Sergeant Miller is "off to learn the patch" as he calls it when he spots a speeding car and give chase, but the driver, David's Aunt Peggy, easily manage to lose him, ruining his day completely. It will not be the last time she does that and their relation will soon be just like the one between Oscar Blaketon and good old Claude Jeremiah Greengrass. Rob Walker has been dating the nurse Clare Owen since she took care of him after he crashed on his motorcycle. They are both invited to a party celebrating the arrival of a new doctor at the hospital, Gavin Kennedy, who coincidentally also Clare's former lover. During the party another of Clare's colleagues does the high wire under the influence of drugs and alcohol and is seriously injured when he falls to the ground although Walker tries to stop him.

Lots of different things have been stolen in Aidensfield over the years, but an entire train loaded with crates of wine must be a novelty. Whoever stole the wagons had access to a locomotive and enough space to hide the whole train. They must also have enough knowledge about railways to operate a train. When a wagon load of tobacco is coming through the police decide to use a similar wagon full of police officers as a decoy. Helen Trent has started the proceedings to get divorced from her husband and Gina invites her to a girl's night out to cheer her up. Phil also invites Rob out to a boy's night out to cheer him up after the break between him and Clare. They all end up at the same nightclub and decide to make it a foursome. The annual green bowling tournament is coming up. Bernie has his heart set on winning, but his main rival Bickerstaff will stop at nothing to get the trophy. Aunt Peggy takes over the catering and she needs a blackboard for the menu (yeah, right).

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.

Young Denny gets hurt in a hunting accident at the Ashfordly estate. Luckily he sustains only a flesh wound. The police interview all the members of the hunting party to get a clear picture and also collect their guns for testing. But the estate manager Richard Bentham for some reason does not want them to talk to the beaters Gary and Colin, whom he tells to scarper. Bentham also fails to report an accident he has with his Land Rover because the brakes were sabotaged. Furthermore when PC Bellamy questions Denny the boy says that the shooting was no accident. That Bentham did it deliberately!

PC Walker and PC Bellamy are investigating a break-in at Lionel Morris' off license and general store when they spot an old friend of the police, Colin Sneddon. Sneddon has a history of confessing to just about every crime in town and soon he is at the police station to confess to this one too. When the police do not believe him he confesses to the unsolved murder of a little girl eleven years back. His confession makes quite a stir in Aidensfield and this time he is harder to dismiss, because human remains are found at the spot where he said he buried the girl's body. Aunt Peggy learns that the unfortunate store owner Mr. Morris is a wealthy widower and decides to make at move on him - and his wallet.

Lord Ashfordly plays host to a group of ex-offenders, who will be working on the estate under the supervision of Eric Grey as part of a rehabilitation programme. But not all of the young men are that keen on getting rehabilitated and only want to make trouble. For starters they steal Oscar Blaketon's car when he refuses to serve them at the pub. Dorothy Plum is complaining that someone is disturbing her little dog Marigold, but a search of her garden and the road outside turns up nothing. The old lady gets really worried when the dog disappears and she offers a big reward to get it back. Aunt Peggy is not a woman to let such an opportunity pass. She gets a similar dog with the help of an old friend and tries to return it to its "rightful owner" after a small makeover.

Albert Wilson witnesses how Peter Roberts is hit by a hit-an-run car. Wilson is sure it was no accident and is able to give a full description of the car. It belongs to Derek Wallis, who claims that it was stolen. He also has an alibi which is corroborated by his employer Elsa Jenner, but Albert Wilson is almost positive that it was Wallis, who drove the car. Aunt Peggy "happens to come across" a lot of cheap cigarettes, but they seem to contain something with a little more kick than ordinary tobacco. The cigarettes also come from different supplier and he wants them back - badly!

Gina discovers a cut off left hand in her dustbin. The police immediately start searching for more body parts in other dustbins in Aidensfield with no luck. The hand was in a box and in that box the police find a note in Bernie Scripps' handwriting. Bernie does not remember writing the note, but from its contents he reckons it is from a rough invoice he wrote to Ashfordly Hall. And it dates five years back. The discovery of a torso the next day leads to the conclusion that the body had been frozen until recently - and that it is murder! Speaking of freezing Aunt Peggy has bought a cheap freezer at a sale. She intends to use it for storing rabbits and pheasants, which she can sell in a store.

