Police Constable Nick Rowan moves from London to Aidensfield, North Riding, Yorkshire to be the new village bobby with his wife Kate, who was born and grew up in the area and hopes for a position with the local GP Dr. Ferrenby. Rowan soon starts to make himself known among the locals and gets his first case. A woman thinks she is being stalked and wants him to look into it. Furthermore there is trouble brewing between local boys on motorbikes and outside hooligans for him to deal with, and his new section sergeant, the old-fashioned Oscar Blaketon from the nearby Ashfordly police station whose lifelong ambition it is to see the local rascal Claude Jeremiah Greengrass behind bars, is giving him a hard time too.

Strange things are happening at Kirlby Moor. A car driver runs down a sheep when he tries to avoid a drunken hiker, Mr. Holroyd goes missing on a fishing trip to the moor and on the bus driving across the moor the conductress Hannah Davis is subjected to indecent exposure by a drunken passenger they had just picked up on the moor. But that is not the only problem for PC Rowan. Sergeant Blaketon keeps him, PC Bellamy and PC Ventress on their toes due to an upcoming inspection at the Ashfordly police station.

PC Rowan is investigating a case where two barns have been burned down by a young man on a motorcycle. Furthermore, trouble is coming the way of Rowan and his wife when he gives justice of peace Angela Hamilton a parking ticket and she considers herself above the law in such petty cases. Mr. Sykes is having trouble with his neighbor Fiona Lambton who refuses to tie her horse, which is constantly ruining his garden. And Greengrass of all people is reporting a case of poaching.

PC Rowan has to deal with a neighboring dispute between Dick Radcliffe and Matthew Chapman.. Chapman will not let Radcliffe or anybody else cross his land on the way to and fro Radcliffe's farm, although Radcliffe claims it's a public right of way and the only other road is blocked. The matter escalates when Chapman shoots at three kids on their way to do some odd jobs for Radcliffe and they pull a prank on him in return and he blames Radcliffe for it.

A ban-the-bomb demonstration outside the nearby Fylingdales radar station has been announced and sergeant Blaketon turn down an offer of outside help believing it will only be a small gathering. But matters are complicated by the visit of the American ambassador to the area and the arrival of the prominent activist Paul Melthorn. Melthorn is assaulted at the protesters' camp site on lord Ashfordly's field - courtesy of Claude Greengrass - by troublemakers working at Fylingdales.

Aidensfield is visited by a family of gypsies. When PC Rowan goes to investigate a complaint against them he notices that the father of the family has a bad cough and asks Kate to have a look at him. But his wife will not let her in claiming nothing is wrong with him. Actually he was born in Aidensfield and has returned to die of cancer. Blaketon is not happy about the situation and orders Rowan to get rid of them to avoid trouble. Too late it seems when their eldest son Milos befriends the vicar's daughter Anna upsetting her fiancée Jamie Hunter. When the Hunter's farm and the church are broken into Milos is blamed, but everything seems too neat to PC Rowan.

High profile murder in Aidensfield! When Mrs. Gerard gets home from church she finds her husband Andrew shot dead. Since Gerard was a well-known retired Scotland Yard detective, his former colleagues are called in from London to solve the case, which attracts a lot of news media interest too. Alan Maskell, who Rowan has helped setting up a repair shop, gets into trouble when a car he has repainted for a customer turns out to be stolen.

When Alan Maskell is charged with accessory to car theft although he helped the police to catch the thieves he makes a run for it to London. PC Rowan has been offered a position in a new anti-drug unit within the Yard, and he decides to look for Alan and bring him back for the trial since he has to go to the capital for an interview anyway. Blaketon is in high spirits when Greengrass is caught trying to sell some sheep which may be stolen. When George Ward is having difficulty driving his car and serving drinks Kate Rowan suspects he is seriously ill.

A flasher is spotted on Elsinby Moor and when Nick Rowan goes to investigate he is stopped by the flasher himself, Joe Duffy, a shoes salesman who has been held up at gun point and robbed of his van and clothes. Lord Ashfordly's arrogant son Rupert is home for a visit and Rowan thinks he may be the perpetrator. Anyway Master Rupert is using his position to make everybody else's life miserable. Especially Nick Rowan's when Rowan arrests him for drunk driving. But they have to drop the charges when Rowan fails to contact his wife in time. She is the only doctor in Aidensfield who can perform the required medical test now that Alex Ferrenby has retired. Young Ashfordly may also be the father of the child Julie Neagle is expecting. At least her father thinks so and confronts him.

