Seasons & episodes

Nick and Kate fall out when an old boyfriend of hers turns up. Soon after his arrival he becomes the prime suspect in a hit-and-run incident and Nick is forced to tell him not to leave the area while it's investigated. Meanwhile a local bank informs the police of a woman acting suspiciously around the bank. Nick and Phil go to investigate, only to discover the woman is in fact the famous crime writer, Amanda Young doing research for her next novel. Meanwhile Phil, on behalf of his football team organizes a talent contest where Greengrass is running a book on who will win. The hit-and-run incident is then revealed to be down to one of Phil's rivals on the football field. And Claude sells some moor land to the MoD and treats himself to a big and flashy pink Chrysler Imperial car!

Kate is treating a woman who is driven to despair by her inability to conceive. The woman later has a row with her husband and storms off. A young couple called The Doubleday's baby then goes missing and the mother suspects her mother-in-law of the kidnapping and a manhunt is launched for the snatched baby. However Kate realises that her patient is probably responsible for taking the baby. The baby is eventually returned by some hippies who have moved into the area. Meanwhile Greengrass buys a racehorse and starts training it up and down Aidensfield's main street to the annoyance of Blaketon who tries to think of an offence to be able stop him, but can't!

Lord Ashfordly's winter pheasant shoot is seriously disrupted when the entire contents of his game larder are stolen. There is an out break of petty thefts on Nick's patch and when he investigates, his enquiries make him believe that an incestuous relationship is the reason behind the thefts. Susan Rawlings, a teenage daughter of Lord Ashfordly's game keeper, is pregnant and steals money from Greengrass to pay for an illegal abortion. Unaware of this, her brother Chris stole the pheasants in order to raise cash for the same purpose. Susan has the abortion, but ends up in hospital. When Kate and Ferrenby find out, they go to see the woman responsible for doing it and warn her of the dangers involved. Chris it turns out is the father of his sister's unborn child.

The fair arrives in Aidensfield to the annoyance of local caravan site owner, Edna Plummer. It turns out that her caravan site is used as a convenient meeting place by her criminal brother. He is about to receive some stolen works of art from amateur smuggler, Norman Currie, who is on his way back home from a trip to Holland with his family. Currie's son takes one of the paintings and swaps it for free rides at the fair. Workers at the fair sell the painting to Greengrass who tries to sell it to Ferrenby who realises its true value and tells Nick. Meanwhile two 5 year olds go missing but return unharmed. Kate discovers the children had a mysterious friend, who turns out to be a local man whose wife and child were recently killed in an accident.

The surgery in Aidensfield is broken into one night and Ferrenby gets assaulted and is taken to hospital. Pills that were stolen in the raid are being passed off as other drugs and sold around the area. Gina goes out with an old friend called Debbie and they end up meeting a couple of teddy boys. Later Debbie collapses after taking some drugs and goes to hospital. Nick then questions Gina as to where her friend got the drugs, but she has no idea. Nick and Phil suspect the two teddy boys and question them. They tell them who the supplier is and go and make the arrest. Meanwhile Kate discovers a patients miscarriages have been caused by foreign drugs she took for morning sickness. And Greengrass is angered when his pink Chrysler Imperial gets stolen.

Convict Stevie Walsh is released from prison and is on a train back to Aidensfield to see his wife and to finish some unfinished business. In the night Aidensfield gets cut off as a severe snow storm and the whole are is unreachable. The train heading for Aidensfield then crashes when the signals fail. Nick is alone and can't get police assistance, so its up to him alone to organise a rescue mission with the villagers including Claude and George to help the passengers and see to the injured which include Gina's brother, Barry and Alex, who has suffered a head injury. The injured are taken to the village hall by the villagers until outside help can reach them. Meanwhile Kate is called out by a man, whose partner - Ellen and Walsh's ex-wife is in labour and about to give birth. To Ellen's distress, Stevie helps her and Kate when they get trapped in the snow on the way to hospital, and they end up with the train passengers in the village hall where the Kate delivers the baby. Blaketon eve

