidently down the chapel stairs, awash with adrenaline and assets.

They need the assets to fund the plan. This entails hiring a document expert (with, unknown to the pair, a betting addiction that is due to attract unwanted attention) in the guise of magician’s assistant Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), who possesses the necessary skills to assist in swapping the intended artwork (a renowned Dali painting at a prominent gallery). They also enlist art enthusiast Celine (Kate Fleetwood), who specialises in works by male artists exploiting women. She is as ruthless as any of the gangsters their accomplice and the funeral theft are attracting, including – most dangerously – their old boss Miss Take (Talisa Garcia), a contemporary crime lord who had them running scams for her from their teens. She did not take well to their declaration of independence as independent conwomen so unresolved issues remain there.

Unexpected developments are interspersed with deepening revelations about Bert and Sam’s history, so you get all the satisfactions of a Thomas Crown Affair-ish caper – carried out with immense energy and admirable willingness to overlook obvious implausibilities – alongside a mesmerisingly intricate portrait of a friendship that is possibly as toxic as Bert’s cancer but just as impossible to uproot. Jones delivers arguably her best and multifaceted portrayal yet, as the wounded, bitter Bert with her endless quest for thrills to divert attention from her internal anguish that has nothing to do with her medical condition. Whittaker supports her, delivering excellent acting in a somewhat less flashy role, and together with the writers they create a incredibly chic, emotionally rich and highly insightful piece of entertainment that is feminist to its bones devoid of lecturing and in every way a triumph. More again, soon, please.