Frank Milner has recently lost his grandchild Claire and blames Nick Rowan for her death. He goes to Aidensfield to get back at Rowan by making him lose somebody he loves. Sergeant Blaketon spots another chance to get Greengrass behind bars when the old scoundrel is spotted trying to get into captain Braithwaite's barn. But Greengrass has been asked to clear out the barn and when he an Rowan take a look around they discover the pieces of an old car. Greengrass thinks he has made the deal of his lifetime when he sells the pieces to Rowan for £25, but is not quite as happy when he learns the true value of the wreck.

Masked and armed robbers assault George Ward at the Aidensfield Arms shortly after closing time locking him, Greengrass and PC Rowan up in the basement of the pub while they get away. Apparently Greengrass has noticed something about the robbers, but he is not particularly eager to talk. His information leads to Alec Robinson, but he has left his family for another woman - or at least so his wife Nell and two daughters say.

When foot-and-mouth disease breaks out at Reg Manston's farm the whole area is put on the alert, and it is hard for the old farmer to see his life's work destroyed. Good news on the other hand for the customer's of the Aidensfield Arms. George's beautiful 18-year old niece Gina arrives in Aidensfield to help him out in the pub during his illness.

Army sergeant Nichols is a real bastard. Especially towards the black private Ken Marston. During a survival exercise on the moors Nichols starts shooting at Marston who jumps him in self-defense. The fight ends with Nichols falling off a rock and Marston makes a run for it believing he has killed his superior. He goes to Aidensfield to see an old friend Tom Sandford and befriends Tom's son Daniel. PC Rowan gets on his case when he breaks into a farm. Meanwhile the Sandfords are in trouble because Tom has died and the social services think his widow Helen is unstable and unable to take care of Daniel.

Rosie Tiniswood tries to kill herself, but is rescued by Kate Rowan at the last minute. Not that she is grateful though. In fact she blames the world of everything and claims that her husband is in jail for something he did not do. Oddly enough Rowan believes her story and looks into the case much to sergeant Blaketon's displeasure. Rowan especially wonders why his predecessor legendary Rowley Carsons retired after immediately after the case though still in his forties and his file has gone missing. PC Phil Bellamy is getting married, but is seriously assaulted during his bachelor party at the Aidensfield Arms. Luckily Gina and Greengrass got a good look at the assailant.

There has been a series of bank robberies all over North Riding, and the manager of the Northern Provincial is convinced his bank is next. He has spotted a mysterious woman hanging about for a couple of days. PC Rowan and PC Bellamy follow her to her hotel after another observation trip, but shortly after the mysterious woman moves in at the Aidensfield Arms. Phil is arranging a talent competition for his football club, and Greengrass is counting on making a kill taking bets on the outcome. To improve his good fortune he persuades Gina to get some of her friends from Liverpool to enter.

Marjorie Doubleday is convinced that her daughter-in-law is a bad mother. When the baby is abducted from its pram outside the Doubleday's toy store suspicion falls on a group of hippies who has taken over the abandoned Featherstone Hall and has had a clash with Mrs. Doubleday. At the same time Graham Collins reports his wife Sarah missing. Sarah desperately wants to have a baby, but cannot conceive and they have had argument about it. Greengrass is training his new race horse on High Street in Aidensfield and Blaketon wants him stopped. That is easier said than done.

The assistant chief constable of North Riding is visiting Ashfordly Hall to hunt and sergeant Blaketon wants the police station to be in tiptop order for the event. A series of small break-ins in Aidensfield is therefore the last thing he wants. And when all the 350 birds shot during hunt is stolen he wants that even less. But the usual suspect Greengrass claims his innocence and Lord Ashfordly wants Blaketon to scale down the inquiry not to embarrass any of his guests. Young Susan Rawlings is rushed to the hospital and it turns out she has had an illegal abortion.

A big amusement park is visiting Aidensfield for the annual fair. Greengrass buys a couple of paintings from two men working at the fair ground and tries to sell them to Alex Ferrenby who believes them to be worth a lot more than the £20 Greengrass is asking for them. He is right! 5-year old Brian Currie who is camping out with his parents at Mrs. Plummer's camp site goes missing. Claire Mercer, a patient of Kate's, suspects her son Michael has something to do with it.