Phil goes to meet a girl while he should be on his beat, at the same time a pawn brokers in Ashfordly is broken into. Following a tip-off, Nick learns that the stolen goods are hidden in a lock up rented in Phil's name. Nick realises that someone is trying to frame Phil, but Blaketon suspends him pending further inquiries. Meanwhile Greengrass gets involved in a betting scam, which involves substituting one greyhound with another. A local man called Scarman is the instigator of this plan, and Nick discovers that Scarman's girlfriend is in fact the girl that Phil is seeing. Nick cannot prove that Scarman set Phil up, but there is enough evidence to let Phil off the hook and arrest Scarman. The woman confirms that Phil was with her on the night of the burglary.

A German American called Victor Kellerman arrives in the village with the intention of killing a local landowner, a Mr Lessor. He attacks Lessor but he cannot go through with it and leaves the area. Kellerman is later arrested and Nick is assigned to escort him back into the area. It is revealed that Lessor was a SS traitor and responsible for sending Kellerman and his family to Nazi concentration camps during WW2. Meanwhile Kate is treating Lessor for diabetes, and when he realises he will have to go to court he takes an over dose of insulin. Without him the evidence is incomplete and the charges are dropped. Tragedy strikes when Dr Alex Ferrenby drowns whilst fishing, he died of a brain hemorrhage. And Greengrass helps some gypsies organise some bare-fist fighting.

A local woman is getting prepared for her wedding, but someone it seems is trying to sabotage the event. An old boyfriend of the woman's then turns up still expressing feelings for her. The church is then sabotaged and Nick and Kate find that the culprit for the recent acts of sabotage is the bride to be's old boyfriend. A old friend of Greengrass' turns up and passes on to him a load of stolen sea food, which Claude then sells to the bride's family for the reception, which gives the her father food poisoning. Meanwhile, Kate's aunt Eileen pays her a visit telling her that she has some money that her Uncle Henry had left to her in his will. Kate initially refuses it, which puzzles Nick. Kate later explains that when she was young she found her uncle in bed with another woman, and he then tried to bribe Kate into not telling her auntie. However Eileen tells Kate that she was aware of her husbands affairs and lived to accept it. Kate then accepts the money and donates it to charity in me

An elderly woman, Jane Thompson who lives in a cottage is receiving threatening phone calls and hears noises in the middle of the night. A landowner, a Mr Walker is keen to get his hands on the her cottage. Nick at first suspects Walker of being behind the threatening behaviour, but Blaketon warns him off. The ladies son-in-law sells the cottage and she eventually is forced to move into a home, but she's not happy and goes back to her cottage. She then refuses to vacate it. Nick arrives and discovers the cottage was not her son-in-law's to sell, making her the rightful owner. It turns out that her son-in-law was responsible for all the threats. Meanwhile Alf finds a kitten and takes it to the station as Mrs. Ventress doesn't like cats. Blaketon orders someone to go and get it put down, but everyone refuses. Blaketon ends up not being so hard and keeps the Kitten as a pet.

Nick arrests Blaketon's son Graham for mugging a suspected drug dealer. Graham tells the police he did it to stop him pushing drugs to the youngsters. Blaketon is horrified but insists that there's nothing he can do and that the law must take its course, to the annoyance of his ex-wife. Meanwhile, Greengrass delivers a letter to Betty Such from her late husband. It tells her that a key to his safety deposit box is in the pocket of his best suit, but he was buried in that. So Betty and her son go and rob his grave to retrieve the Key. Once they have the key they open the box which is full of money. They celebrate their good fortune and start spending the money in the pub, but Gina realises its forged and tells Nick. Betty realises the notes are all forged and she realises that her husband has set her up from beyond the grave.

