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.

Alex Robinson stays at the Aidensfield Arms while he tries to purchase land. But Ian Sinclair has beaten him to it and closed the deal with a couple of potential sellers. Lord Ashfordly has invited Robinson to dinner and he asks Gina to accompany him. His car has a flat tire and they have to go in hers. Late in the evening she feels bad and has to go home. The next morning she wakes up in her car only a couple of hundred yards from Ashfordly Hall. The previous evening Sinclair is seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident, and everything suggests that Gina is responsible. Sylvia and Linda are singers in a band, and to ensure that nothing untoward happens their father hires Vernon Scripps to drive them to and fro when they have a gig. But the loud music soon gets too much for him and David has to take over. The two girls soon discover that David is a real push-over in the hands of young females.

Like many girls Pattie and Sheila Reilly likes horses. One day Pattie takes a ride on a stray pony. An unknown man surprises them and very unwisely fires a shot in the air. The sudden bang startles the horse and makes it bolt. Pattie is thrown off and her scared kid sister flags down PC Walker, who gets both of them to Dr. Trent's surgery. He also has his own, more romantic reason to see the attractive doctor. When Walker tries to find both the owner of the pony and the shooter he suddenly finds himself investigating a series of horse thefts. His life is not made any easier by Joyce Jowett, who complains to the police about a bad smell and noisy lorries from the house at the end of her road. Sergeant Miller has referred her to the town hall because it is not a police matter, but the battleaxe pesters the life out of Walker instead. Aunt Peggy gets mad at Oscar Blaketon for barring her and David from the Aidensfield Arms for playing poker.

Les Hepplewhite is the leader of a brass band. He has high hopes for the band to regain the Wallace Cup at the upcoming contest. The same has Bill Bugde the leader of a competing band. But there is more behind their enmity than just rivalry over a trophy and the police has to step in when several members of Hepplewhite's band end up in hospital with food poisoning. Dawn is completely swept off her feet by Jonny Leigh who pulls up at Bernie's garage for some petrol. He invites her to move with him to Paris, but the other villagers think things are happening too fast and Aunt Peggy asks her to wait - at least until Gina returns from Liverpool where she has gone to see her family. The heat is on between Joe Mason and Rachel Dawson after he saved her career, but it takes its toll on the relationship between him and Carol Cassidy. Especially after Carol discovers that Rachel has spent a night with him at the police house.