Alex Ferrenby is knocked down by two men who break into the surgery and steal amphetamines. Afterwards they speed away in Greengrass' pink Chrysler Imperial. To stop the drugs from getting into circulation PC Rowan checks out the schools in the area and is surprised to learn that sergeant Blaketon has a son. But he is looking in the wrong places. Gina is on a girls' night out with her friend Debbie who is rushed to hospital after getting a couple of the pills in a disco. Kate Rowan is worried about Mavis Briggs who is pregnant and has a history of severe morning sickness and miscarriages.

The police in Ashfordly have been asked to look out for Stevie Walsh who has been released from prison after serving a ten year sentence for armed robbery. His wife Ellen still lives in Aidensfield and it is believed he will go there to collect the money from the robbery which has never been recovered. But a severe snow storm is brewing and in the bad weather the train carrying Walsh, Gina's cousin Barry and Dr. Ferrenby crashes near the station in Aidensfield, and everybody has to lend a hand in the emergency. To complicate matters Ellen Walsh is pregnant with her new boyfriend and Kate Rowan is out in storm trying to deliver the baby, and she knows nothing about the train crash.

PC Bellamy is in trouble. There was a break-in on his beat while he was visiting one of his girlfriends. Witnesses noticed a noisy minivan speeding away from the scene of the crime immediately afterwards. An anonymous tip leads to part of the loot - and Phil Bellamy's address. Blaketon has no choice but to suspend him from duty. Greengrass notices a fast, black greyhound and spots an opportunity to make a bob or two because it's a dead ringer for ruthless businessman Jack Scarman's somewhat slower dog Northern Flash. If only they can "borrow" it from its owner Mr. Parrish and swap the two.

A series of illegal knuckle fights has been taking place all over North Riding and sergeant Blaketon asks his constables to look out for Irishman Michael O'Leary, who is suspected of being behind them. Not surprisingly O'Leary is spotted at Claude Greengrass's place. Martin Lessor is attacked in his home, but the attacker Victor Kellerman is much more eager to see the case in court than Lessor is. To complicate matters Lessor, who is a diabetic, will only allow Alex Ferrenby to look into his medical files, but Ferrenby is away on a fishing trip.

Susan Siddons is looking after her old nanny Mary Begg, but one morning she comes to her house the old lady is dead. And that with Susan's wedding only a couple of days away. When Mary's grandson Peter, who is also Susan's old boyfriend, arrives in Aidensfield to take care of the funeral he gets a chilly reception by her father. The next day all the wedding presents have been stolen. And that is just the beginning. Kate's aunt Eileen tells her she has inherited a lot of money from her uncle. Kate initially refuses to accept the money, but then donates it to an old people's home.

David Stockwell is fascinated by dogs he hears in the forest in the middle of the night. The dogs belong to a group of men involved in illegal badger digging, and when they drive away they hit David's mother with their car. She knows more about the matter than she is willing to tell and makes her backward son change his statement, but PC Rowan has already found a piece of glass from the headlights of the car that hit her and knows he is lying.

The arrival of a young American, Charlie Dameron, divides the population of Aidensfield in two. Some think he is only dodging military service in Vietnam while others do not mind his presence. Among the former is Fred Manchester, who also blames him for causing an accident. Among the latter is Claude Greengrass, who sees yet another opportunity to make some money - by selling classic motorcycles to Dameron. Only, Greengrass does not have any motorcycles to sell - yet!

An ill wind called Inspector Crossley has blown into Ashfordly police station. Crossley will be supervising Ashfordly and Aidensfield and is known to clamp down on any violation of regulations. Things do not get off to a good start when he finds the police house in Aidensfield used as a temporary surgery by Kate Rowan. Gina is happy because she has got a gig singing at a night club in Whitby. It causes quite a stir when half the village turns up to listen to her. Kate is visited by Sally, an old friend who has a proposition that makes her think. Greengrass's fate has finally caught up with him - in the shape of the Inland Revenue! Graham Blaketon's day in court for his participation in the assault on Tiny Weedon is getting nearer and Blaketon tries to spend more time with him.

A number of sheep has been savaged or killed, and Inspector Crossley is convinced that a very big cat like a puma is at large in the area. To Blaketon it looks more like the workings of a dog and Greengrass' lurcher Alfred seems to be the culprit. Kate Rowans starts in her new job at Dr. Radcliffe's surgery in Whitby, although she feels as if she is being kept outside deliberately. Not by Dr. Radcliffe himself, but by his receptionist Christine Ferguson. Meanwhile Greengrass has settled his outstanding account with the Inland Revenue in his own, very unique way.

