Walker's permanent replacement PC Wetherby arrives and it is time for PC Mason's transfer to the Met, but Mason is not so sure he wants to leave Aidensfield. Furthermore Wetherby soon makes himself unpopular among the villagers. Nurse Cassidy suspects that young Jimmy Masters gets beaten by his stepfather George Masters. Also the boy's real father Max Philpott returns from Rhodesia to see him, and there is a rough and tumble between him and Masters at the Aidensfield Arms. Gina and Oscar Blaketon organize a quiz show at the pub to collect 200 pounds for a new dialysis machine. Not surprisingly Peggy Armstrong tries to cheat and is far from happy to get caught.

Everybody is shocked over Phil Bellamy's death, and especially his wife Gina cannot believe he is gone. After the funeral she says she has decided to go back to Liverpool to make a clean break from the past. Headquarters has agreed to let PC Mason stay in Aidensfield, and PC Wetherby, who blames himself for Bellamy's death, fills the vacancy at the police station in Ashfordly. A teacher from Brassington School on the moor is found dead in his home after an apparent suicide. From his headmaster Anthony Barlow PC Mason and DS Dawson learn that he suffered from a depression over the death of one of his pupils on a school trip, but Mason is sure something is not right. Unaware that he nearly hit a cyclist with his car old Arthur Chiltern drives on, but the cyclist Dr. Oakley wants him charged with reckless driving. Nurse Cassidy tries to persuade him to drop the charges. She succeeds with something else as well when the handsome doctor asks her out.

. Ralph Spurling has been burgled and wants Oscar Blaketon to find out which employee at the hotel he was staying at is involved in the burglary. PC Wetherby helped Lesley Ashton in a case back in Northallerton and now she is obsessed with him and turns up in Ashfordly with a suitcase. When he turns her down she accuses him of running her down with his car. Bernie Scripps goes to see Iris Grocott to collect his fee for her husbands funeral and she surprises him by inviting him to dinner and does not take no for an answer. They check in at the same hotel which Blaketon is investigating with the help of Alf Ventress. And staying in the romance department things are really heating up between Nurse Cassidy and Doctor Oakley.

Somebody paints a pentagram on the church door in Eltering and Rev. Peggotty is convinced that the church has been targeted for black Masses by followers of the dark arts. And he may be right because a few days later Kord Ashfordly's godson Charles Enderby is found beaten up and terrified in the church, and in the churchyard gravestones sprayed with red paint and overturned. Almost like the record cover of a band, Enderby once managed. Doctor Oakley has invited some colleagues over for dinner and Nurse Cassidy asks Gina to cook for them. One of the guests the psychiatrist Paul Hammond has heard of Gina's loss and wants to help her come to terms with her grief. But that is not what has been bothering her. She has just discovered that she is pregnant again!

Derek Gorman is mad at the police because he has lost his drivers licence for drunk driving. He claims that they set him up and he swears revenge to Sergeant Miller. The next morning the police station has been broken into and rummaged through. Later somebody steels a patrol car in front the very eyes of PC Younger. Is it Gorman or the Leeds gangster Jimmy Faye looking for Alec Fletcher, whom the police is hiding because he wants to testify against him? Lord Ashfordly is looking for a new game keeper. Oscar Blaketon and Gina suggest to Aunt Peggy in fun that she applies for the job and she thinks it is an excellent idea. Lord Ashfordly does not! PC Mason's past catches up with him when his old girl friend Doreen turns up in Aidensfield looking for work. After a broken marriage she is not uninterested in reviving the relationship.

Gordon Radford and Lord Ashfordly are not the best of friends. As a matter of fact Radford is not on friendly terms with anybody. He is Master of Ashfordly Hunt and when somebody vandalizes his study during the hunt suspects are plenty in number, but Radford suspects Lord Ashfordly and takes it out on him in a very physical manner. Aunt Peggy uses David's aniseed balls to lure the hunting party across her garden in order to claim a huge compensation. But she does not fool Oscar Blaketon. PC Mason is on the lookout for a car and Bernie has just the one for him. Low mileage and only one careful owner - a nun none the less, but Mason is more interested in a sports car owned by the late fighter pilot Ginger Wells.

