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What could you respond if that wildest friend from your teenage years reappeared? Imagine if you were dying of cancer and had nothing to lose? What if you felt guilty for getting your friend imprisoned a decade back? Suppose you were the one she got sent to prison and you were only being released to die of cancer in her care? What if you had been a nearly unbeatable pair of scam artists who retained a collection of costumes left over from your glory days and a longing to feel some excitement again?

These questions and beyond are the questions that Frauds, a new drama starring Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, flings at us on a exhilarating, intense six-part ride that traces two female fraudsters determined to executing a final scheme. Similar to an earlier work, Jones co-created this with a writing partner, and it retains similar qualities. Just as the mystery-thriller formula served as a backdrop to emotional conflicts slowly revealed, here the grand heist Jones’ character Roberta (Bert) has carefully planned in prison since her diagnosis is a means to explore a deep dive into friendship, betrayal and love in all its forms.

Bert is placed under the supervision of Sam (Whittaker), who lives nearby in the Spanish countryside. Remorse prevented her from ever visiting Bert, but she has stayed close and worked no cons without her – “Bit crass with you in prison for a job I messed up.” And for her new, albeit short, freedom, she has purchased numerous undergarments, because various methods exist for women companions to offer contrition and one is the acquisition 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 devises alternative schemes – well, you often find yourself going along. Their former relationship slowly resurfaces and her strategies are already in motion by the time she lays out the full blueprint for the robbery. This show plays around with the timeline – producing engagement rather than confusion – to present key scenes initially and then the explanations. So we watch the pair stealing gems and timepieces from affluent attendees at a funeral – 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 need the assets to fund the plan. This involves recruiting a forger (with, unbeknown to them, a gambling problem that is due to attract unneeded scrutiny) in the form of illusionist’s aide Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), who possesses the necessary skills to assist in swapping the target painting (a renowned Dali painting at a major museum). Additionally, they recruit art enthusiast Celine (Kate Fleetwood), who focuses on works by male artists exploiting women. She is as ruthless as all the criminals the forger and their funeral robbery are drawing towards them, including – most dangerously – their old boss Miss Take (Talisa Garcia), a modern-day Fagin who employed them in frauds for her from their teens. She reacted poorly to their declaration of independence as independent conwomen so unresolved issues remain there.

Unexpected developments are layered between deepening revelations about Bert and Sam’s history, so you experience the full enjoyment of a Thomas Crown Affair-ish caper – executed with no shortage of brio and admirable willingness to overlook obvious implausibilities – plus a mesmerisingly intricate portrait of a friendship that is possibly as toxic as Bert’s cancer but just as impossible to uproot. Jones gives perhaps her finest and most complex performance yet, as the damaged, resentful Bert with her lifetime pursuit of excitement to divert attention from the gnawing pain within that is unrelated to metastasising cells. Whittaker stands with her, doing brilliant work in a somewhat less flashy role, and alongside the creative team they create a fantastically stylish, emotionally rich and highly insightful piece of entertainment that is feminist to its bones without preaching and an absolute success. More again, soon, please.