Young Jamie Halsted is camping out with he parents. He is very sad because his dog Sam is missing, and when a man dies of rabies Sam gets under suspicion because Jamie's father is a former army major, who has been stationed abroad, and Blaketon organizes a major search for the animal in order to stop the disease from spreading. There's a new police car in town, and PCs Rowan and Ventress take it out for a spin. It has been some time though since the last time Alf Ventress was behind the wheel.

PC Rowan gets assigned to special duty with the CID in Whitby. He will be investigating reports of smuggling among the local fishermen. Ventress is asked to help him, but unlike Rowan he has to pay all expenses by himself since he is on holiday. Rowan's main suspect is Cedric Shanks, but to get close to him Rowan needs the help of young Jake Stirling, who is in dire need of a job because he has gotten his girlfriend Liza pregnant. Blaketon takes over Rowan's patch while he is away and uses the opportunity to keep an eagle eye on Claude Jeremiah Greengrass.

Gina is on her way home from celebrating a rugby match victory. Somebody attacks her and tries to rape her when her car breaks down. Luckily the attacker is frightened off by Greengrass, who is on one of his 'nightly expeditions', before things get too far. Inspector Murchison does not believe Gina's story and leans very hard on her trying to get her to drop her story. Meanwhile Phil Bellamy's tie has been found in Gina's car. Phil has nothing to do with the assault, but names a likely suspect, Neil Gibson, who is arrested. Gibson's family scares Gina into dropping the charges, but then a waitress in Whitby is attacked under similar circumstances.

A stranger walks into the Aidensfield Arms and collapses. George Ward recognizes him as Dennis Parker, who left Aidensfield and his wife and daughter seven years earlier. Parker claims he has no recollection of what has happened since he went away. He only hopes to find his family. But that may not be as easy as he thinks, because Parker is wanted for embezzling his former employer of 800£ on the day he went missing. Inspired by Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" Harold Jackson approaches Greengrass and wants him to set fire to his work shop. In return the Jackson will set fire to Greengrass' barn and they both can claim the insurance money. Greengrass wants nothing to do with it, but a few nights later his barn is on fire.

Susannah Temple-Richards has found herself a young lover although she still loves her husband Jack. She just does not want to sleep with him and puts sleeping pills in his bed time drink. That brings her in trouble when Jack is thrown off his horse and killed during a hunt. But his is not the only death in Aidensfield. Petty thief Artie Sneed has popped his clogs as well and the Rowans find Claude Greengrass lurking around in his house. The old scoundrel claims he only wants to pay his respects to Artie, but Sneed was heavily into illegal cock fighting and Greengrass wants to get hold of his birds. Others have had the same bright idea and nick them from Greengrass.

When Arthur and Emily Jacobs return home from a trip to Scarborough they find their house burgled and their cattle on the loose even though they had asked his brother Darcy to keep an eye on the place. PC Rowan soon discovers that there is bad blood between the Jacobs brothers. Gina gets a visit from her old boyfriend Billy from Liverpool. But Billy has some problems with honesty. First he steals 5£ from the till in the pub and then he tries to give Gina a record player that stems from the burglary at the Jacobs farm. The latter, he claims, he bought from Greengrass - much to the delight of sergeant Blaketon.

One morning when the employees of the egg producing Rongar Farm they find the place scribbled with slogans against the use of battery hens. The owner Mervyn Sykes tries to trap the culprit when he or she returns - with tragic consequences. Greengrass uses the opportunity to start a production of eggs from free range hens, but he has no luck with it. The Aidensfield Arms is visited by the young and beautiful Loveday, who is exploring the sights of the area and needs a guide. Phil Bellamy is keen on the job. But when he goes looking for the girl he finds she has had an accident with her scooter.

Howard Franklin arrives in Aidensfield with a special request. His wife has just died and her last wish was to be laid to rest in the family grave although they have had no contact with her family since World War I. But her mother Hannah Stockdale blames Franklin for keeping her daughter away from her and for the loss of her two eldest sons in the war, and she will not even give him the time of day. On arrival he discovers that his suitcase with her urn has been switched by mistake. The annual county fête draws nearer and sergeant Blaketon has everybody on their toes. Napper Minto's dog is the favorite to win the Lurcher Challenge Cup at the fête, but Greengrass is determined that Alfred should be this year's winner and changes the odds in his own dog's favor.