Somebody breaks in at John Harper's cottage and swaps the old, blind man's money with blank pieces of paper. The only visitor Harper can think of is Albert Ross. There is nothing but trouble with Ross. All he thinks about is money and how much it will cost him when his men are not working. When the police cannot do anything after yet another accident at his farm the workers take matters in their own hands. Furthermore Nurse Cassidy suspects that Ross beats his grownup daughter Juliet for seeing the worker Josh. David spots a naked man running through the woods. Later he and Aunt Peggy see the man throw himself from a bridge. Only David's actions save him from drowning and now the man sees David as his guardian angel. When Aunt Peggy discovers his true identity she tries to cash in on it.

While Eva and James Knight of Holly Cottage nearly run PC Younger down when the brakes of their car fail, a young woman breaks into their home and paints Nazi swastikas and slogans on the walls. The vandalism is directed at Mrs. Knight who is Jewish, although only a few people know about it. It also turns out that their brakes have been tampered with. Lisa Barnes stays at the Aidensfield Arms while she researches her family history. Some research it must be as it turns out that she is behind the attacks on Mrs. Knight. She claims that Eva Knight is no Jew, but a Nazi war criminal and responsible for her parents' death. But is it really true? An old steam roller breaks down outside Bernie's garage and blocks the entire road. PC Younger promises Councillor Jowett to have it removed by the next morning, but that is easier said than done. Aunt Peggy solves the problem by buying the steam roller and expects Bernie to repair so that it can be sold as scrap.

Sue Padgett and Nick Payton burn a brand new fur coat as a protest against the fur trade. Payton is determined to make a name for himself as an activist in the animal welfare movement and uses the girl as a willing tool. PC Mason suggests they deprive Payton of the publicity he wants to sabotage his plans. Sid Bestwick and his wife Marge want their daughter Tina to meet young men and get settled, and Sid has a word with David Stockwell about it. Aunt Peggy thinks he hit the jackpot, but David is not so sure. The school girl Lynne Reynolds is about to give birth and wants to give her baby up for adoption. Nurse Cassidy has her hospitalized as a precaution and hopes to change her mind about the adoption because she does not want the baby to grown up in a home as she did. When Dr. Oakley disagrees, and Carol breaks up with him.

Jocelyn and Rupert Middleton's 17-year-old daughter Vivienne has gone missing. She has an American boyfriend called Bobby Wilson that her parents do not approve of. They think he is only in the country to avoid the draft for the Vietnam War. But Bobby has not seen her either. Someone steals a bronze sculpture from Sir Piers Radley's estate and another one from Lord Ashfordly. They have even taken his lordship's gates and he wants some action - now. David is cleaning up the shed and finds a metal detector. He gives it a good clean, a bit of oil and a new battery and is ready to go treasure hunting. At first Aunt Peggy thinks he is talking nonsense, but she changes her mind after a small demonstration.

15-year-old Natalie is caught shoplifting. She lives at Throckton Grange with her guardian, the famous prima ballerina Lady Victor, who has every hope of making the young girl a ballet star. She faints during her arrest and Nurse Cassidy is worried about her, because she is severely undernourished. When Lady Victor's representative Edward Wilson makes a complaint about some gypsies, PC Mason senses something is wrong and decides to keep a close eye on the Grange and its occupants. The editor of Ashfordly Gazette, Brian Parker, hires David to write the agony column. But Aunt Peggy is very displeased with it, mainly because she wanted the job herself. Geoff Younger is in love with the salesgirl Lucy, but is too shy to ask her out. Furthermore he starts sneezing every time he comes near her.

The young mother Julie is neglecting her two daughters after she met her new boyfriend Brian, who is a real troublemaker, and PC Mason and Nurse Cassidy are concerned for the well-being of the children. Mason especially has it in for the children's officer Clive Eames, whom he thinks does too little to protect them. Somebody is stealing lead from the churches in the area. They even manage to get away before the "watchful" eyes of PC Younger - twice - and Sergeant Miller is far from pleased. Gina is still afraid that something will go wrong with her baby like it did with Daniel, her and Phil's first-born child. To top it all Phil's 18-year-old niece Dawn has got in with the rough crowd and her father asks Gina to take care of the girl for a while.