Three hooligans steal a brand new Aston Martin and drive through Ashfordly in an attempt make as much vandalism as possible. They crash into a car belonging to George Adams. Adams has moved from the big city to make a fresh start in the country and does not want to get involved in anything. And with good reason. His real name is Terence Molloy and he has just been released from prison for safe cracking. Sergeant Miller warns him that he will keep an eye on him, but it does not seem to help because soon afterwards a safe is blown. Aunt Peggy's latest venture is miracle chicken food which makes chicken lay more eggs. She ensures this with cheap surplus eggs from the Common Market. Rob Walker has needed a lot of attention from Dr. Trent lately. Not that he is ill or anything. He and the attractive doctor have fallen heavily in love with each other.

PC Walker arrests Ken Rawson for driving dangerously and violating just about any traffic regulation there is. Despite resisting arrest he accuses Walker of using excessive force. He also claims that he knows Sergeant Miller and that Miller soon will get him out. Christmas comes early to David when Enid Bakewell gives him her late husband's model railway. Lord Ashfordly is looking for a new housekeeper and Aunt Peggy thinks that is just the job for her. To be taken into consideration she needs a lot of references. Fabricated if necessary.

A gang of poachers is at work at the Ashfordly estate. Sergeant Miller is in pursuit, but crashes in his police car and is knocked unconscious. At the crash site the police also find a tramp, who appears to have been hit. The incident requires an official investigation, and while Sergeant Miller is not suspended he is prohibited to drive. His case is not improved when the tramp dies from his injuries. Aunt Peggy has been doing a little poaching as well, and she lands in a ditch, when she is trying to get away. She is detained by his lordship himself and sues him for pain and suffering in return. Gina gets accepted at the Art College in York. Her teacher Jack Hollins is very impressed with her - for more reasons than one obviously.

There is a police charity soccer match between Ashfordly and Richmond, but PC Bellamy has to appear in court the same day and may not make it back in time although he is the Ashfordly coach. Albert Hallows helps Gina to sell tickets for the match, but not out of his good heart or to help a pretty girl. He is the head of a gang of old timer robbers and he plans to hit on Aidensfield during the match. David has been called for jury duty in the same case as Bellamy is to appear in. The accused is a friend of one of Aunt Peggy's acquaintances and she tries to influence him to vote for an acquittal. Not an easy position when the other eleven jurors are in favour of conviction.

Betty Hackett is terminally ill and is not afraid to die. Dr. Trent promises her that she will not suffer unnecessarily. Teresa, Betty's daughter-in-law, overhears their conversation, and when the old lady suddenly dies Dr. Trent is accused of euthanasia. Rosie's brothers Luke and Matt report that somebody has stolen half a field of their strawberry crop during the night. PC Younger makes a little fun of it and suddenly has his very own case to solve.

The convicted murderer Billy Andrews escapes from prison. He turns up at his parents' house despite road blocks and everything and gets mad when they cannot help him. Unfortunately Dr. Trent is worried about old Mr. Andrews' heart and she gets kidnapped when she wants to check on him. Alfred is getting old and David is afraid the dog will die. Bernie tries to cheer him up, and when Alfred dies David seems strangely unaffected by it.

Oscar Blaketon finds Dieter Dressler walking on the moors after he had had an accident and gets him to a hospital. It turns out that Dressler was forced off the road by another car. Furthermore a valuable painting has been stolen from his cottage. As if that was not enough Lord Ashfordly's Land Rover has been stolen and he is down on Sergeant Miller to get it back. When Aunt Peggy learns that the ornithologist Alan Phelps wants to see a golden eagle she promises to show him one even though there have been no golden eagles in the area for years. But trifles like that have never stopped her before.

Adam Lee surprises a burglar and is knocked unconscious in the subsequent struggle. When he comes to he identifies his attacker as his brother Joe. Apart from money Joe also stole Adam's car. Joe lives in Whitby and on his way to interview him PC Walker finds the car smeared with blood in a ditch and no sign of Joe. Alice and John Boaden's baby daughter has been born with a heart problem. The little girl may die if she does not get an operation, but operations like that are not performed in Great Britain so they try to raise money for a trip to America. Rumour has it that Wharton Place is haunted and Aunt Peggy does not hesitate to try and make money on that story even if she has to create a ghost or two.

