Witness Number 3 ending explained: Who betrayed Jodie?

The 2022 Channel 5 drama has seen renewed interest since recently arriving on Netflix, and viewers now want to have the Witness Number 3 ending explained.

Gripping crime drama Witness Number 3 has stormed Netflix's most-watched list since it was added to the platform, a year after airing on Channel 5. The four-parter focuses on Jodie, a single mother and hairdresser, who is targeted by gang members after she unintentionally gets caught up in a murder case.

Viewers have been hooked by the series, with many wondering if Witness Number 3 is a true story. And just like Channel 5 viewers also wanted the For Her Sins ending explained after the thriller came to a close, while over on Netflix others have recently been asking for the Fatal Seduction ending to be explained, now TV fans want the same of Witness Number 3. Here's what went down in the final episode...

Witness number 3 ending explained

Witness Number 3 ends with Detective Whelan getting arrested and unmasked as the corrupt cop. This is revealed after she agrees to take Jodie somewhere safe, but in actual fact she reveals Jodie's location to the gang members who are after her.

However, in a shock twist, gang member Po decides not to shoot Jodie, despite being given the task. Jodie takes the gun off him and allows Po to run away, following an earlier conversation in which she had learned about his difficult upbringing.

In the show's final scenes, PC Ivan Barkas asks Jodie to identify a gang member the police have caught. Barkas tells her that if she can't identify him they'll have to let him go. Jodie knows it will be Po and looks conflicted, but agrees to do the ID. 

At the police line-up, Jodie says "no" when asked if she recognises Po, showing that she is grateful to him for saving her and giving him the chance to escape the life of violence that he found himself drawn into.

What happened at the end of Witness Number 3?

At the end of Witness Number 3, Detective Whelan takes Jodie out into the woods, where she is ambushed by gang members Po and Troops.

After being attacked in her own home the night before, Jodie had begged Whelan to get her and her son Kyle to safety. Whelan is reluctant but eventually agrees to take her to a cabin in the woods while they wait for the official safe house to be made available.

While Whelan takes Jodie to the location, Kyle stays with Jodie's mum Cathy in hospital. Jodie phones him to let him know what is happening - and also says that her phone is running out of battery.

It is while Jodie and Whelan are in the woods that Po and Troops ambush them. Po has been given the task of killing Jodie, but he's reluctant after the previous night, when he had broken into Jodie's home. The pair had talked and he expressed regrets about the violent life he'd found himself embroiled in.

Po shoots Troops instead of Jodie, and after Jodie takes the gun from him, she orders him to drive as far away as possible, giving him a way to escape. 

After Jodie gets the gun from Po, she turns it on Whelan, realising she has been betraying her. Whelan says it was "never meant to end like this". 

Who betrayed Jodie in Witness Number 3?

Detective Whelan betrayed Jodie to the gang. Towards the end of Witness Number 3, Detective Whelan alerts gang members Po and Troops to Jodie's whereabouts in the woods.

At the start of the show, Jodie was a witness to an altercation that led to murder, and she became 'witness number 3'. The prime suspects were a local gang and though Jodie should have remained anonymous, it turns out that Whelan had leaked her identity and put her at the mercy of the gang members, who relentlessly tried to intimidate her.

Who was the bent cop in Witness Number 3?

Detective Whelan is the 'bent cop' in Witness Number 3. She admits to Jodie that she did little favours for the gang members that had been targeting her, but it ended up getting out of control. 

It is later revealed that Whelan previously struck a deal with the gang in order to get £90,000 to stop her home from getting repossessed, which involved her planting evidence against a rival drug dealer.

When gang member Sean was arrested for murder, he blackmailed her with this information so that Whelan would supply the names of the witnesses. She was also responsible for disabling the panic alarm in Jodie's home and gave the gang a key to get in. 

For more in depth looks at season finales, check out the Wolf ending explained, and The Witcher season 3 ending explained. Similarly, the Silo ending explained answers many questions viewers had after the final episode.