A car crashes when the driver tries to avoid a collision. The driver is knocked unconscious and later dies. The car was stolen in Liverpool, and CID thinks the car may have been stolen for a crime, but apart from the name of the driver the police have only a small sketch to go on. Gilbert Hartley suspects that his wife Moira has an affair with another man and asks Oscar Blaketon for help. But Gina is away so he is busy in the pub and asks Alf Ventress to follow her around discreetly. Together they spot another car following Mrs. Hartley and assume it belongs to a private detective, Hartley has hired. It does not! Aunt Peggy wants to produce goat's milk and cheese and buys some goats at a sale. But the goats are not exactly cooperative in that department. On the contrary. They are Angora goats which are kept not because of their milk, but because of their coats of mohair. Unfortunately she only discovers that after she has sold them again.

DS Dawson tries to catch a drug smuggling gang with the help of PC Mason, but also has to fight the new DI, who does not like women in CID and blames her for every setback. To crack the case she leans on her informer to get information about the next shipment. Gina has started ante-natal classes and befriends the young girl Sally, who is expecting her first baby. But Gina is not impressed with Sally's boyfriend Jonny, who is not all he is cracked up to be. Far from as a matter of fact. Joyce Jovett's uncle has died and she put pressure on Bernie Scripps to give him the best services possible. But Bernie wants to call it off because he has to fix his broken down hearse first. Aunt Peggy fails to see the problem because Bernie also has an old horse-drawn cortège. But then again she wasn't around the last time the cortège was used.

Mick Revill has done time for armed robbery, but has kept his nose clean after his release from prison making money as a debt collector. But Neil Boon thinks he goes too far when performing his duties and ask the police to look into it. PC Younger has problems with his lack of authority and reluctantly accepts Revill's offer to train him as a boxer. PC Wetherby attempts to enter him in the upcoming police boxing tournament, but has his plan backfire on him. David gets invited to the centenary celebrations of his old school and Aunt Peggy is determined to make him go. But David doesn't want to especially after meeting one of his old class mates who has really made it big.

David is with Aunt Peggy on one of her 'nightly expeditions' when he sees a shooting star. Soon thereafter there's a big explosion and rumours of a meteorite crashing down in the forest. The police finds traces of a more earthly origin though. Nurse Cassidy finds a man lying semi-unconsciously with burns and blast injuries at the roadside and takes him to hospital. Sergeant Miller and DS Dawson are convinced that this is no coincidence and PC Mason goes undercover to investigate Larry Fowler, who is said to sell dynamite to armed robbery teams from the quarry where he is the manager. Aunt Peggy on the other hand doesn't mind having a rock from outer space falling practically into her - or maybe rather Lord Ashfordly's - back yard. Not after hearing that space rocks are quite valuable. And she does nothing to prevent David from thinking aliens have landed. On the contrary.

Big commotion in Ashfordly. The famous pop manger Stan Sparrow returns to his native town to marry his latest young star Cathy Dee. The next morning Sparrow is found dead in his room at the Aidenfield Arms. The police thinks that he was murdered, but who will kill a man who is already dying of leukaemia? Has it something to do with the memoirs that he was writing? PC Wetherby catches Aunt Peggy with ten cases of stolen rum and suddenly she suffers from a total loss of memory (very conveniently) when the PC tries to interview her. But maybe Alf Ventress can cure her. Or David since he may have won a fortune on the football pools and can't find the coupon. Young Ben informs PC Younger of a crime about to happen, but when the criminal is apprehended Younger is very reluctant to reveal his informant. Understandably since Ben's family name is Wetherby - as in PC Wetherby.

When old Elsie Gray dies unexpectedly PC Mason suspects foul play by the family doctor, but since Dr. Thomas is highly respected nobody else apart from Nurse Cassidy is willing to do anything about it. Aunt Peggy is upset because somebody has offloaded a lot of rubbish on her lawn. Some papers among the rubbish leads to the home of a retired magistrate. When the police won't do anything she takes matters in her own hands and returns the favour, so to speak. Gina's baby is in due five weeks, but she is rushed to the hospital as a precaution when she starts to bleed The doctors are certain nothing serious is wrong, but Gina understandably fears the baby will die like her first child Daniel.

Edgar and Angela Faussett have just moved to Aidensfield and according to Aunt Peggy he is rolling in money and she is quite a looker. But they are also causing PC Mason a lot of problems. He apparently thinks the law doesn't apply to him and rather wants to see Mason's back than his face, and she is so impressed with the handsome constable that she uses every excuse to see him. She also claims that her life is in danger. This of course doesn't go unnoticed by Carol Cassidy who more or less considers Mason her boyfriend. It's Oscar Blaketon's birthday and the villagers have prepared a big birthday party for him. David even wants to play a birthday song for him on the pub piano. He just has to learn to play the piano first. But there might be something else to celebrate instead: Gina goes into labour during the party and gives birth to a healthy baby boy in her room at the Aidensfield Arms.