Mentally handicapped man - David Stockwell who lives with his elderly mother hears dogs barking in the woods at night and goes to investigate, but his mother follows him and gets injured in a hit and run when a Land Rover cuts her down in the woods. David runs to the pub for help and Nick and Kate get David's mother to the hospital. Nick asks David what happened and he tells Nick about the dogs and the Land Rover, however the next morning after David speaks to his mother his story changes and he insists she only fell. Nick suspects his mother is protecting someone and goes to the hospital to talk to her, but she also insists she fell. Nick is still suspicious and continues his investigation into the accident. Meanwhile David finds an injured badger in the wood and takes it home and with Kate's help nurses it back to good health. Nick meanwhile suspects the Land Rover was driven by badger baiter's and Claude shows him a recently dug up badger set near David's home. Nick then goes to see

An American motor cyclist called Charlie, turns up at the police house having just had an accident. Kate, who has been forced to move her surgery to the police house temporarily, is able to fix him up. Nick is in bed with the flu and gets little time to rest. A local, Korean war veteran is angered when he learns that the American is a draft dodger, avoiding fighting for his country in Vietnam. This angers the veteran who then picks a fight with him in the pub. Then Charlie's bike gets damaged. Charlie fixes the bike and the war veteran then tries to force Charlie off the road, but he himself ends up in a ditch. Meanwhile Greengrass acquires a couple of classic English motor bikes, claiming he wants them for a regimental museum, but in fact sells them to Charlie. Gina who falls for Charlie is tempted when he offers to take her down to London.

Inspector Crossley from Whitby arrives at the police house to see Nick, but is angry to find the police house being used as a doctor's surgery by Kate. Crossley then goes to Ashfordly station where he's been expected expressing his annoyance about the situation. Blaketon and Nick both assure him however it's just a temporarily situation until Kate can find a new surgery. Crossley also informs Blaketon of some major changes in the Ashfordly area, which will include a far bigger beat for Nick. Kate in the meantime goes out with her old friend Sally, who's also a GP for a drink and a general chat. Sally tells Kate of a job that's going in Whitby, but Kate isn't interested. Sally then puts Kate's name forward to a Dr. James Radcliffe who owns his own practice in Whitby. Radcliffe writes to Kate offering her a job with his practice and Kate is then tempted to take him up on his offer, but Nick however is reluctant to leave Aidensfield. A coach trip meanwhile is organised to hear Gina sing a

Insp. Crossley has an interesting idea as to what has been responsible for a series of attacks on sheep - he thinks a puma did it - much to the Ashfordly Police's amusement!!!!!!!! He keeps to his theory until Alfred is put in the frame for the crime. Claude is ordered to have Alfred destroyed, Claude violently objects and even steels Alfred back. But Nick doesn't believe Alfred is to blame and catches the real culprits in time. They were sheep rustlers, and Blaketon has great fun in informing Insp. Crossley of this fact!

Insp. Crossley suspects an old woman of being responsible for an attack of food poisoning, but Kate soon discovers it was due to something entirely different - arsenic poisoning from old wall paper. Nick points out to Blaketon that the Insp. hasn't been keeping CID fully informed which soon puts an end to his presence in Ashfordly. The police are also surprised to discover that their new Inspector is a woman - Insp. Merchison!

There is an outbreak of rabies which results in the garage owner's death. Blaketon is outraged at the owners if the dog which brought the disease into the country from abroad. However later they discover their own son has been bitten by the dog. Nick asks Claude to help the gamekeepers to look for the dog and the matter is resolved. Ashfordly Police have a new vehicle, which unfortunately Alf damages on its first time out!

Nick and Alf go on a fishing trip to Whitby. Alf is looking forward to a weeks holiday but Nick is there undercover to investigate smuggling. Nick finds out that a container dumped at sea contains counterfeit money. Alf teaches Nick about fishing and they organise a game of poker with some of the suspected smugglers. Nick takes this opportunity to force his opponent to hand over some of the counterfeit money. They are lodging with the Stirling's who own a sailing shop. Jake Stirling helps Nick and Alf set a trap for the smugglers and they are caught. Jake's girlfriend finds out she's pregnant and he wants her to have an abortion. Kate tells her its illegal. Blaketon is taking over Nick's patch while he's away which gives him a great opportunity to keep an eye on Greengrass. However he fails to find out that he's doing a very good trade in venison!

