DCI Burnside arrives to investigate a murder which looks like part of a series of male rapes gone too far. Andy Wilson, one of the previous victims remembers something about an angel when he was attacked. Following a statement from taxi driver Steve Sanderson, DC Holmes finds a man matching Sanderson's description on CCTV tapes: his name is Mark Angelis and he works for a courier service with an angel logo. Although DS Boulton arrests Angelis in possession of a knife, he insists it is for self defence against the rapist. DS Stanton visits a profiler at Scotland Yard, and later discovers that taxi driver Sanderson has made a similar statement to Stafford Row station. Stanton and Proctor visit Sanderson's wife, and discover evidence that he is the culprit. They call Burnside to tell him, but he's in the back of a cab - Sanderson's cab...

PC Smith is working undercover as a bodyguard for a South African drug importer named Tony Rourke. Rourke offers Smith a contract to kidnap and torture a senior police officer to find the location of a police informer they need kept quiet. Ordered by SO10's DCI Tasker to remain in place and find out more, Smith comes up with a plan to abduct the officer, who turns out to be Sun Hill's own DCI Meadows. Rourke and his right-hand man Jake begin to doubt Smithy's integrity, and end up executing his plan themselves. With DCI Meadows missing, a massive search is underway, until Smithy convinces Ken Stockley, the informant Rourke and his financier are after, to tell him not only Meadows' location but also the identity of Rourke's mysterious ""money man"" - Lucy Haslock, a City lawyer. SO19 raid the warehouse and recover Meadows, in bad shape but alive.

Northumbria Police arrest one 'Frank Bentley' with a boot full of drugs and a handgun, after a high speed car chase through Newcastle. 'Bentley' and his 'lawyer' Liz McAuley are actually DCI Frank Burnside and DS Liz Rawton on an undercover assignment to investigate corrupt CID officers in Newcastle. Their target is DCI Bonnet, who seems to be in collusion with local gangster Saul Anderson. Despite Burnside being threatened by Anderson, and Rawton's cover nearly being blown when she runs into her cousin Cheryl at a bar, Burnside manages to gain Bonnet's trust. When Bonnet and Burnside meet at a private club, they are shocked when the police raid the place, but manage to escape without being spotted or arrested.

Although they are undercover, Burnside agrees to let Liz Rawton visit her mother. Despite a close shave at a family gathering when her cousin's boyfriend turns out to be an associate of Saul Anderson, Rawton and Burnside survive with their cover intact. Burnside even takes part in a little karaoke! Burnside is not pleased when Customs seize a crateful of guns meant for Anderson that he was supposed to see through. Anderson is not pleased either, and takes Burnside for a little drive. Bonnet and Anderson turn against each other, and Anderson is shot. As Bonnet is about to shoot Burnside as well, armed police arrive and he ends up shooting himself.

Ch. Insp. Conway and a team of Sun Hill officers undergo riot simulation training at the Met's training depot in Hounslow. Meanwhile, DC Glaze goes undercover at the Cockroft Estate to gather evidence of dealing in stolen goods, but discovers more than he bargains for when he discovers two rival familes battling for control of the estate, and which may be stockpiling petrol bombs and weapons for a showdown.

Brownlow attends the funeral service of an old colleague that he used to serve with when he was in 182 squad, but soon finds that old wounds are beginning to reopen themselves as old grudges come to light. When Brownlow's arch enemy becomes drunk and assaults two men at the wake, he uses the opportunity to bring his enemy down once and for all. Little does he know that the entire ex-182 squad is being investigated for insurance fraud by an undercover officer from the Fraud Squad – so Brownlow sets out to find out who framed him and why. Meanwhile, Hollis investigates suspicious events at a crematorium after a number of cars are broken into at the funeral service, suspecting that an insider is tipping off a local robber as to the value of the cars at the service.

Insp. Monroe has trouble dealing with a gang of boy-racers who are harassing and intimidating an elderly couple. When the old man dies after an altercation with the gang, Monroe is urged by Brownlow to show 'zero tolerance' to the youths. PC Smith gets close to a nurse at the St Hughs Nurses Home while investigating reports of a stalker in the area.