Vince Wain is visiting his ex-wife Brenda and their son Martin. While he is at their house he helps himself to their savings and is very surprised when Brenda goes to the police about it. During the following row Martin decides to run away and asks David to help him. They even become blood brothers and promise each other not to let each other down. Mr. Turner is cleaning windows at Ashfordly Hall when he is bitten by his lordship's dog Jack and demands that the dog is put to sleep. Lord Ashfordly even risks being charged in that he cannot prove that the dog is not a danger to the public - no easy task because Jack has quite a history in the biting department. Luckily for him help is not far away and Aunt Peggy offers to train him - the dog that is, not Lord Ashfordly.

Oscar Blaketon is doing some private investigating for Hetty Bolton, who correctly suspects her husband Arthur of having an affair with the waitress Dolly Forde. The next morning Arthur Bolton is found murdered at his coal yard and Hetty Bolton claims that she and Blaketon were having an affair and that Blaketon was jealous of him. Debbie Black reports her television set stolen. She is a very attractive widow with three children and makes quite an impact on PC Bellamy. And she does not find him particularly unattractive either. Aunt Peggy buys a greyhound for racing, but the dog is not as fast as it was promised to be. As a matter of fact she has seen corpses livelier than that.

Malcolm Fairchild has just had his car checked and MOT-tested at Bernie's garage when he loses control over the vehicle and plunges into a garden. Luckily nobody gets seriously hurt, but Bernie gets into serious trouble because the tyres are bald. The next morning he is nowhere to be found and David fears the worst.. Helen Trent's estranged husband finds out about her affair with Rob Walker and makes a complaint to Sergeant Miller, who takes the matter very seriously.

Ashfordly Hall is locked up over Christmas. PC Walker discovers that someone has broken into the estate. Nothing seems to be missing, but in the library he encounters a man calling himself Ray Hallam and quietly sipping his lordship's whisky. Hallam claims to be a friend of Lord Ashfordly, who is conveniently away on holiday. Hallam is arrested, but can return to Ashfordly Hall when his lordship confirms his identity by cable. Aunt Peggy buys a lot of stuff at a fire sale including a lot of Christmas presents for Santa to - meaning David - to hand out in his grotto. Unfortunately for her Oscar Blaketon has had the same bright idea and with considerably more success.

Henry Stoddard is released after 15 years in prison for killing a police constable from Ashfordly police station and moves in with his brother Jack. Stoddard has always claimed his innocence although the evidence against him was overwhelming. He says that Oscar Blaketon and Alf Ventress tricked him into confessing to avoid getting hanged. Now somebody is out to get back at both of them. And Peter, the son of the dead constable, has sworn to revenge his father's killing. Aunt Peggy comes across her birth certificate when she has to produce her driver's license after a traffic incident and discovers that she is related to Lord Ashfordly. Phil Bellamy surprises everybody by marrying Debbie Black.

Someone sets fire to Bill Galloway's barn and he suspects Barry Dyson as a revenge for being sacked. Dyson even has a previous conviction for arson. But Dyson has an alibi. Dyson also says that he was sacked because he is seeing Galloway's daughter Sylvia. Then there is a fire at Jim Hobson's farm only hours after Dyson had been refused a job there. And this time Dyson has no alibi. Aunt Peggy is visited by an old friend, Denzil Witty. He has a plan on how to put advertising posters up wherever you want without permission from the council. But not everybody is keen on his idea and they take matters in their own hands.

The Provincial Bank in Ashfordly gets robbed by a young woman and her boyfriend. When the pair strikes again against a grocer's shop a customer resists them and the woman gets shot in the leg. Her boyfriend kidnaps Dr. Trent and forces her to treat the wound. The doctor believes she has seen the woman, called Lucy, before. Bernie is away and has left a thorough list of to-dos for David. Aunt Peggy thinks that Bernie should give him more responsibility. She even takes it upon herself to organize a funeral.

Sir Richard Lonsdale and his driver run a man on a scooter off the road without even stopping. The man returns the "favour" by vandalizing their car outside the Aidensfield. But the man does not stop at that. He even tries to blackmail Sir Richard, but the next morning he is found dead in his home. Murdered! David buys a used radio and by chance it also tunes in to the police channels. Aunt Peggy figures it is a good way to earn a little extra money if they listen to police radio and sell the stories to the local newspaper.