Criminals have kidnapped Seargeant Miller's daughter Cheryl and threaten to kill her if he doesn't do what they say. And under no circumstances is he to tell anybody. But both Alf Ventress and PC Mason soon suspect that something is wrong. Protesters demonstrate against the French politician Michel Dubois who is at a conference in the area. He is said to have been a Nazi collaborator during the war and Special Branch fears there may be an attempt on his life during the conference and asks the police for backup. The gunman may be the mysterious Frenchman staying at the Aidensfield Arms - or are the people holding Miller's daughter involved? Aunt Peggy is not feeling well and Nurse Cassidy can only tell her to see a doctor. But although Peggy thinks she has one one foot in the grave already she is very reluctant to take such a drastic step.

The old crook Albert Hallows - also known as "The Professor" or just "Prof" - has escaped from prison and returns to Aidensfield. He has a score to settle with the police - they arrested him for organizing burglary on a big scale in the village. He also tricks Bill and Mickey, 2 local boys, into helping him. There is a big charity dinner dance and Joyce Jowett is representing the council together with Oscar Blaketon. Or at least that was her idea. But Oscar is away on a golfing trip, so Dawn "persuades" Geoff Younger to go in his place. She promises to teach him ballroom dancing for the event. Carol Cassidy and Joe Mason have finally realized the feelings they have for each other, and he asks her to the dance following dinner at a posh restaurant. Terry Maxton is an old friend of Aunt Peggy and he is looking for local craftsmen to supply his furnishing stores with pottery. Peggy is convinced there is good money to be made and talks David into making primitive pots of clay - with very explosive results.

It comes as quite a shock to Carol Cassidy, who is an orphan, when one of her childhood friends turns up in Aidensfield claiming that she not only has found Carol's mother, but brought her along too. Barbara Gresham is a young, single mother of a new-born baby. She has been abandoned by the father of the baby and finds it hard to cope with her life. Nurse Cassidy and PC Mason tries to help her, but maybe in vain. Hermione Worthington reports her dog Hercules missing and Sergeant Miller promises her that the police will make every effort to find it. But finding chief constable Worthington's dog is a lot easier said than done. Bernie Scripps has received a car full of chimney sweep equipment as payment for a funeral, and since the village is in dire need of a chimney sweep David borrows the van and equipment to earn enough money to have his taxi repaired and he and Dawn tries their luck with chimney sweeping. That too is easier said than done.

A stranger collapses on the lawn of Ashfordly Hall. He is called Mickey Todd and has been beaten up pretty badly, but is very reluctant to talk to the police. Later Nurse Cassidy sees a pregnant, young woman in the village, who also shows all the signs of a thorough beating, and patches her up. Is she the victim of the same assailant? At least she belongs to the same group of traveling hippies as he does. PC Wetherby is doing some private investigating of his own and discovers that his wife is having an affair. He takes it out on Lord Ashfordly's game keeper Frank Kelly who is found dead the next morning with his throat cut. But Kelly may also have had a clash with the hippies who falsely accused him of assaulting Mickey Todd. David has to fight the competition from another taxi company and also has problems with his own taxi. It turns out that his taxi was sabotaged, and Aunt Peggy is sure that the owner of the other company - Ma Barker - is behind it.

The police had a tip-off and searches the home of Big Frank Batley. His wife Tina claims that one of the police officers has stolen 400 pounds during the search and the money is found in DS Dawson's car.Convinced of her innocence PC Mason risks his career in an attempt to prove it. A lady in another village has died and specifically requested that Bernie Scripps handles her funeral although there are other undertakers much closer to her home. He is shocked to find out that she was an old girlfriend of his and the love of his life - and that they have a daughter Bernie knew nothing about. She was adopted after her birth and Bernies asks Oscar Blaketon to help him find her.

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.

