Two stars of Strike Troubled Blood looking nervous
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Strike: Troubled Blood on BBC One: Ending explained for all the drama that went down in THAT finale!

We did NOT see that ending coming!

If, like us, you need that Strike: Troubled Blood ending explained, then you’ve come to the right place.

The finale (which is on iPlayer now) had more twists and turns than we could’ve ever expected.

Cormoran hunted down Margot’s ex-patient Steve Douthwaite, and he finally helped provide the answers we were all waiting for.

So, here’s what happened to Dr Margot Bamborough and how Strike: Troubled Blood ended…

***WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Strike Troubled Blood episode 4***

Steve Douthwaite frowns in Strike Troubled Blood episode 4
Robin Askwith as Steve Douthwaite in Strike episode 4 (Credit: BBC)

Strike: Troubled Blood ending explained – did Steve Douthwaite kill Margot Bamborough?

In episode three of Strike, Cormoran and Robin connected clues from DI Talbot’s notes and the information that Dennis Creed gave them.

It led them to believe that Steve Douthwaite, Margot’s ex-patient, could be responsible for her murder, as well as his ex-girlfriends.

He was seen at the office’s Christmas party, and once seen storming out of Margot’s office in anger.

But he had changed his name at least once, and he was proving challenging to track down.

He was last known to be going by Steve Jacks, naming himself after 1970s singer Terry Jacks.

Cormoran (Tom Burke) found Steve by trying lots of 1970s stars’ names, finally finding him as Steve Diamond, running a hotel in Skegness.

But Steve was adamant that he didn’t kill Margot. He also denied killing his exes, Janice Wilkes and Joanna Hammond.

He said that he kept visiting Margot because he was ill, and Margot told him he was being poisoned.

But who was poisoning him?

Dr Margot Bamborough looks to her right in Strike Troubled Blood episode 4
We finally got answers on what happened to Dr Margot Bamborough in episode 4 (Credit: BBC)

Strike Troubled Blood ending explained: Who killed Margot Bamborough?

Well, that answer connects to who was poisoning Steve Douthwaite (Robin Askwith) too.

Towards the end of the episode, Cormoran visited Janice Beattie, the nurse who worked with Dr Margot Bamborough in her office.

Margot warned Steve to stop eating Janice’s food,  and we learnt that Margot was suspicious of Janice’s habit of poisoning.

And when Cormoran caught Janice – played by Tom’s real-life mum – trying to poison a cup of tea for him – it was clear she wasn’t getting out of this easily.

Cormoran pointed out that she had pictures in her house of Julie Wilkes and Joanna Hammond – both exes of Steve Douthwaite – a man who she was obsessed with.

She admitted to visiting Steve and when she saw him kissing Julie, she didn’t use poison but she did drown her.

She also poisoned Joanna and was poisoning her own son, Kevin. Cormoran told Janice that he had spoken to her son, who agreed to testify against her.

With Margot’s suspicions building, Janice knew she had to get rid of her. She poisoned a doughnut that Margot ate with nembutal sodium solution.

After poisoning her, a witness did see a struggle between them and Janice took her to the Athorn home.

Where was Margot’s body found?

Earlier in Troubled Blood, we heard about a person of interest named Gwilhern Athorn who believed he killed Margot “with magic”.

He was an addict with special needs who was later found dead under a bridge.

Janice took Margot’s body to the Athorn home and drugged them all.

Margot wasn’t dead, though, and Janice ended up suffocating her with a cushion off the sofa.

She then convinced Gwilhern that he had killed Margot.

She put cement in the Athorn family’s ottoman and hid Margot’s body there.

Janice also sent Margot’s daughter, Anna, the similar-looking necklace that Margot was wearing she went missing.

Janice thought it would stop her snooping.

Robin (Holliday Grainger) went to the Athorn’s home and found the body in the ottoman. Poor Margot!

Janice and Irene speak with Cormoran in Strike Troubled Blood
Janice played by Anna Calder-Marshall is the one who killed Margot (Credit: BBC)

Why did Janice Beattie murder all those people?

Cormoran, like all of us, was wondering why Janice had an obsession with poisoning in the Strike finale.

Janice’s explanation was pretty bone-chilling: “Sometimes it’s to make them grateful, sometimes it’s because they [bleep]ed me off, other times I just liked watching them go.”

Her main motivation behind killing Margot was that the smart doctor was on to her crime of repeatedly poisoning others.

She chillingly told Cormoran: “It would’ve been nice to kill you, love.”

Read more: Strike: Troubled Blood on BBC One: New pictures tease romance between Cormoran and Robin

Strike Troubled Blood ending explained: How did it end?

The episode ended with Cormoran and Robin visiting Margot’s daughter Anna and Margot’s widowed husband Roy Phipps.

They shared a tape of Margot with Anna as a baby that Dr Gupta sent them as Anna finally got the peace she needed after all these years.

We saw Robin and Matthew FINALLY close up their divorce, as his partner Sarah wanted to get married before they had their baby.

We also saw Cormoran at Aunt Joan’s funeral, and we were all reaching for the tissues as Cormoran told Uncle Ted of his biological father: “He was never my dad… that was always you.”

And at the very end of the episode, we saw Cormoran and Robin celebrate Robin’s birthday with a date!

It was even complete with a kiss on the cheek, as Cormoran told Robin that she was his “best friend”.

Maybe romance will finally blossom in series 6

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Strike series 5 Troubled Blood is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

What did you think of that ending? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think.