When D.S. Roach's case against Mickey Owen, a protection racketeer, is thrown out of court, Roach comes under pressure from the Flying Squad to convince Roxanne, a transvestite informant, to give evidence against Owen. Roach is reluctant, as Roxanne was badly beaten when he failed to protect her the last time she gave evidence. In spite of this, Roxanne finally agrees to testify, considering she has nothing left to lose.

CID investigate a burglary of an O.A.P. who has an asthma attack. Stamp talks to a lady who turned away a man supposedly from the Gas Board. Stringer and Loxton finish dealing with a van and go to a domestic. The man later threatens his ex-wife's boyfriend with a cleaver.

Probationary PCs Ben Hayward and Roz Clarke arrive for their first day at Sun Hill, and are subjected to a series of wind-ups by the relief. Boyden tricks Clarke into thinking that he has hit a pensioner in the surveillance van, while Stamp and Quinnan subject Hayward to the ride of his life in the area car. Hayward manages to stop a curb-crawler who evades capture, but his arrest is thwarted by Hollis. Meanwhile, Hagen and Rickman spin Clarke a story about 'nipper' Cryer, the famous bum-pinching sergeant, and Klein gets Worrell to be pretend to a dead body in order to wind up Hayward. However, the joke backfires when an angry and upset Hayward is punched in the face by Stamp.

Hayward and Clarke try to redeem themselves after a disastrous first day, and decide to exact revenge on the wind-up merchants on the relief. Ackland is furious to learn that half of the relief are involved in the wind-ups, but is even more upset to discover Boyden played the worst trick of all. Meanwhile, after a curb-crawling class at the station, Hayward, Clarke and Page investigate when a tom is burgled and the ashes of her best friend are stolen. Hayward and Clarke believe not only have they discovered who is responsible, but they may have cracked the identity of her best friend's murderer as well, however they are brought back to earth by a tragic twist. Clarke exacts the ultimate revenge on Klein after she discovers he fancies her.

DC Danny Glaze returns to Sun Hill, and as he is still assigned to CSU, assists DC Ramani De Costa and PC Cathy Bradford in investigating the student rape case. CSU's prime suspect is union bar manager Keiran Thompson, but they have no firm evidence or testimony as the victim Izzy Scott was drugged before she was attacked. When Thompson is assaulted, De Costa realises this might not be the rapist's first offence, and their discovery of a previous victim reveals videotapes of the rapes - filmed by Izzy's so-called best friend Emma. With Acting DI Samantha Nixon distracted by Dougie Pritchard's threats to reveal Abi's parentage, DS Phil Hunter relentlessly pursues his theory that the armed robbery was an inside job, but he may have pushed too hard when the bank security guard kills himself. Nixon is forced to reveal to Abigail that her father is convicted child murderer Glenn Weston, but when Weston turns up at the station, she is unable to avoid father and daughter meeting face to face.

DC Ken Drummond's attempts to gain the confidence of Sid Wright are getting nowhere, but Drummond literally plays his last hand when he follows Wright and gatecrashes a private poker game between Wright and the Fosters. A drunken brawl outisde a pub turns nasty when Sgt Sheelagh Murphy finds a boy beaten badly on the street. Feeling guilty at having let the suspects off with a warning earlier, Murphy tackles the case on her own rather than handing it over to CID. After their night of passion, a smitten PC Des Taviner will do anything for her - but Murphy's doubts and guilt over their affair could put a crimp in Taviner's ardour. Acting DI Samantha Nixon reluctantly organises a meeting between her daughter Abigail and Abi's father, Glenn Weston, but it all goes horribly wrong when the father of the child Weston murdered arrives and attacks him in front of waiting press cameras. Supt. Adam Okaro and DCI Jack Meadows are furious when the story hits the papers. DC Ken Drummond is abducted

DC Ken Drummond's cover as a security guard has been blown, and he's been taken hostage by the Foster family. Archie Foster wants Drummond to help them raid the Metropolitan Police warehouse to steal millions of pounds worth of luxury sports cars - and as an incentive, he threatens Ken's family - both of Ken's families. Drummond's absence at the station goes unnoticed at first: Acting DI Samantha Nixon's family troubles come to a head, and after a confrontation with her daughter, Nixon decides to resign from the police to prove her love for her daughter, and uniform are kept busy by a series of bomb hoaxes organised by Foster. With the raid underway, Foster's plans begin to unravel - Drummond has to knock a fellow security guard unconscious, as well as put off a curious DS Debbie McAllister and DC Juliet Becker who turn up looking for him. As Foster and his gang make their escape, internal rivalries and a counter-raid by a rival gang see the body count rise ever higher, and DC Drummond