Bob Berisford was a haulage contractor who was involved in a bit of smuggling to keep the company from going bust. After his death his partner in crime Frank Carter wants to continue the arrangement and pays Bob's widow Evelyn a visit. When she refuses her life is threatened. Nurse Cassidy hears about the threats and asks PC Mason to look into it. Soon there is a lot to look into, but he doesn't get much help from Evelyn Berisford who is much too scared to talk. Tomasz Bukowski has come all the way from Poland to Aidensfield to look for a woman he fell in love with during the war, and Oscar Blaketon offers to help him. Bukowski repays him by playing the pub piano. Chopin and Beethoven may attract new customers, but they surely also keep the regulars away.

Three children are exploring the garden of a sinister, old house near Aidensfield when the youngest of them, Peter, suddenly disappears. The whole village takes part in the search. The police concentrate their efforts around a mysterious van that Gina saw racing by just as the two elder kids pass her and PC Wetherby in the street; the police fear the boy has been kidnapped. Luckily he is soon found in a well near the old house, and a major rescue operation is launched. The rescue draws nationwide attention and soon Aidensfield is invaded by journalists from all over the country- including the prominent Sheridan Ralph who is very upset when he can't get a room at the Aidensfield Arms. Aunt Peggy does not hesitate to take advantage of the situation and offers him a room at her place - for at small fee of course. This decision is one she soon finds reason to regret since he is a very bothersome customer. Oscar Blaketon has other concerns than the rescue. He has noticed signs of a growing attraction between Gina and the newly divorced PC Wetherby-signs that don't go unnoticed by Sheridan Ralph either. But there might be a much more interesting story to tell when suddenly gun shots are fired from inside the old house, and it is determined that the house is inhabited by an aged and mysterious man.

A group of Taoist monks is stranded in Aidensfield when their bus breaks down on the way to a Taoist monastery near Middlesbrough. But their presence is a thorn in the side of Councillor Jowett who tries to raise a united front against them. Things don't get better when one of the monks is very ill and is taken to hospital. People fear he suffers from TB, which notorious burglar Terry "Non Stick" Tinniswood supposedly also died of the very same morning. Tinniswood's widow Rosie is especially nervous, because her two children Julie and Eddie were in the monks' bus nicking a gold statuette. Chips off the old block so to speak. DS Dawson has got a tip that stolen antiquities have found their way to Ashfordly. Some of them turn up in Mr. Brigstocke's antique shop. The police lock the shop and take possession of the keys, but when they come to search the place the next day some candlesticks have gone missing. Carol Cassidy is sad because, although an adoption agency has traced her mother, she passed away several years ago. PC Mason offers to lend an ear if Carol needs somebody to talk to.

A cat burglar is causing the police endless worry. He is targeting the wealthy houses of the area, and PC Mason suspects the window cleaner Tommy Hugget who has form, but his wife Betty gives him an alibi. However Mason is convinced that they are hiding something. Major Giles MacLean makes quite an impression on Carol Cassidy when he asks her for directions to Ashforly Hall. The major is on his way to his regiment reunion i Edinburgh and takes his lordship up on his offer to stay a couple of nights. But he too is the victim of the cat burglar. Aunt Peggy is outraged when David finds a young woman camping out on his field - without paying, but changes her tune when she discovers that the woman is her old friend Sofia. And she cannot get them hitched fast enough when David and Sofia feel attracted to each other. It is hard for Bernie to mind both the garage and the funeral parlour and he looks forward to Rosie's return from Australia. But not even her family has heard from her for several months, and when her sheep-shearing friend Mick turns up in Aidensfield asking for her Bernie and her father fear that something has happened to her.

DS Dawson and PC Mason go to Australia to find out what happened to Rosie. They are joined by Carol Cassidy who wants to search for her brother whom she has never met. Dawson and Mason locate Rosie's and Mick's last employer Mrs. Patterson. She sacked the young couple after Mick beat up Rosie in a row, and nobody has seen the young girl after she left town on the bus the following day. But Mason has a feeling that not everybody is telling everything they know. Back in Aidensfield Sergeant Miller has some questions for Mick who is still in the area. Meanwhile Carol finds out that her brother is called Daniel, and she puts an ad in the paper. This puts her in contact with a Doctor Cunningham who claims to know Daniel, but the doctor also has ulterior motives.

The teacher Jim Osgood is an advocate for iron discipline at the school in Ashfordly and does not abstain from corporal punishment. PC Mason gets involved when Osgood treats the pupil Gary Bell so rough he ends up in hospital. But Mason's hands are tied because neither the boy nor his parents will make a complaint. Furthermore Osgood attacks his colleague Wendy Kelshaw for rejecting him and intimidates her into silence. Oscar, Alf and Bernie are organizing a trip to London for the entire village. But Aunt Peggy is short of cash and sees no reason to go. Things do not get any better when she finds the tramp Ernie Dunn dead in her barn.

