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What could you respond if your most reckless friend from your teenage years got back in touch? Imagine if you were battling a terminal illness and felt completely unburdened? Consider 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 care? What if you had been a almost unstoppable pair of con artists who still had a stash of disguises left over from your glory days and a deep desire for one last thrill?

All this and more form the core of Frauds, an original series starring Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, presents to viewers on a wild, thrilling six-part ride that follows two conwomen determined to pulling off one last job. Echoing a recent project, Jones developed this series with her collaborator, and it has all the same strengths. Much like a suspense-driven structure served as a backdrop to the psychodramas gradually unveiled, here the grand heist Jones’ character Roberta (Bert) has meticulously arranged in prison after learning her prognosis is the vehicle for a deep dive into companionship, deceit, and affection in every variation.

Bert is placed under the supervision of Sam (Whittaker), who lives nearby in the Andalucían hills. Guilt stopped her from ever visiting Bert, but she remained nearby and worked no cons without her – “Rather insensitive with you in prison for a job I botched.” And to prepare for Bert’s, albeit short, freedom, 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” following ten years of uncomfortable institutional clothing.

Sam wants to carry on maintaining her peaceful existence and care for Bert until her passing. Bert has other ideas. And when your daftest friend devises alternative schemes – well, you often find yourself going along. Their former relationship slowly resurfaces and Bert’s plans are underway by the time she reveals the complete plan for the robbery. This show experiments with chronology – to good rather than eye-rolling effect – to present key scenes initially and then the rationale. So we watch the pair stealing gems and timepieces off wealthy guests’ wrists 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 become colourful suits as they walk confidently down the chapel stairs, filled with excitement and assets.

They need the assets to fund the plan. This entails hiring a document expert (with, unknown to the pair, a gambling problem that is due to attract unneeded scrutiny) in the guise of magician’s assistant Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), who has the technical know-how to assist in swapping the target painting (a renowned Dali painting at a major museum). 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 drawing towards them, including – most perilously of all – their old boss Miss Take (Talisa Garcia), a contemporary crime lord who had them running scams for her since their youth. She did not take well to their declaration of independence as self-reliant tricksters so unresolved issues remain in that area.

Unexpected developments are layered between deepening revelations about the duo’s past, 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 – alongside a mesmerisingly intricate portrait of a bond that is possibly as toxic as her illness but just as impossible to uproot. Jones delivers arguably her best and most complex performance yet, as the damaged, resentful Bert with her endless quest for thrills to distract from her internal anguish that is unrelated to metastasising cells. Whittaker stands with her, doing brilliant work in a slightly less interesting part, and alongside the creative team they create a fantastically stylish, emotionally rich and profoundly intelligent piece of entertainment that is inherently empowering without preaching and an absolute success. More again, soon, please.