Ch. Insp. Conway encounters the ""Sun Hill Angels"" at a function, an escort service which DS Boulton believes is also dealing in drugs. Boulton convinces Conway to help him conduct a sting operation against the Angels, which goes terribly wrong when Conway's 'escort' turns out to be an undercover reporter, conducting her own sting on a senior police officer! To keep the story out of the paper, Boulton and Conway offer the newspaper a chance to be involved in the investigation into Chapman, the owner of the Angels. Reporter Geraldine Sands disappears when she goes to Chapman's house to collect the drugs, but when the police find the house, they find she has the situation well in hand.

PC Sam Harker has infiltrated a group of animal rights activists, thanks to Steve Burton, an old school friend from Liverpool. The group's leader, Ged Mellings, is suspected to be planning some terrorist action. While undercover, Harker takes part in some protests and animal liberation actions, and begins to sympathise with the cause. Despite some misgivings, Harker proves himself to Meddings, and discovers his plan to firebomb a local department store. CID lie in wait and catch the gang planting the bombs, and Harker is distraught to have betrayed his friend Steve.

Deakin is furious when a fourth drug dealer is assaulted in a number of days, a case which Beech was supposed to be investigating. Beech enlists Lennox and the pair are soon lead to a couple of possible suspects, the O'Brien brothers. Meanwhile, Rickman is dealing with a domestic involving the O'Brien's sister, Kelly. Daly informs his friend DI Baines of area drugs about the operation, unaware that Baines is the main man and the O'Brien's boss. Beech then tries to pin corruption charges on DI Baines, keen to get one over on his rival.

PC Jim Carver returns to duty after undergoing treatment for his alcoholism. Unfortunately for him, he is paired with PC Dale Smith and their first case involves alcohol! Attending what first appears to be a racial assault at a post office, Carver uncovers a scam to sell thousands of pounds worth of illegally imported alcohol to off-licenses. Smith and much of the relief don't trust him, and after a Customs raid on a off-license which turns out to be an empty building, Carver must go out on his own (and on his own bicycle!) to find the person behind the scam.

DC Danny Glaze sees a man set alight on the Larkmead Estate, and becomes determined to solve the case. They identify a suspect's car from CCTV tapes, and Insp. Monroe discovers a witness to the incident, a girl named Rochelle, who identifies the suspect, Dominic Mileham in a identity parade. When she suddenly retracts her statement and accuses Danny of paying her to identify Mileham, it seems Mileham and his solicitor father will go free. Danny takes a big risk and convinces Rochelle to wear a wire to prove Mileham's involvement.

Investigating a young boy's disappearance, DC Rod Skase takes a career-ending shortcut when he encourages a witness to implicate a man he considers to be the main suspect.

Beech and Deakin infiltrate a bent, high-stakes poker game, where the dealer, Steve Travis, has been offering drugs as a form of payment in cases where he has lost the game. In order to catch Travis in the act, Deakin disguises himself as an Irish businessman and challenges Travis to an all-or-nothing game, while Beech uses a minor player in the league who owes money to Travis as a coy to making Travis come unstuck. Meanwhile, the Drugs Squad's DI Carter is fazed as Meadows watches over the operation.

Boyden and Worrell arrest a man dealing drugs to schoolchildren, but soon discover that he is the son of a key witness to a case which Beech is desperately trying to close. Beech warns Boyden off as he is desperate to nail long-term enemy Jack Masters , but Boyden has other ideas. After managing to get him off a dealing charge, the suspect then assaults one of Masters' informants, and again Beech manages to get him off; little does he know that he is using the case to clear his name completely.

Boyden has a near miss on patrol when a van in front of him collides with a teenage girl. Her friend is identified by a mall security guard as a shoplifter, and after refusing to give her details, Boyden is shocked to discover the girl is Monroe's daughter Jackie. Boyden supports his boss through the ordeal, drawing on his own recent experience with his daughter Amy. As the relief rumour mill goes into overdrive, Monroe demands harsh action for Jackie to silence the officers claiming she will get off lightly. Monroe gets a reality check as he realises how badly fractured the relationship with his daughter is, and is determined to help her when she later goes missing. When Page finds drugs on Jackie's friend, Brownlow intervenes amidst media pressure about the fatal overdose of a teenage girl from Jackie's school, but has further media pressure to deal with when Jackie's arrest becomes public knowledge.

Worell goes undercover as a prostitute on Barrack Lane after a series of punters are assaulted and robbed, the most recent of which resulted in the punter being sliced across the face with a knife. Worrell gets close to Leanne Gibbs, a former tom who is recently back on the game after quitting rehab. Ackland, however, has a troubled past with Leanne, and resents CID using her again for an undercover operation. Ackland finds herself in too deep and nearly blows Worrell's cover, which agonizes Stanton and Meadows.