PC Walker and PC Bellamy give Malcolm Stainsby a lift to his home because of his bad legs. Stainsby has been away since the war, but his wife - or rather ex-wife - Diane says that her husband Malcolm is dead. She even has his death certificate to prove it. Stainsby claims that he has only recently regained his memory after a cinema he was in was hit by a flying bomb. David and Aunt Peggy surprises a mushroom collector on their land and Aunt Peggy discovers that some people will pay good money for mushrooms. And while all mushrooms are eatable their effect may differ quite a bit. Sergeant Miller books PC Younger on a driving course. But Younger only has a provisional driver's license and needs a lot of driving experience. He gets Rosie to give him driving lessons and soon the whole village puts more into their relationship than there actually is.

Colin Judd's father has died and according to his will his farm must be sold lock, stock and barrel at a dispersal sale and proceeds split between Colin and his good-for-nothing brother Andy. Aunt Peggy thinks a thing like that should not be happening, but is on the lookout for a bargain nonetheless. In her case "a bargain" is a horse and carriage, which she plans to use for sight seeings around the countryside. Well, the horse has its own ideas about that. Andy is an old friend of Debbie Bellamy's, but she is not particularly happy to see him and drives home under the influence of a little wine. Andy is also very interested in a box of rubbish, which David buys by mistake and sells to Gina with a little profit.

Somebody sets fire to Bernie Scripps and his hearse one night he is on his way back to Aidensfield. Luckily he escapes with burns on his right arm, but the car is a write-off. Rosie gets really worried about him, when he checks himself out of the hospital and disappears. Meg Sawyer gives birth to her first baby, but her father-in-law Ed causes nothing but trouble. Dr. Trent gets a visit from her father Maxwell Hamilton, but is not particularly happy to see him, because he left her and her mother when she was 10. But he just wants to see her again because he is terminally ill with lung cancer. Aunt Peggy enters David in a fishing competition after he catches a giant salmon.

Ronald Headley is found dead in the river and PC Bellamy is excluded from the investigation when it turns out that his wife Debbie may be involved. Headley was a bank manager who got into prison for embezzlement, and in his wallet the police find photos of the assistant manager of his old bank, Sheryl Cooper. The case leads to Phil discovering that Debbie has a drinking problem. Aunt Peggy is far from happy when a group of squatters makes camp at David's and her farm and demands police action, but she has come to an understanding with them when PC Younger arrives. Counsellor Jowett is not prepared to leave it like that.

Miller's ex army pal arrives. Peggy takes Phil's daughters poaching.

Helen and Rob's wedding. Noisy neighbours.

The honeymoon is over for Rob and Helen Walker. A car with an unconscious man in it is found in a ditch at Long Lane. And somebody has stolen all the sheep from Len Hallett's farm. Since it happened only a few hundred yards apart PC Walker suspects that the two cases are connected and that the unconscious man, Frank Mirfield, may have seen something he should not. Terry Parsons' grandmother has become senile dementia, and Dr. Walker suggests that they lock her in to keep her from wandering off, but the next morning the old lady has disappeared. Norman and Kath Harrison have bought a farm and necessity forces them to live off the land and Aunt Peggy decides to become self-sufficient too, but that idea really stinks.

On her way home from night class Sandra Proctor is forced off the road by a hit-and-run driver. Alan Seddon's car was stolen outside the dance hall in Ashfordly. Alan is the son of Roy Seddon, the councillor on the police committee, and Sergeant Miller gives the case top priority. The car is found abandoned, and it turns out to be the car that hit Sandra Proctor. Alan is known for his wild driving and neither his girlfriend Hayley nor his best friend Paul can give him an alibi for the entire evening, so he may have caused the accident and reported the car stolen to cover his tracks. David is fed up with being ordered around by Aunt Peggy and accepts a job with the window cleaner Topsy Turner instead. But Peggy is not prepared to give up on him that easy.