Ronald Pitts wants to buy Tom Abbott's farm, but the old man does not want to sell. One morning his sheep have been let loose. Furthermore Kate Rowan suspects that there is brucellosis on his farm, because a young girl, Jane Shields, has caught the disease apparently by drinking unpasteurized milk from one of his cows. Greengrass is going to church. He has not become a holy man though, but he tries to get a reward for finding a lost heir and wants to look into the church records. PC Ventress still has not quite got the hang of driving. On a nightly patrol he parks his police car in the middle of a river trying to avoid a flock of sheep on the road. When he leaves the car to get help he hears an eerie scream.

Christmas is near and Kate Rowan has arranged that Danny Parkin, who is very ill, gets home from hospital during the holidays. A trip to a sanatorium in Switzerland will do wonders for him and to earn money for the trip his siblings "borrows" Christmas trees from Lady Whitly's estate in order to sell them. The snobby, but very attractive Lady Whitly shows a lot of affection for PC Rowan, who is sent to investigate, and she is also involved in the local Christmas charity concert. The same concert needs a Santa Claus and a reluctant Greengrass is hired for the job. Not surprisingly he tries to make money on the deal. And speaking of Greengrass, somebody has nicked his lorry!

A dance at the village hall in Aidensfield is disturbed by a gang of rockers from Whitby. When PC Rowan refuses to let them in they start vandalizing and not even Greengrass' lorry escapes the vandalism. They even throw a bar of lead they found in the lorry through the village hall window. Only the bar is not made of lead, but of gold. And not even Greengrass knew that! The gold stems from the late Arthur Pickard's work shop, and a few days later his widow Netty finds her house vandalized. Kate Rowan starts getting nosebleeds and contributes it to anaemia in connection with her pregnancy. Unfortunately the reason is far more serious!

Joe Norton and two of his friends are terrorizing Aidensfield and they do not even refrain from emptying PC Rowans garbage bin. Nicking laundry does not seem to be above them either. The traveling gipsy Flo arrives in Aidensfield and tries to make some money by selling luck in the form of small bouquets of lucky heather. Those who do not buy are struck with bad luck, which Greengrass finds out to his discomfort. It does not take long before Norton and his gang set their sights on her caravan. Kate Rowan discovers the real reason for her nosebleed and extravasations. And she is rushed to hospital when she goes into labour.

Aidensfield is in a fever of excitement when Nick and Kate return with their beautiful new-born baby girl and everybody showers them with presents. Only nobody else in the village knows that Kate is dying of leukaemia, and Nick tries to spend as much time with her and the baby as possible. He is even neglecting his job as police constable. That leads to several complaints against him because a thief is stealing petrol from cars in the village at night. Not even sergeant Blaketon's police car escapes the thief.

After Kate's death Nick Rowan discovers that taking care of a new-born baby is a full-time job, and he sends for his mother to help him out for a while. There is bad blood between Colin Dewhurst and his neighbour Oliver 'Tugger' Barker, who shoots at Dewhurst's cat with a rifle. And he does not stop at that and the matter escalates. Greengrass is visited by his nephew Norman. They decide to cash in on Norman's abilities as a dart player.

Frank Mellor has promised Eddie King that he could rent his Aunt Mattie's cottage when she died so that Eddie could marry his girlfriend Brenda, but in stead Mellor has put the place up for sale. When the cottage is auctioned off to Martin Shepherd and his wife the house gets vandalized. A peeping Tom is at work on Lapwing Lane where Brenda lives, and Eddie gets under suspicion for both that and the vandalism. Although Nick's father died during the war his mother Ruby has decided that her life definitely is not over and like a big, white shark she tries to sink her teeth into sergeant Blaketon. When she fails she goes back to London and Kate's Aunt Eileen moves in with Nick in her place.

A young German, Dieter Lotschmeyer, arrives in Aidensfield to visit his father's grave, but he soon discovers that he is not all that popular in the village, because his father was a German bomber pilot during the war and dropped a bomb to lighten his plane before it crashed. The bomb hit a cottage which belonged to Jo Tyler and his family killing both him and his wife, and when the grave is vandalized Tyler's son is the prime suspect. Walter and Hilda Openshaw are on their annual hiking holiday in Aidensfield, but Walter would rather be on a voyage on the Orient Express. He and Greengrass decide to do something about it.

Schoolteacher Barry Jackson's wife Sophie is very ill and not capable of driving a car because of it. Nevertheless she takes the car one day and causes a bit of mayhem in Aidensfield. Soon afterwards Jackson receives threatening letters, and during a school concert somebody sets his house on fire killing Sophie. Malcolm Brown checks into the Aidensfield Arms with his daughter Vicki, but Gina suspects that that something is wrong with them. Apart from that there is an extra resident at the pub - a carrier pigeon, and Gina soon discovers it is very fast bird indeed and they challenge Greengrass to a pigeon race.