A car crashes on the road to Aidensfield. The driver Ellen Ferguson is badly injured while her husband and daughter get off with only minor bruises. PC Mason is sure that she was speeding, but her husband Lennie denies that. But there might be more behind it than that because Nurse Cassidy notices at mysterious man who frightens the daughter Trudi. Shortly after another stranger turns up at the hospital asking for Ellen Ferguson. Only he calls her Phillips and not Ferguson. David wins some money and uses them to buy an old Jeep which Bernie will help him restore. But it turns out that it is not any old Jeep when they find Field Marshall Montgomery's beret in it.

There is counterfeit money in circulation in Aidensfield - and lots of them. The money was made by a gang run by Jim Bly, but neither Bly nor his girlfriend Ruthie Abbott were ever captured, and DS Dawson thinks they may be in the area. Sergeant Miller gets a surprise visit from his wife. Her train broke down just outside Ashfordly and now she has been left stranded. But the good sergeant is none too pleased to see her. Especially not after she has been caught shoplifting. And she is not making things easier for him. Bernie reads in the newspaper that his big idol Judy Garland got married in London and plans to settle down in a British country house - maybe even Yorkshire. And indeed an American woman moves into one of the cottages with her husband. She calls herself Judy Dean, but soon everybody knows who she really is - or do they? Anyway Aunt Peggy cannot help cashing in on it.

When the attractive newcomer Vivienne Mackay is murdered suspicion falls on the backward George Ashton. Normally he wouldn't hurt a fly, but he got mad at her when she pushed him accidentally. But also her fiancée Dominick Billingham is in the picture since he had a row with her at the Aidensfield Arms the night before. PC Mason also has to take care of her son Scott, because Mason's mother was murdered too. Dawns cousin Vince intends to sell hot dogs and leaves his van in her care for a couple of days. Thus he will miss the Ashfordly Cup final which draws a lot of spectators and Dawn decides to use the opportunity to make some extra pocket money. She allies herself with David and that does not suit Aunt Peggy who has planned to sell backed potatoes during the match and as usual has "volunteered him" to lend her a hand.

Harry Brown has an accident when the steering gear of his tractor fails. PC Mason suspects sabotage, but Brown does not want any fuss. As a matter of fact he just wants the police to forget it ever happened. And with good reason too because Brown is not very popular with the other sheep farmers and most of them have it in for him. Old Mrs. Brooks has died and Aunt Peggy's solicitor Ronnie Smethers is the executor of her estate. Aunt Peggy offers her services to clear the house - at a reasonable charge, of course. Not surprisingly, she can't help picking out the good stuff and selling it herself. When she leaves David alone in the cottage, he hears strange noises and gets afraid they have upset the old lady's ghost. Gina has hired young, handsome Billy Garrett to help out at the Aidensfield Arms while Oscar Blaketon is away on a golfing trip to Scotland, and especially Dawn feels attracted to him. He takes her out a couple of times, but suddenly he turns moody and withdrawn and does not want to see her any more.

The Ashfordly police, and especially PC Mason, are asked to assist DI Turner from the serious crime squad investigating a series of very violent robberies in the area. One of DS Dawson's informants points the finger at Steve Dempsey. When Mason and Dawson check out Dempsey, they are spotted by Dawn, who is on a girls' night out with her friends. When she gets home, she does not hesitate to talk about seeing Mason and Dawson. Division has found out that Dawson had an affair with an unnamed police officer, and she has been put forcibly back in uniform. Mason does not want her to take the entire blame, and he turns himself in. Aunt Peggy is cleaning for the former bank manager Edward Walton - without charge for a change. When she discovers a broom cupboard full of strange things he gets very abrupt, gives her a valuable pen for her efforts, and sends her away. When Oscar Blaketon accuses her of stealing his pen she realizes that Walton has become a kleptomaniac since his wife was admitted to a nursing home and decides to help him.

Vic and Eileen Needham have a violent row, and she makes a complaint against him for destroying some of her family heirloom. She also files for divorce. And that is just the beginning. Particularly with Eileen's solicitor Sylvia Swinton on the war path. Wars have been more peaceful than that. Stan Bickle pays Aunt Peggy a visit. He brings along his daughter Josie. The two women do not get along very well. Especially not after Josie begins to make passes at David and threatens Aunt Peggys influence on him.