Things are quiet at the police station in Ashfordly. Almost too quiet. And it is not going to last. Suddenly two armed men hold up PC Younger and Alf Ventress and lock them up in a cell, while they free a single "guest" without Sergeant Miller noticing anything from behind his desk at the sergeant's office. With PC Walker and PC Bellamy in hot pursuit through Aidensfield they kill a dog and seriously injure a pedestrian. To top it all the police do not even know the identity of the escaped prisoner, who was just detained overnight for being drunk. One more thing bothers Phil Bellamy. He is sure he saw Debbie's late husband Barry in Ashfordly when the pursuit began.

Phil has gotten over Debbie's leaving him for her first husband who was not nearly as dead as she let him to believe, while Rob Walker has been away on leave after Helen's death. When Phil picks him up at the railway station they nearly collide with another car which ends up in the middle of a river. Rob saves the driver Les Cooper who is so grateful he decides to come clean, leave his former criminal life behind and make a fresh start. Oscar Blaketon tries to make Aidensfield twin with a French village where he spent his holiday. For that occasion he has invited some of his new French friends over for a big party and the first of them, Yvette Lenoir has already arrived. However Blaketon is none too pleased that Aunt Peggy's contribution will be fresh, local game. And with good reason! Carol Cassidy is the new districts nurse in Aidensfield, and she is worried about Jean Ashton who has discharged herself from hospital. But Jean's husband Dennis will not let Miss Cassidy see his wife.

Martin Beldon has recently been released from jail after serving a 5-year sentence for rape. But somebody is out to get him, and since his lawyer gave the victim Judy Wharton such a hard time during trial that she committed suicide her father Tom and sister Linda are the most likely suspects. Then Linda's friend June claims that Beldon has raped her too. Aunt Peggy accidentally runs down the drunk, Sid Vickers. Vickers is one of her old friends and she decides to get him back on his feet again. There is a new face at the police station in Ashfordly. DS Rachel Dawson who is one of PC Walkers old friend. The London criminal Barry Flynn has escaped and she needs two officers to help her watch his cousin's cottage in case he would hide himself there.

When Carol Cassidy wants to see Alice Tupper she finds the house broken into and the old woman hiding from the intruder. He himself is hiding in her shed, but he flees when Carol discovers him. PC Walker and PC Bellamy arrest him though when he tries to get to Whitby, but they are stopped by DS Dawson who demands that they hand him over to Guy Maitland from the Intelligence Services. Sergeant Miller is not ready to do that, and things are not made any easier by the fact that he has a terrible toothache. David and Aunt Peggy clear out an estate of the deceased Sadie Copley when they find a notebook with complete murder plans, and Aunt Peggy is convinced that old Sadie has put her unfaithful husband out of the way. But since the police will have nothing to do with it she decides to get to the bottom of things herself.

A stranger asks for Rosie at the Aidensfield Arms. He is her former boyfriend Peter who cannot grasp that she broke up with him and wants her back. Rosie is not interested though and wants nothing to do with him. But that only makes him only more determined and he starts pestering her. Aunt Peggy's old banger gets stolen and with it David's dog Deefer which was in the boot because she is heat. PC Bellamy and PC Walker chases the thief, but he gets away when his helper blocks the road with a ladder. Gina is worried about Phil. He is still his good old self, but he clams up every time she tries to talk to him about his "ex-wife" Debbie. As a matter of fact he has not spoken of her since she left him.

Two hooligans break in at major Littlewoods house, and he threatens them with his old army revolver. One of them, Billy Travis, is convinced the old war hero will not shoot and that mistake costs him his life. Littlewood turns himself in to the police claiming he only shot in self-defence, but Sergeant Miller does not quite agree! Harry Taylor is looking dealers to sell his petrol using a new, modern concept and Aunt Peggy promises to persuade Bernie Scripps telling Taylor that Bernie has not got all his marbles. Vicky Cammish goes to see nurse Cassidy because she has a friend who is pregnant. Despite the young girl's denials Carol Cassidy is convinced that the "friend" is Vicky herself.

Rosie friend Diana Hill has become Miss Ashfordly. When somebody sets fire to her car PC Walker learns that she has received threatening letters to stop her from entering the Miss Yorkshire beauty pageant. Gina has realized that Phil Bellamy is the man for her, and she gives him a big hug when he picks her up from hospital after her being hurt in the car fire. Old Dan Fowles asks Aunt Peggy to bet on an outsider for him at the races. The horse wins, but Fowler dies before he can collect his winnings, and Peggy thinks it would be a shame if all that money should go to waste. PC Younger has not made an arrest for more than a month, and when his police bicycle gets stolen Sergeant Miller tells him to do something about it. So Younger clamps down on every minor offence he encounters.