During a terrible thunderstorm several people claim to have seen an UFO flying over Aidensfield, and sergeant Blaketon cannot just dismiss the matter because PC Ventress is one of them. Ventress even thinks he was abducted. Bernard and Lily Conway have trouble with their neighbour Ted Halliwell and suspect him of knocking over their milk cans and letting his sheep lose during the storm. Then Conway disappears after an argument with Halliwell. Aunt Eileen has been collecting money for charity on behalf of Hester Jarvis, but when the money gets stolen Jarvis does not want the theft investigated.

One night Gina is awakened by a masked intruder, The Be-Ro Man, who has been breaking in all over North Riding. When he breaks in at the Flax farm their daughter Marion manage to get a close look at him. Claude Greengrass has a new friend. He calls himself Jason Brown, but has an unmistakable likeness to singer/songwriter Bob Dylan and even sounds like him. Brown is joined by two young girls, Paula and Sandra, in a sports car. After a party in Brown's van the two girls go for a fast ride in their car - with tragic consequences for one of them. But which one is it?

PC Rowan is on loan to the CID to investigate local gangster Frank Armstrong. But Rowan has other things on his mind as well. Katie is getting christened and he gets a visit from Jill Criddle, an old friend and colleague from the Met. By request of the CID she teams up with Rowan as his 'floozie'. They soon discover that Armstrong is spreading out his activities to include race horses. Armstrong is not the only one interested in race horses. Greengrass and his friend Billy Black, also known as The Horse Doctor, want to improve the chances of a certain horse in a race. Incidentally Armstrong is also very eager to talk to Black and has sent to goons to get hold of him. Unfortunately Black knows that Nick and Jill are cops!

Arthur Wakesfield surprises a burglar and tries to scare him off, but gets a heart attack from which he later dies in the process. The burglar, John Tinniswood, hardly fares any better, when he comes home because his wife nearly tears his head off, but she still gives him a false alibi when he is arrested for the crime. Wakefield's widow is sure it was him though and starts to follow him around anywhere he goes. Special constable Hector Cowley poses problems of another kind. He is overly officious and a pain in the neck to everybody from sergeant Blaketon and down. And to a lot of other people for that matter. Cowley counts on winning a prize for his gooseberries at the local fair, but somebody destroys them on the night before.

PC Ventress has bought a building plot and wants to build a new home for him and Mrs. Ventress. He has hired Claude Greengrass and David Stockwell to do the digging at the plot. Suddenly they come across a 500 kg highly explosive leftover from World War II. And Greengrass gets trapped right alongside it. PC Rowan starts to evacuate the village while they wait for the bomb squad to dispose of it. To top it all little Colin Ellis has disappeared and is nowhere to be found when the school children and other villagers have been evacuated. During the search for him the police find a dead body at station master Hutton's house. Suddenly the bomb starts ticking!

PC Rowan responses to an anonymous emergency call and find archaeologist Professor Brigstocke dead in his library and the house broken into. The professor was said to hide a treasure and Greengrass decides to find it. Clues lead to the ruins of Saint Columba's Abbey on the Ashfordly estate. But also Mary Secker, who is writing a book on 12th century monasteries, is interested in the ruins. Lord Ashfordly is hosting a fishing party and is not pleased to find fishing net and no fish in his river. Blaketon suspects Greengrass is behind it and when the old scoundrel enters the abbey to look for the treasure, Blaketon is close behind him. They both get trapped and Blaketon breaks a leg when part of the ruins cave in, and Greengrass lights a fire to keep him warm.

An illegal radio station is transmitting from a ship just off the coast outside Whitby. When nurse Bolton starts seeing a young man called Danny the villagers are hearing wedding bells already. But a bit too soon it seems as he turns out to be her brother. Danny helps PC Rowan get a position as a DJ at the illegal radio station. Joe Norton is out of prison after serving a sentence for arson. He wants to turn a new leaf and has sent in an application to join the paratroopers. While he waits for an answer he helps out in PC Rowan's garden and hangs out with old friends. They fix him with a new drug that really sends him flying. Joseph and Greengrass think that George is charging too much for his drinks and decide they can do better end cheaper themselves.

