Ellen Richards has a miscarriage, but both she and her son Anthony show signs of being beaten by her husband Ray. Ron Wiley has died and Bernie Scripps is in charge of the funeral arrangements. His brother Vernon gets the idea that they can do the catering as well together with his new partner Gloria Gray at the expense of Gina, who usually caters for special occasions. Not surprisingly he and the others suddenly find themselves banned from the Aidensfield Arms.. But Vernon may get more than he bargained for when Gloria's daughter Millicent turns up at his doorstep. Mike Bradley and Tricia Summerbee are very much in love with each other, but he is afraid to commit because of his failed marriage with Jackie.

Lord Ashfordly has hired a new land agent Ben Norton, but not everybody is happy about the new man. Jake Clarke is convinced that Norton will tear down the tied cottages at the estate and fire all of the residents, and he organizes a protest against Norton. Norton is also opposed by Dr. Merrick, who is worried about the health of the workers. Lord Elsinby's estate including a popular fun park has to be sold to pay death duties. Vernon Scripps plans to buy some of it and sell it to Lord Ashfordly. But when he arrives only the miniature railway is left. Nat Wilmott is occasionally approached for some getaway work. He has turned straight - well straightish anyway - and he informs PC Bellamy that a gang from London is trying to hire him for a job in the Ashfordly area and they do not take no for an answer. But he disappears while Bellamy answers a call from Gina.

Barbara Simner suspects that her husband Ken is trying to kill her because of several so-called mishaps. She refuses to call the police, but they get involved when she is run down by a runaway tractor. Oscar Blaketon wants the "Best Kept Village" award to go to Aidensfield. A hindrance to this goal is a number of molehills, but Vernon Scripps has an all-purpose pesticide powder which should do the trick. And a potent stuff it is. David passes out while using it and Dr. Merrick suspects it to be very poisonous. The smell of it is surely strong enough to scare everybody away. Even the moles. Gina's friend Diane moves into the Aidensfield Arms to help her during the final stages of her pregnancy. Diane quickly sets her sights on PC Crane. Meanwhile Phil Bellamy is more preoccupied with finding a best man for his wedding to Gina than his police work.

Gina gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The baby is two months premature and there are complications. The nurse asks Gina and Phil to give their son a name just in case and they decide to call him Daniel. Before she goes to the hospital Gina breaks up a fight between two men at the pub. They are both thrown out and one of them knocks down the other one and drives off. Ben Norton identifies the assailant is as Ian Stamper, the new under gardener at Ashfordly Hall, but he manages to get away. His victim is Robert Flint and he is a known member of the Whitby drug scene.

The farmer Hugh Sanders discovers a crashed car in a ditch with the injured driver still inside. The car belongs to Martin Updike and it seems that he was robbed by his still missing passenger. Sanders' wife Kitty is involved in a savings and loans scheme. Jenny is one of her depositors. When she wants to take some money out, she is told that a George Harrow or Harlow has lent all the money. But no such person can be found. Vernon Scripps decides to enter a poetry competition, because it reminds him of all the times he beat Bernie in poetry competitions when they were young. Oddly enough Bernie remembers it the other way around and enters the competition too. And so does David although they both say he has not got a chance.

There is a big clay pigeon shooting competition at Ashfordly Hall. One of the contestants is the very arrogant Toby Fisher, who is very dissatisfied that Bernie has closed his garage for the day when his snobbyness is short of petrol late one evening. To correct that "oversight" he breaks up the lock and steals the petrol he needs. The theft is discovered immediately and Fisher only avoids arrest when he promises to pay the next day. Local man Robert Emerson is Fisher's biggest rival to win the shooting competition, and Fisher hates to lose. That is why Fisher becomes the prime suspect when Emerson is shot and wounded, but others carry a grudge against Emerson too. Among them Phil Bellamy who thinks that he was getting too friendly towards Gina. Normally Bellamy will not do a thing like that, but he is very depressed over Daniel's death and the prospect of losing Gina.

Former formula 1 driver Jack Maclean returns from a drive and collapses in his own hallway. He is diabetic and has gone into a coma, but Dr. Merrick soon get him back on his feet again. A car like Maclean's very distinctive Aston Martin was involved in an accident, but Maclean does not remember anything about any accident. Or so he claims. The next day PC Crane finds him dead of a massive overdose of insulin. Vernon Scripps is approached by a businessman and entrepreneur like himself, Leonard Parks. Parks has a proposition for him that will earn him a lot of money with a minimum of effort. He just has to recruit people for his organization to sell Parks' ShineFresh cleaning products. These recruits pay him a stake in return and may recruit more people who pays them a stake and so on. Just like a pyramid!

