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How would you do if your most reckless companion from your teenage years reappeared? Imagine if you were dying of cancer and had nothing to lose? Consider if you felt guilty for landing your friend in the clink 10 years ago? If you were the one she landed in the clink and you were only being released to die of cancer in her care? If you used to be a nearly unbeatable pair of con artists who retained a collection of costumes left over from your glory days and a longing to feel some excitement again?

All this and more are the questions that Frauds, a new drama featuring Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker, flings at us on a exhilarating, intense six-part ride that traces two conwomen determined to pulling off one last job. Echoing an earlier work, Jones developed this series with her collaborator, and it has all the same strengths. Just as a suspense-driven structure was used as background to emotional conflicts slowly revealed, here the grand heist Jones’ character Roberta (Bert) has carefully planned while incarcerated after learning her prognosis is the vehicle for a deep dive into friendship, betrayal and love in all its forms.

Bert is placed under the supervision of Sam (Whittaker), who resides close by in the Spanish countryside. Remorse prevented her from ever visiting Bert, but she has stayed close and avoided scams without her – “Bit crass with you in prison for a job I botched.” And for her new, albeit short, life on the outside, she has bought her plenty of new underwear, because various methods exist for women companions to offer contrition and a classic example is the purchase of “a big lady-bra” after a decade of underwire-free prison-issue rubbish.

Sam aims to continue leading her quiet life and look after Bert till the end. Bert has other ideas. And when your daftest friend has other ideas – well, those tend to be the ones you follow. Their old dynamic gradually reasserts itself and Bert’s plans are underway by the time she reveals the complete plan for the robbery. The series experiments with chronology – producing engagement rather than confusion – to present key scenes initially and then the rationale. So we observe the duo slipping jewellery and watches 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 reversing their funeral attire to transform into vibrant outfits as they walk confidently down the chapel stairs, filled with excitement and loot.

They require the stolen goods to fund the plan. This involves recruiting a forger (with, unknown to the pair, a gambling problem that is due to attract unneeded scrutiny) in the form of magician’s assistant Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), who has the technical know-how to assist in swapping the target painting (a famous surrealist piece at a major museum). They also enlist feminist art collector Celine (Kate Fleetwood), who specialises in works by male artists exploiting women. She is as ruthless as any of the gangsters 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 the pair’s assertion of themselves as self-reliant tricksters so there’s ground to make up in that area.

Unexpected developments are layered between deepening revelations about the duo’s past, so you experience the full enjoyment of a sophisticated heist tale – carried out with immense energy and praiseworthy readiness to overlook obvious implausibilities – alongside a captivatingly detailed portrait of a bond that is possibly as toxic as her illness but equally difficult to eradicate. Jones delivers arguably her best and multifaceted portrayal yet, as the wounded, bitter Bert with her endless quest for thrills to divert attention from the gnawing pain within that has nothing to do with her medical condition. Whittaker stands with her, delivering excellent acting in a slightly less interesting part, and together with the creative team they craft a incredibly chic, deeply moving and profoundly intelligent work of art that is inherently empowering without preaching and in every way a triumph. More again, soon, please.