When PC Rowan is on patrol one morning he notices Charles Carter who is camping on private land with his son Simon. But Carter has to permission from the owner of the land. Later Rowan notices man lurking around their caravan. The man introduces himself as Clive Loxton, a friend from London. Later Loxton turns up with a woman called Michelle Blanchard, who claims to be Simon's mother and that Carter has abducted him after they got divorced. By then Simon has been taken to hospital with polio. As president of the local Rugby association sergeant Blaketon is allowed to enter a team of his own. One of the players, Ken Fairbrother, is particularly good and Greengrass offers his services as his manager.

Claude Greengrass is the new lollipop man outside the village school, and PC Rowan gets a complaint from Walter Pettigrew that he suddenly and without warning jumped out onto the street just in front of Pettigrew's car. But Greengrass claims that it was Pettigrew who nearly caused the accident and he is backed up by the new school teacher Jo Weston. Jo Weston is concerned about one of her students, Lizzy McGowan, who is late almost every day. Lizzy's mother lives with her boyfriend Derek Ramsey, who is sent to prison for attacking PCs Rowan, Bellamy and Ventress in a fight at the Aidensfield Arms, but he escapes on the way to the prison. And with good reason too, because the next morning Dorothy McGowan is attacked and badly injured in her home. PC Rowan thinks a mysterious man, who showed up in court, has something to do with it.

Someone has let Bill Ruane's horses out, but he manages to catch them with the help of Jo Weston, who is on an outing with her students. Ruane has financial troubles because nobody has money to pay him. He is suspected to be behind a series of burglaries in the area including one at Ashfordly Hall in which his lordship's game keeper Gillies is knocked down, and part of the loot from that burglary is found at Ruane's stables. Greengrass has a flat tyre, but luckily his is picked up by his nephew Norman and Jeb, Norman's new friend from the American air force. They have a business proposition for him. The have started an import business and need storage space.

Alan Davies reports strange noises from his neighbour Adrian Shaw's house, but Shaw claims that there were no noises. The same night Davies is frightened out of his home by an intruder and when he returns with PC Rowan they find an envelope with a picture of a little girl. A copy of the same photo is sent to him at his workplace. Trying to make ends meet after Lord Ashfordly has increased the rent for the Aidensfield Arms George starts to serve food at the pub, and Greengrass suggests he adds pheasants to the menu. Pellet free guaranteed! Gina returns from a trip to Liverpool and brings back a new boyfriend Anton, who is a cook. Things are also developing between Nick Rowan and Jo Weston who have become very friendly lately.

A large quantity of fine wine has been stolen from a wholesaler's warehouse and the police think it is an inside job, because the burglar alarm was switched off. The prime suspect is the haulier Charlie Wallace. PC Rowan finds out that Alf Ventress has lost a lot of money at cards to Wallace and cannot settle his debts. Rowan decides to help his friend and colleague and trap Wallace at the same time. Lord Ashfordly has had intruders on his estate and when he catches Greengrass red-handed at poaching he hires the old scoundrel as a guard to keep off the intruders - unpaid of course.

A fire breaks out at Webster's Hotel. Fortunately the fire is discovered in time and damages are limited to a work shop. The manager Ralph Webster is not satisfied that it was caused by faulty wiring and asks PC Rowan to look into it and especially Brian Rogers. When Webster sacks Rogers he gets drunk and threatens a taxi driver. Rogers even points a gun at PC Rowan, who has come to investigate, and barricades himself in his flat. Posh fashion photographer Jansson is scouting for locations and also wants to hire both Gina and Greengrass in addition to his regular models Michelle and Sylvie. Nick Rowan and Jo Weston are planning on going away on a romantic weekend together.

Reggie Rawlins has a business proposition for George and Gina that will boost trade in the Aidensfield Arms - he will lease a jukebox to them. Rawlins also enters into partnership with his old friend Greengrass, who will collect the takings from the jukeboxes. A couple of bullies have been smashing up jukeboxes all over North Riding and soon the one at the Aidensfield Arms is targeted too. Only jukeboxes leased from the company L.E.W. are not destroyed, and PC Rowan thinks it will be worthwhile to look into the company and its owners Anita Setters and Andy Farley. Things have cooled off between Nick and Jo after he had to cancel their romantic weekend due to his police duties.

Jeb Hunter is attacked and robbed in his own home and suspicion falls on Errol Jones, an old acquaintance of PC Rowan from London, when a ballpoint pen belonging to him is found on the scene of the crime. It does not do any good to Jones' case that he is black. The talk of the village is the annual cricket match between Aidensfield and Whitby, and Greengrass is of course accepting bets on the outcome in addition to selling pesticides and fertilizers. He gets a special interest in Jones when he learns that he is good at playing cricket. And he is not the only one, but for quite another reason. Nicks mother Ruby is back in Aidensfield much to the dismay of sergeant Blaketon.