Sidney Baxter was the biggest rug manufacturer in the county and after his death the family factory has been run by his widow Shirley and their son Richard. Shirley has taken a fancy to Oscar Blaketon, and he manages to get Alf Ventress a rug at a discount for his upcoming wedding anniversary. But business is tight for the Baxter factory and Ventress suspects that Richard Baxter uses stolen fleeces in the production without his mother's knowledge. The fleeces come from a couple of nightly sheep-shearings which are puzzling the police. This case is PC Ventress' swan song as a police constable, because he has had one too many extensions on his retirement. Kevin Kelly has come all the way from Australia to attend his Uncle Charlie's funeral, but unfortunately Bernie Scripps has already buried him thinking that no one would come. Things do not get any better when Kevin finds an old movie camera and wants to film the event for his father.

David sees how a man is thrown off a moving train after being assaulted and manages to get him to Dr. Merrick's surgery. When PC Crane stops the train a young man, Thomas Grant, tries to run away, but is apprehended. He claims his innocence saying he was on his way to see his girlfriend, but PC Crane finds out that he has escaped from prison. Vernon Scripps is followed by a donkey, and when he learns that this means luck according to gipsy tradition he decides to open a donkey sanctuary. Lord Ashfordly has decided to auction off some unused family heirlooms and Colin Taylor from Featherstone's auction house in London comes to Ashfordly Hall to assess the value of it. Alf Ventress has been forced to retire from the police, and the most significant change is that now he is not wearing any uniform when he is drinking his tea and eating cookies at the police station.

Oscar Blaketon gets a visit from his old colleague Harry Hawkswell. Hawkswell is mistaken for the very prominent judge Yardley by a communist cell in Ashfordly, who has been ordered to kill him by their controllers in London. Unpleasantness's of another kind awaits Vernon Scripps. He is going to be inspected by the Inland Revenue because of the huge fortune he recently gained - and lost! But he still has some undeclared money and goes into the woods one night to bury it, when he is nearly killed by a puma. Or at least so he thinks.

The annual hill climb is to be held on the roads around Ashfordly and Aidensfield, and the police are not too happy at the prospect of having "dozens of lunatics" driving through countryside at top speed. A lot of villagers do not like it either and Nathaniel Clegghorn speaks publicly about getting the race banned. One is even so unhappy about it that he tries to sabotage the event. Especially one competitor seems to draw the attention of the saboteur, Geoffrey Smee. Vernon Scripps on the other hand is so happy about the race that he wants to enter a car of his own. Dr. Merrick treats a young man with a head injury. When she returns to her surgery after a quick talk to Jenny the young man who called himself Trevor Black has disappeared.

Mr. and Mrs. Elder had a break-in and nearly 3,000 £ were stolen together with some petty stuff. The petty stuff is promptly found. It was thrown from a moving car and landed on Dr. Merrick's lawn. Later Dr. Merrick also identifies the car as the one belonging to the Elders. This puts Mr. Elder in the hot seat as the prime suspect, because he does not have an alibi. The solicitor Helen Aves is looking for Winston and Reginald Parker, the relatives of a client. Sergeant Merton assigns the case to Alf Ventress, who is now working as a civilian at the police station, but Oscar Blaketon has already offered his services as a private investigator as well. They join forces and hire David as a driver. But that is just about the only thing the two sleuths agree on.

Little Angel Jarvis disappears from her father's car, while he goes shopping for dinner. The police carry out a systematic search without finding the 6-year old girl, and Sergeant Merton fears the worst. The Jarvis' have been through a bitter divorce and Marie Jarvis accuses her ex-husband of being behind the child's disappearance himself. However a witness saw a girl matching Angel's description being let away by a woman she obviously knew. The discovery of Angel's shoes also points to Mrs. Jarvis' new boyfriend. Jenny asks the new super sleuths of Aidensfield, Blaketon and Ventress, to check out a new lead when her husband does not have the time to see her. Gina sees a rat in the kitchen of the Aidensfield Arms and Vernon Scripps, now an (instant) expert on vermin control, promises to get rid of it for her before the Council finds out. But the disposing of rats is easier said than done.

Clive Formby's combine harvester has been torched and he is convinced Ken Dixon in Ashfordly is behind it. A witness saw a shady character staying at her empty neighbouring house overnight and wandering about with a fuel can. The "shady" character turns out to be the new police constable in Aidensfield after PC Crane's death. His name is Rob Walker and Oscar is not too happy about him. His father Jake was a well-known criminal and Blaketon is convinced that nothing good will ever come out of that family. Dr. Merrick is concerned about one of her patients, Gilbert Percy, and persuades Vernon Scripps to clean the old man's cottage. Percy is very fond of Shakespeare and makes Vernon read the old master's plays to him instead.