Colonel Hudson holds an auction and since Aunt Peggy cannot get any more credit at Bernie's garage until she pays her bill she and David takes the soft job of driving for him. Hudson's son Duncan discovers that his young mother is having an affair with the family friend Nigel Parker. Parker gets seriously injured in an accident on his way home from a party at the Hudson estate, and when PC Walker conveys the bad news Duncan runs away. Gina and Phil think that Rob needs to get out some more and invite him and Gina's hairdresser Paula out on a double date. But the constables soon get other things on their minds when the entire police station is infected with nits. And they can only have come from PC Younger who has had lollipop duty at the school.

Jo Miller and her boyfriend Grag Parsons arrive in Aidensfield to organize a peace demonstration at an abandoned air base which the Americans plan to reopen. They team up with local troublemaker Pete Grimshaw. But the police has gotten wind of their plans and Division asks Sergeant Miller to keep an eye on the demonstrators. That does not go quietly. PC Walker is accused of beating up Greg Parsons and Jo is arrested to Sergeant Miller's displeasure, because she is his daughter! The new vet Fergus is on his way to the zoo with a cobra in a box. On his way he stops at Bernie's garage for some petrol and to ask Rosie out. When he returns to his Land Rover he discovers that the snake has escaped.

Nurse Cassidy's Land Rover with her medical bag gets stolen outside the Aidensfield Arms. The car is quickly recovered, but there is no trace of the bag and its contents. Some of it turns up though when Ricky Smith is hit by a car and PC Walker finds an empty pill bottle at the site. Sergeant Miller cannot wait to get young Ricky into court, because his mother who is a prominent lawyer has shielded him too many times. And she does not hesitate to make a complaint against nurse Cassidy for negligence. It does not matter to her that Cassidy was in a hurry to call an ambulance and saved somebody's life. The father of Swedish sailor Larson has died and he wanted to be buried at sea. But his ship is late and Larson gets permission to keep the body at Bernie's chapel for a couple of nights. David discovers that the coffin has breathing holes and that the corpse is very much alive. Unfortunately a little too late for him and Aunt Peggy. And PC Younger finally gets his driving licence.

John Atkins is angry at Oscar Blaketon blaming him for losing his complaint against his neighbour Viv Chivers who wants to extend her house. Atkins even threatens Blaketon in public. And somebody really IS out to get Oscar Blaketon. First a photograph of him is destroyed and the matter escalates when somebody tries to sabotage his car. But it cannot be Atkins who has an alibi. Ellen Taylor comes to Aidensfield in search of her son Barry whose last sign of life was from the village six months ago, and she asks Oscar Blaketon for help. Its Aunt Peggy's birthday and David wants to surprise her with a dinner for two at the Aidensfield Arms. But his surprise is spoiled by her old flame Maurice whom she has not seen for 20 years and the old flames are still burning. Phil avoids the pub after breaking with Gina and she asks Oscar and Rob Walker to have a word with him.

PC Bellamy is rushed to hospital after collapsing during an arrest. It is not due to a bad heart as he feared, but anaemia caused by a stomach ulcer, and an operation will take care of that. He has specifically told everybody not to let Gina know, but he gets very happy when she visits him at the hospital. Bernie's sister Georgina has been killed in an accident in Southern France, and since she was very wealthy Aunt Peggy has an eye on his inheritance. But her pleasure is spoiled by Vernon Scripps who returns from the dead - or sunny Spain rather - to claim his share. 16-year old Sally Jepson gives birth to a baby and her religious father takes it out on Tom Pickles whom he believes is the father.

Major Beecham gets arrested for disturbing the peace. During the night he complains about back pains and PC Younger gives him some of Alf's painkillers. But Younger may have given him the wrong pills because the next morning PC Bellamy finds him dead in his cell. Tristram Johnston is researching for the BBC programme "Down Your Way" and he has lots of likely prospects because everybody in Aidensfield wants to get on the radio. Aunt Peggy even gives him a tour of some of the sights of the area. Nurse Cassidy discovers that some of her patients have seen the herbalist Stephen Lansbury and decides to have a talk with him. Gina is busy organizing her wedding to Phil and persuades Oscar to take over the licence for the Aidensfield Arms.