It is time for the annual match for the coits championship between Aidensfield and Holinsby. Jack Abbott is playing for the Holinsby team and at the same time having an affair with his team captain's wife Annie. When his own pregnant wife Jean finds out by accident, she drives off in their car, and Jack has to go home on the team bus. Donald Smethwick loses control of the bus, which runs off the road and down a slope. Ruby has managed to patch up the relationship between Nick and Jo, and Jo has decided it is time to introduce him to her parents. Jo's mother is not pleased to learn that Nick is a village bobby and a widower with a daughter.

Billy and Timmy earn a little extra pocket money by collecting golf balls. One day Billy finds his friend assaulted in the woods by the golf course. Jimmy says he was attacked by a man sitting in a grey Jaguar with another man and a lot of papers. He even identifies the man from a photograph that PC Rowan has borrowed from the club secretary Harry Fell. Severe stomach pains prevent Greengrass from placing a bet for a "friend", and the old scoundrel wishes he could disappear. Changes are on the way within the police and Inspector Barry commandeers sergeant Blaketon's office while he makes his report. Blaketon fears for his position and starts looking for another job.

Thanks to Claude Greengrass the famous wrestler The Masked Marvel is coming to Aidensfield and as usual he challenges all locals to a match with a prize to anyone who can unmask him. Alfred is afraid of the wrestler and bites him so that he cannot wrestle. Since nobody knows what he looks like without the mask, Greengrass and his manager Pat Starr makes The Masked Marvel train one of the locals, Ken Fairbrother, to fight instead of him. But Starr plans to make the switch a bit more permanent than that. Tim Phillips makes trouble because his mother Sylvia is leaving his father for the pub owner Mike Scott and PC Rowan is called to deal with domestic disputes in the family. The next morning Sylvia Phillips is found dead on the moors. Murdered!

Sandra Croft gets drunk because her boyfriend has left her and accidentally sets fire to her apartment. Luckily she is saved without any injuries by PC Rowan. The incident makes Sandra fall in love with Nick, but she turns resentful and revengeful when he does not return her affection. Greengrass has a new scheme: guided tours and bird watching! But he soon finds out that there is more to it than just setting up a shelter as a hide, handing out copied old maps and then collect the money.

Susannah Temple-Richards is back in Aidensfield after serving her prison sentence. One day an old "friend" from prison, Maureen Bristow, is on her doorstep and asks if she could stay for a couple of days. But Susannah does not know that Maureen has broken out of prison and needs a place to stay until she can get out of the country with her boyfriend. When she finds out she gets into real danger. Gina has a new boyfriend, and she gets really sad when he leaves her for an older woman. Claude Greengrass has bought an old bureau at an auction believing it to be full of valuables. It is not - or at least he cannot find any.

Joyce Jowett has just lost her husband when a stranger called Nigel Wheeler turns up in Aidensfield asking for him. He is a financial advisor and while he is in the area he might as well visit other potential customers. One of them is Jo Weston and PC Rowan decides to take a closer look at him. George Ward and other villagers have received malicious letters. The only lead is that they are all written on the same typewriter.

Ronnie Savage escapes during transport from one prison to another, and the Ashfordly police is asked to assist Inspector Jennings from CID catching him again. They discover that Savage will be leaving the country on a trawler from Whitby and PC Rowan goes undercover at the local fish market to find out when Savage will be leaving. While he is there he finds out that the foreman Penrice has a sideline selling fish undeclared. Unfortunately Greengrass is one of his customers and he may blow Nick's cover by accident. Aunt Eileen gets a surprise visit by and old, dear friend, Antonin Clarion, who asks her to marry him and go with him back to France. And PC Rowan has passed his sergeants exam.

Christmas is near and there is the traditional nativity play at the village hall with PC Ventress as Santa Claus. Greengrass is supplying half the village with geese, but demand has been higher than expected and he is four birds short. He sends David to pick them up, but the snow causes him to drive off the road and he has to continue on foot to get help. David is not the only one in trouble because of the weather. A bus full of old people from Elsinby gets lost, and Phil Bellamy, who is giving Ventress a lift to Aidensfield, gets stuck in the snow. The falling snow also causes a small plane to crash not far from the police house and Nick and Jo go to see if they can be of any help. They find a very pregnant woman, Sophie, in the plane and tracks in the snow indicate that she was not alone.