When Quinnan and Stamp are attacked on the Jasmine Allen Estate trying to get an overdose victim to hospital, Brownlow organizes a community initiative scheme to earn back the trust of the estate's residents. Quinnan decides to face his demons and prove to the relief he can deal with the youth club, but soon finds himself haunted by the memories of his stabbing. Things get worse when a camera donating to the youth club is stolen, and Quinnan is furious when he is confronted by Mick Glover, recently released just a year after his son stabbed Quinnan on his behalf. Estate backlash is rife when the overdosing girl Quinnan and Stamp tried to get to hospital dies, and Boulton discovers local dealers are giving uncut heroin away to school kids. When Worrell, working at a women's drug groups, finds another teenager overdosing, Brownlow demands action. Boulton launches and ill-fated raid on the prime target, causing Brownlow to order the removal of Quinnan and Worrell.

Boulton investigates the shooting of one of the youths from Quinnan's group. Convinced it is linked to the death of Donna Hunter, he searches the shooting victim's house, and Quinnan is disappointed to learn the girl has been dealing drugs. When Robbie Hunter disappears intent on finding his sister's killers, Quinnan conducts a private investigation, but finds himself attacked when he finds a badly beaten Robbie dying in a church crypt. Smith and Harker find Quinnan's car being joyridden but lose it when yobs on the estate interrupt the chase, but Stamp and McCann find it ablaze on wasteground. Jenny fears her husband has been killed, and while Brownlow reassures her and his troops, uniform believe he is deluded. When Boyden and Hagen find a burnt out body in a factory, the team are left fearing the worse.

Quinnan reels following his rescue and the death of Robbie Hunter the day before. When savings of his sister Donna are reported missing the day of her funeral, the mother of the teenagers discovers Robbie gave Donna the uncut heroin that killed her and stole her savings to get a gun for revenge. With AMIP convinced Robbie killed Hall, identified as the burnt out body discovered by Boyden and Hagen the night before, Boulton and Quinnan put their differences aside to prove AMIP wrong. Convinced Mick Glover is responsible for the murders of Hall and Robbie Hunter, they seek the help of the youth club to nail Boulton for a series of burglaries. Quinnan thinks he's found the evidence to nail Glover for murder, until a shocking turn of events robs them of the result.

Santini tries to convince his lover, Jess Orton, to set him up with some drug dealers – he wants out of Sun Hill, and DS Timpney, his friend in Area Drugs, has promised him a place in the squad if Santini can get him evidence on them. However, before he has the chance, the Ortons' club is firebombed, and Santini is shocked when one of the officers assigned by AMIP to investigate the explosion is his old nemesis, DS Rosie Fox. Fox is convinced that Santini is linked to the events in question, but her AMIP DCI, Richard Pallister, believes otherwise. When Santini manages to locate Jess Orton, he persuades her to make a false confession to bombing the club in order to gain the trust of the suspected drug dealers.

Santini is determined to find out if Jess Orton has grassed on him, and when he breaks into her home to challenge her, he causes her to fatally fall down the stairs. Fox is ordered off the case by DCI Pallister and warned that if her actions directly resulted in her death, then she could be facing criminal charges. Vicky plugs DS Timpney for information, suspicious that Santini may not be telling the whole truth. Desperate to conceal his involvement with the Ortons, Santini and Fox find themselves captured by Sherman and Ferguson, and facing possible execution. Fox believes she has a confession for Orton's murder and is attacked by Santini, but after their rescue, it's Santini's girlfriend Hagen who nails him for the murder.

Santini goes on trial at the Old Bailey accused of the murder of Jessica Orton, but tries to talk to CIB and implicate Quinnan and Rawton. A prison guard tells Santini that Sherman's drugs charges are being dropped in favour of conspiracy to murder Santini and Fox, who turns up dead in her hotel room after an apparent suicide. With Ferguson executed and Timpney taken on side by Sherman's heavies, Santini's trial starts falling apart. Hagen is discredited by her Sun Hill colleagues when she lies under oath and breaks down in the witness box after being caught out. With Santini found not guilty, he is warned by his recently released cellmate that he is in grave danger from Sherman's heavies.