Gina is busy preparing her wedding to Phil. She hires Len Carter as a temporary replacement while she is away on her honeymoon. Phil is sure he has seen him before though. But Gina soon gets worries of another kind, when one of her guests, Emily Forster, gets a necklace stolen from her room. The theft happened after closing hours so the thief can only be another one of the guests or a member of staff. Geoff Younger is on the lookout for a car of his own and it must be something with a lot of oomph because he is tired of being overtaken all the time. Aunt Peggy knows somebody in the business and promises to help him.

Jim Brady has returned from Africa to become the new estate manager at Ashfordly Hall, and he gets tough with his lordships tenants. It seems he wants to get rid of all of them. They will not put up with that and decides to teach him a lesson. But will they go as far as to shoot at him? David has started to collect trading stamps in order to redeem them for something nice. So much in fact that he has become quite addicted to it.

The day of Gina's and Phil's wedding is growing near. Everybody in Aidensfield are on their toes because of the big day. And Lord Ashfordly has most kindly made Ashfordly Hall available for the party. Gina and Phil have even bought a small cottage outside the village, but lose it again when the seller Albert Fogarty changes his mind. That makes Gina feel so sorry that Phil gets worried that the wedding will fail this time also. And his mood does not get any better when Jack Hollins turns up the evening before the wedding. To top it all Albert Fogarty has disappeared and nobody has seen him since he showed his cottage to Gina and Phil.

Rosie is picking up a broken down car when she finds its owner Peter Barton knocked down in the forest and she quickly shares his fate. But unlike Barton Rosie is found in time to save her life. The deceased was a former police officer turned private investigator, and his murder may be connected to one of the cases he was working on. PC Walker has asked nurse Cassidy out, but has to cancel when he is assigned to help DS Dawson on the Barton case. Aunt Peggy promises her friend Hilda Skinner to take a flock of turkeys off her hands, but that is easier said than done.

When rev. Jacob Thwaite returns to his vicarage he finds that the place has been broken into and his wife Louise stabbed to death. The organist Terry Thorne remembers seeing a tramp watching the vicarage, but DC Dawson suspects the vicar himself. He has an alibi though. Ivy Green and her psychic driver Rosa take lodgings at the Aidensfield Arms. They have come to assist the police catching the murderer. Furthermore they have a message for the vicar from Louise. PC Bellamy nearly runs down a drunk and decides the man would better spend the night in the cells, but Sergeant Miller will rather have the drunk taken into the interview room because he is PC Younger's father. Aunt Peggy needs to catch 200 trout and has a very explosive way to do so.

One of the greatest events in modern history - the lunar landing - makes its mark on Aidensfield and most of the villagers are gathered at the Aidensfield Arms to watch it on TV. But Peggy Armstrong claims that it is a con and that she can prove it. And if there is somebody who knows everything about cons it must be her. Brenda Garnett has been left stranded in Aidensfield when her car broke down and she is afraid somebody may find out where she is. Sergeant Miller and PC Bellamy arrest two tough guys who promise the police officers that they will be dead before dawn, because their boss will free them. Miller does not scare that easily, but suddenly the police station gets under attack.

Maggie Hutchinson gives birth to a little girl who dies because nurse Cassidy could not get hold of a doctor when she needed one. It goes hard with her husband Ken and he gets into a regular fight with PC Walker when Oscar Blaketon refuses to serve him any more drinks. He gets off with a warning, but continues to act like a complete idiot. Emily Merryweather has just been widowed for the second time. The first time she remarried within three months and it seems she intends to become Mrs. Bernie Scripps before long. Aunt Peggy makes at bet with Oscar Blaketon that she will not succeed. A bet she does not fancy losing at any cost.

The police suspects Ken Dekin of illegal gambling. But somebody else is after Dekin as well. It may be his wife because he is about to leave her for a younger woman, but former employees may also have a grudge against him. Cupid is busy shooting arrows at PC Walker and nurse Cassidy. This does not suit DS Dawson who was his sweetheart at the police academy and still cherishes the handsome constable. David reads an article about Hugh Hefner in a magazine left by one of his passengers in the taxi and decides to get a den like Hefner's, especially where he can be left alone by Aunt Peggy. Needless to say, she does not like that at all!