Gina's friend Cathy Simpson is getting married. But her father cannot afford the wedding and goes to Don Megson for help. Megson promises to help him out in return for information about his workplace - information like entrances and exits, alarm systems and such. Simpson agrees, but does not intend to oblige. He tells Oscar Blaketon in case something should happen to him. This is very likely because Megson does not take kindly to being cheated. There is a wholesale clean-up in the lost and found at the police station, and items which have not been collected within three months are returned to the people, who found them. Thus David gets a camera and decides to enter a photo competition. At first he tries trees and a bull is a bit too lively. The authorities do not like him taking pictures of the golf ball domes of the radar station at Fylingdales either.

Wing Commander Andy Carstairs likes to fly around in his beautifully restored Hawker Hurricane fighter from World War II. One night the airfield watchman is knocked down and two explosive wedges are stolen. A gang of robbers have been using that kind of explosives to break into security vans, but Sergeant Merton thinks it is a local job when another security van is robbed using one of the stolen wedges. David enters a yellow fuchsia on behalf of his Aunt Peggy's friend Mrs. Crompton in the Aidensfield Flower Show. She has had a fall out with the chairman of the flower society Hector Plumpton and reckons she will not have a fair chance. There is another reason also. According to Plumpton yellow fuchsias are impossible to develop. So the plant makes quite a stir at the show. So much in fact that it gets stolen.

David is helping out in the kitchen during a dinner at Redwood House when the whole party is held at gunpoint by three robbers and the jewels of Joan Maltravers are stolen. The robbers get away although David manages to free himself and the cook Mrs. Woolley and call the police, but their car crashes when the police give chase and they have to continue on foot. David becomes the celebrity of the day and his fame is not diminished when he and Rosie find the stolen gems in the wrecked car. The relationship between Liz Merrick and Ben Norton has improved a lot since their first meeting so much in fact that when he is offered a job as an estate manager in Kenya he asks her to go with him - as his wife!

Don Tetley is looking for relics with a metal detector. He wants to search a building sit at the Ashfordly estate because there once was an old monastery, but is told to clear of by the contractor Bob Acott, but returns later during the night anyway. Tetley also gets a hard time from his wife and her lover. The next morning Tetley is found dead outside his cottage and most of his collection of findings has been stolen. Vernon Scripps gets a visit from his distant relative Gareth. He has a broken heart to mend, and by taking care of him Vernon hopes that there will be a little extra in it for him in his aunt's will. Gareth is really down in the dumps and Vernon asks Rosie to cheer him up a little. He has even two tickets for a concert with The Roaring Stones or something like that.

A storm is blowing and Oscar Blaketon is on his way back from Whitby when he witnesses how a tree tips over and hits the another car. Blaketon quickly gets help, but it is too late for the driver Alan Buckland a former sergeant of the Whitby police. His passenger Heather Hamilton is much better off and it seems that the two of them were running away from his wife, who is also Heather's sister. Apart from passports and ferry tickets they also bring along a bag with a lot of money in it. The incident also makes Jenny fear for her own marriage to Sergeant Merton. During the storm David and the two Scripps's were stranded at the Aidensfield Arms and Vernon asks Rosie's Uncle Zeph Pratt to join them in a game of whist. But Pratt likes poker better and after the storm he tricks Vernon into playing with him. Soon Scripps is taken to the cleaners.

The preparations for Liz Merrick's and Ben Norton's wedding are in full swing and her replacement as the local GP, Dr. Helen Trent, arrives and immediately has clash with Jenny. Speaking of Jenny Sergeant Merton is very worried about her and talks to Dr. Merrick about her, but the beautiful doctor assures him that there is nothing wrong with Jenny. For once Dr. Merrick is wrong and Jenny leaves the surgery unattended and unlocked. When Dr. Merrick returns she finds the surgery in a mess and some dangerous pills missing. When Jenny is confronted with she gets angry again. Her husband tries to help her, but only manages to convince her sick mind that everybody is against her. And he almost gets arrested for assaulting her when she runs away.

The day of the wedding between Dr. Liz Merrick and Ben Norton is growing near, but the happy event is overshadowed by Jenny's mental illness and Sergeant Merton seriously considers getting a transfer to be near her and able to support her. PC Walker finds an abandoned car on the moor. It is registered to Angela Price, who has been kidnapped and the kidnappers have told her husband not to involve the police. But Sergeant Merton knows Price and finds out anyway and he suspects that the kidnappers hide out in a farm they have rented from Lord Ashfordly. Ben Norton nearly misses his wedding when he is asked to assist the police because he knows the premises.