Hagen goes undercover as the driver for a manager of a chain of massage parlours, Allison Spencer. Suspected of running a prostitution racket for her uncle and old adversary of Meadows, Charlie Mayne, and the DCI is intent on having Mayne extradited from Portugal. Hagen, subject to gossip from her colleagues over her performance at Santini's trial, struggles to get in with Spencer until Hagen saves her from an ambush. Peter Van Reissen, Spencer's boss and contact for her uncle, asks Spencer and Hagen to rob diamonds from a luxury house. When Van Reissen discovers the man who accompanied Spencer and Hagen to the heist is an undercover cop, Hagen takes drastic action to save his life. When Meadows reveals to Hagen that Van Reissen is going to double cross Mayne, an arrest team is scrambled to arrest all the targets as Mayne flies into the country.

Holmes investigates a suspected money-launderer named Terry Jowit, who is wanted by police in Scotland. Holmes discovers a cheque in Jowit's mail from an antiques dealer, which leads her to suspect that he buys expensive antiques with 'dirty money' as a means of laundering it. What Holmes doesn't count on is antique dealer Judy Ryan having a tape of Beech accepting a bribe from herself and Jowit, and Beech willing to do anything to keep it a secret. However when Holmes confronts Beech, he threatens her with the evidence that she has illegally opened Jowit's mail. When Judy Ryan is later victim in a hit-and-run, Beech uses the opportunity to fit Jowit up – but he finds himself unsuspecting when Jowit tells Holmes' about his dodgy dealings, leaving the corrupt DS scrambling to cover himself.

Brownlow and Mannion attend the panel for a Metropolitan Police hearing against a Sergeant who is charged with disobeying a direct order, which resulted in the career-ending injury of another officer. Mannion is easily convinced of Sergeant Gartland's guilt, but Brownlow isn't so sure. When Ch. Insp. Caine struggles to explain the evidence presented against him, and corroborative evidence from Sergeant Tillman, who is based at another station, soon begins to sway the evidence in Gartland's favour. However, when the injured officer, PC Beckett, takes to the stand, her testimony sounds a little too much like she is trying to cover for Gartland's mistake, but Brownlow remains convinced of Gartland's innocence.

Lennox is tasked with assisting Webb and Holmes on a drugs bust, but after meeting with an old friend, who is a well-known figure in the Scottish parliament, he is more concerned with carrying out an unofficial investigation into a possible blackmail racket. When one of the suspects in the drugs bust manages to get away, Meadows and Webb are left furious. However, when Lennox explains to Meadows that he is acting on behalf of a friend, to the consternation of his colleagues, Meadows offers him support to investigate the detective agency involved in the blackmail scam, much to Webb's dismay. Lennox enlists Hagen to help out on an obbo.

Sun Hill has been given a new "crime car" for quick arrests and Boyden, Hagen and Proctor are chosen to crew it, much to the other officers' annoyance. Proctor is given a list of targets by DI Deakin and has been told to collar at least one to count towards his appraisal. However, Boyden is more concerned about his own collars. TSG have been assigned as cover as the relief are very low on manpower, but seem more determined to ruin the collars of the crime car than actually do any work themselves. When they dangerously vy for an arrest, disaster strikes. Meanwhile, Mannion arrives for a tour of the station just as the CAD room goes down due to an electrical fault, a fault caused by someone whom Ackland later discovers to be a regular in the cells.

Stanton and Lennox are tasked with investigating a brutal assault outside a nightclub where the victim had pouches of what appear to be drugs stuffed into his mouth. The owner, Vince Carter, is a well-known figure on the plot, being the son of an old school villain, Frank Carter. Meanwhile, Boulton, bored of having to transcribe the tape of a murder confessions, assists when a young girl is run down by a car, and a witness claims that it was no accident. Boulton vigorously questions the witness when he discovers the man is blind, but soon finds himself believing that the incident was no accident. As his and Stanton's cases soon reveal a close link in Vince Carter, Stanton is tailed by an unknown assailant and run-off the road.

Boulton and Stanton's personal affairs threaten to get in the way of their investigation, as Stanton attempts to block out the events of the night before. Persuading Meadows to separate the two investigations, Holmes discovers another link in the cases in a second witness who is involved with both victims. However, refusing to have her statement recorded on tape, Boulton is forced to use the information to place a 'bomb' underneath the Carter family, hoping it will go off and that they will all implicate themselves in the separate crimes they have committed. Stanton tries to distance herself from a smitten Boulton, who is unaware that the "sick mother" she keeps visiting is actually CIB's Detective Superintendent Steve Hodges.