Frances Elliott has just moved to Aidensfield, but is not very popular with her neighbours because she very much keeps herself to herself. When Joyce Jowett wants to talk to her about a sale she is organizing in aid of the Aidensfield toddler group she suspects that Miss Elliott is hiding a baby. Jowett also puts Aunt Peggy on the jumble stall of the sale without asking her first. Peggy rather wants so sell pictures of local sights - with a "small" share for herself of course to cover the costs. PC Walker has passed his sergeant's exam and has been accepted at a special training course with an automatic promotion. But he still has his doubts because it means that he will have to leave his colleagues and friends and especially a certain pretty district nurse with blonde hair and blue eyes.

With no village bobby in Aidensfield Tommy Unsworth and his motor biking friends seizes the opportunity to make a lot of trouble in the village. Even Aunt Peggy is upset that the bikers are trespassing on Lord Ashfordly's land upsetting the natural order of things by frightening the game away and leaving her traps empty. But when it will take a while to get at permanent replacement Miller organizes a stop gap. Thus PC Joe Mason moves to Aidensfield on a temporary basis while he awaits his transfer to the Met. Mason is very resourceful and a bit of a maverick, and his senior officers were more than happy to get rid of him. The villagers are not too crazy about him either. But Unsworth is not the only source of trouble around. A professional gang from Manchester is targeting country houses in the area stealing paintings, antiques and jewelery.

PC Mason discovers that being a village bobby does not always have something to do with police work when he gives Nurse Cassidy a ride to a farm and the farmer asks him to help getting a cow out of the mud. But he also gets some real cases when somebody nicks 12 shillings from the collection in the village church and a photograph goes missing from Ashfordly Hall. Young Charlie Prentice asks for directions to Ashfordly Estate telling Oscar Blaketon that she is looking for her father and she is convinced he is Lord Ashfordly. David Stockwell decides to make a will because he is afraid to leave a mess when he dies. Maybe that was not such a good idea after all.

Masked robbers stop a train just outside Aidensfield and get away with several mail bags containing cash and securities. The train driver Brown tries to stop them, but is gunned down and killed. The case is assigned to DI Ludlow, who is none too pleased to see PC Mason again. Especially since Mason has a lot of suggestions on how to catch the robbers and Ludlow has already formed his opinion on who is behind it. Mason on the other hand only wants the robbers to be caught because Brown leaves a wife and two small children, and wins DS Dawson over on his side. Aunt Peggy gets a letter from a solicitor telling her she is the heir of a distant relative and she is convinced there is a fortune in it for her. Even when she learns that her inheritance is a race horse in stead of money, because she reckons she will earn a fortune in prize money - that is at least until she sees the animal.

Sergeant Miller has a clash with three Australians when they graze his patrol car on their way to Grimedale Farm to do some sheep shearing for George Grigson. And Miller is not the only one having trouble with them. They are eating Gina out of house and home - or at least Aidensfield Arms - and Grigson's golden watch is missing when they have left the farm. Others also find their way to Aidensfield. Reverend Jamie Finn returns to collect his motor bike - and not the least to see Rosie again. Furthermore he has a suggestion that completely knocks her off her feet. Aunt Peggy is short of money and buys a brand new washing machine open up a laundry. But modern contraptions like that are complicated machines - especially for David. Miller has a word with PC Mason about his replacement, but Mason is not sure he wants to leave anymore. Rosie Cartright decides to go to Australia with the visitors when they return.

Billy Hudson falls off the Scarsdale Bridge and PC Bellamy is very unsympathetic towards his girlfriend Nancy because some years previously Billy and Nancy may have been involved in the disappearance of baby Julie Summers. Others seem to share his feelings because it turns out that Hudson was murdered, and soon Nancy's son Peter is kidnapped as well. Ossie Floyd leaves his old Rolls Royce to Bernie Scripps. The car is in a bad shape, but it will not be repaired for quite some time since Rosie has to help the Australian sheep shearers. But there may be more to the old car than meets the eye, because somebody is willing to pay a lot of money for it. Aunt Peggy comes under fire for distributing leaflets with pictures of naked people. But Lord Ashfordly's game keeper is sure he saw her at the estate at the exact same time.

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.

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.

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.

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.