There has been three break-ins within a week already and the fourth item on the burglars' "shopping list" is the Aidensfield Arms. Nothing but money was taken, and the police are without a clue until Aunt Peggy and other old people receive an anonymous envelope with 20 pounds each. Money that comes from the break-ins. Furthermore Carol Cassidy saw a car in Aidensfield at the time of the break-in at the pub with a man and a woman in it. PC Mason readily admits that he was the man, but to Carol's great annoyance he does not say anything about who the woman was. Douglas Philpot asks Oscar Blaketon and Alf Ventress to look for his son Ian, whom he and his wife Mary have not heard from for three months. A colleague of his also saw him at a night club in Whitby, but that is all. The two sleuths have a feeling though that Mary Philpot knows more than she is willing to say with her husband present.

PC Younger arrests a tramp Ewart Martin, but when he puts him in the nick Martin immediately recognizes his old war buddy Sergeant Miller who is none too pleased to see him. Among Martin's things, Younger finds a business card from Leslie Rumbold, an insurance agent who was shot dead on his doorstep the same morning. Has the old tramp anything to do with the murder? Or is the perpetrator Ross Tillman, a farmer who has threatened Rumbold with his life? Another clue may be a photograph that PC Mason finds at Rumbold's office. Alf Ventress moves in at the Aidensfield Arms when his chimney goes through the roof and he needs a place to stay during repairs. Gina says he can stay for free and soon he is eating her and Oscar out of house and pub. And that is just for starters. No wonder Mrs. Ventress preferred to stay at her sister's instead. PC Wetherby has had his family staying for a couple of days, and when chances are he and his estranged wife may get back together again he asks Gina for advice. But Oscar Blaketon misunderstands and thinks Wetherby is making a pass at her again.

An unidentified man is found badly injured by the roadside near Aidensfield and PC Mason thinks he was assaulted. A complaint about a van blocking the way in Back Lane leads not only to the identity of the unknown man, but also to a load of condemned meat which has now disappeared. And soon they have the first case of salmonella poisoning. Aunt Peggy is asked to keep an eye on a mansion for three weeks. And being Aunt Peggy she cannot see why she should not make a little extra money on it herself and do some bed and breakfast in posh surroundings. Her first customer is a very surprised Alf Ventress. He had outstayed his welcome at the Aidensfield Arms - and one of the cells at the police station - and was asked to move out by Sergeant Nokes, who is filling in for Sergeant Miller. Alice Howarth asks Nurse Cassidy to look after her mother Edna who is so old it is not safe for her to be living alone anymore. But Carol is surprised to discover that the old lady is not so alone after all. Her son - Alice's brother - has returned to the area and visits her every night. Only he committed suicide twenty years ago. Dawn finds an old sewing machine and soon the only thing on her mind is sewing.

Safe breakers break in at Adams Brothers. One of them accidentally activates the alarm just as PC Mason passes on his motorbike. They manage to get away, but the next day their driver is found floating around dead in Whitby harbour. Is this the revenge of his accomplices for leaving them when the alarm went off or...? PC Mason also suspects it was an inside job because there was an exceptionally large amount of money in the safe. Meanwhile the rest of the gang stays comfortably at the Aidensfield Arms planning how to get another crack at the safe. It is Dawn's birthday and Gina organizes a surprise party for her. But Dawn is not the only one who gets surprised. Alf and PC Younger wonders why PC Wetherby disappears every day at lunch break and Oscar Blaketon bets them £5 that he can find out in a matter of hours. He gets a surprise too.

A mysterious man steals David's taxi (and his breakfast), but he does not get very far. Bernie recognizes the car and refuses to give him some petrol. The taxi robber is soon apprehended. He has obviously been in a fight because his face is bruised, and he claims he cannot remember who he is. While Nurse Cassidy takes care of his injuries, PC Mason is called out to assist Sergeant Miller. A dead woman has been found at the foot of a rock, and Miller agrees with PC Mason that the two cases are connected. Alf Ventress and Oscar Blaketon are planning a camping trip to France to see all the places they passed through during the war - on push bikes! They get a few tips from James Moncrieff, a fellow war veteran who is on holiday in Aidensfield.