A break in occurs at the Children's Department of Ashfordly Council Offices, Nick disturbs the intruder but the burglar escapes with a file detailing an abortion. Kate helps a girl named Sandie when she cuts her hand and a toddler goes missing in Whitby. It turns out Sandie did the robbery and abducted the child believing it to be the baby she gave up for adoption. Greengrass is into pigeon racing and is horrified when peregrine falcons kill one of his pigeons. He tells Nick who, tells Claude its not a police matter. Two bird watchers then have their falcon eggs smashed for which Blaketon naturally suspects Greengrass, it turns out Lord Ashfordly's game keeper is responsible and Greengrass demands an apology from Blaketon - but doesn't get it!

There is a rugby match between the harbour men and the North Riding Police. At the pub afterwards Gina has fun flirting with one of the harbour men and with Phil. As she is driving home she notices that she is being followed. She panics, stalls her car and is chased into the woods. Greengrass notices that a young girl is in trouble and tells Nick unaware that it was Gina. Kate coaxes what happened out of her and Nick reports the crime. Inspector Merchison doesn't believe Gina, which infuriates Kate. Phil's tie is found in Gina's car, but Blaketon assures him that no one suspects him. Phil, Nick and PC Little unofficially question the harbour man from the pub and he is arrested under suspicion. Another girl in Whitby is also being followed, but luckily Nick is around when he makes an attack.Gina comes in for an identity parade and it turns out that it was PC Little who was responsible. Gina threatens to return to Liverpool just as a run away pig comes into the pub! - everyone has fun tr

Mr Parker comes to Aidensfield unable to recall the last 7 years of his life. It is suggested that when he left the village back then, he left his family and disappeared after collecting his employers payroll. Kate contacts his wife Helen who agrees to see him. Complications occur when another woman turns up claiming to be his wife. Claude goes to see 'strangers on a train' at the cinema, he then receives a strange proposal from a man who took the plot of the film a bit too seriously. It involved strangers carrying out each others crimes. Greengrass isn't interested in getting involved in such a scheme but the stranger keeps pestering him. Claude still refuses but soon finds out his barn had been burnt down shortly after he admitted the insurance was worth more than the barn itself. The stranger kidnaps Alfred, Nick and Greengrass go to investigate, and Alfred is found much to Claude's relief.

Susanna Temple Richards (Played by Jenny Agutter) is having an affair with a local man. Her husband is often seen drinking, so Susanna puts sleeping pills in his whisky to prevent him joining her on the hunt the next day. But he turns up anyway and takes a fall whilst riding, hits his head and dies. There is an enquiry and high levels of sleeping pills are found in his blood stream. Susanna is arrested. (‘The Laid Plans' in series 6 carries on from this) Archie Cutter has died and Claude asks Nick if he can look after his poultry and he agrees. But later Blaketon tells Nick, Archie was a notorious cock fighter.

A Russian defector is on the run. A Russian ship docks in Whitby and a fight amongst the crew breaks out in a local pub. One sailor thinks he's killed his skipper and asks Nick for Political asylum. When Nick and Alf take him to the immigration office he makes a run for it and they lose him. Blaketon is not impressed but when the sailor finds out that he didn't kill the Skipper he says he needs to get back on the ship. Nick and Claude arrange a plan to sneak the sailor back onto the ship and it works. During all of this Greengrass has been trout poaching with a priest! Dr Radcliff's daughter goes missing on a cliff side and a search is mounted for her - she is found unharmed.

The hours Kate is working in Whitby is putting a strain on her relationship with Nick. At the moment she is rarely at home except for weekends. Ron Cooper ends up in hospital from a breech explosion from his Lee Enfield .303 Army Riffle. Nick investigates as to why he had the gun in the first place and eventually finds hoards of old army ammunition at Cooper's farm. Greengrass has got hold of some grenades which he uses to clear Lord Ashfordly's river of most of his trout. Mrs Swinton thinks she's pregnant and Kate gives her some pills, which will determine whether she's pregnant or not by the next day. We later see Kate taking them, she tells James that she's pregnant, but she's less than pleased with the idea. She attempts to tell Nick but backs down.