Cryer, Smithy and McCann attend the scene of an RTA, where they find a supply of cocaine as well as two firearms in the boot of one of the cars involved. Smithy accompanies one of the victims involved to hospital, where he discovers him to be a member of the regiment in which Smithy served during his time in the army. Smithy enlists one of his old army buddies, Tony Mitchell, to do a little digging on his behalf on the quiet. However, when a CID operation is blown out of the water, McCann reveals Smithy's intentions to Meadows. Realising that his old friend is heavily involved with the operation himself, Smithy is torn between his loyalties to an old friend and his loyalty to the job.

Conway jumps at the chance of helping Sixties pop idol Sadie Tyler after the draft of her autobiography is alleged to have been stolen by an obsessive fan. When the compere for a charity event Conway is organizing drops out at the last minute, he asks Sadie to step in and perform instead. As Klein and Worrell continue to investigate obsessive super-fan Pete, a conversation between Conway and Sadie's manager Bob Warner reveals a shocking revelation – Pete believes he is the father of Sadie's daughter. As Conway's personal feelings get in the way of his professional judgement, Warner uses Conway's information to exact revenge on Pete.

With the Flying Squad suffering from a staff shortage, Stamp is seconded away as a temporary driver. He struggles to impress senior officer, DS Harrap, but DI Lomax continues to encourage him. Lomax is left furious however, when a bank robbery they are trying to discretely bust is ruined by a silent alarm and appearance by Klein and Hagen in the Area Car. Stamp's standing with Harrap declines when he loses a car that kidnaps the bank manager's family. Lomax works with Monroe to negotiate with the robbers, but when he is arrested, he refuses to reveal the location of the missing family. Stamp gets a chance at redemption when the family are tracked down at a remote country house, taking a major risk to draw out the kidnappers.

A Barton Street PC is stabbed when he pursues two robbery suspects into Sun Hill. A black youth, identified as Mark Okin, is found beaten unconscious at about the same time. Carver is assigned to the Okin family in his first role as Family Liaison Officer, but further investigation by CID discovers Mark to be a suspect in PC Brennan's stabbing. Carver is horrified when Daly asks him to use his position of trust with the Okin family to collect evidence against Mark. Evidence soon mounts against John Wilson, the boyfriend of Mark's sister Amy, as Daly suspects that he is responsible for the robbery, stabbing PC Brennan, and assaulting Mark when he refused to take the rap for Brennan's stabbing.

Stop and search is resumed when there is an outbreak of street robberies. Mannion asks Brownlow to stand in for him for a TV interview, but he ends up shifting blame after two undercover journalists are subject two stop and searches. With the relief furious at their chief, Brownlow joins Conway on the beat in the C.I.D. car. They respond to a call and collar one of the street robbers, but when the other robber hops onto a bus and Brownlow gets uniform to stop the bus, he comes under public criticism, although uniform can only see the funny side.

Boulton and Holmes are left to pick up the pieces when the key witnesses in a robbery case refuse to give evidence. Holmes notices Boulton's change of attitude and suspects he may have found himself a woman. As word gets around the relief, Stanton attempts to cool things off with Boulton, which leaves him devastated. Meanwhile, Stanton's suspicions about Beech increase after she discovers his involvement with a credit card thief, Billy Bullock. Bullock pays Beech £1000 to destroy a CCTV tape of him stealing credit cards from a hotel conference. When Smithy and Hagen pursue Bullock, Beech's cover is nearly blown. When Bullock goes to make the drop, Stanton follows with the hope of catching Beech.

Webb investigates the brutal beating of businessman Kevin Hewlitt, who is found unconscious in his kitchen by his wife, Sandra. The investigation provides little information as to the motive for the attack, and very little description of the assailant is given by those who saw him. CCTV footage shows Sandra having intercourse with another man in her car a week before Kevin's attack, and she later admits to Webb that she and her husband were no longer in love. Lennox tries to break the alibi of Hewlitt's business partner Paul Wilcox, convinced that he is somehow involved in the attack. Webb makes the decision to mix business with pleasure as he begins to fall for Sandra.

When an apparent drug-related murder leads Operation Trident onto Sun Hill's patch, they suspect Yardie street gangs could be active in the area. A new scheme by Conway to encourage taxi drivers to help the police bears fruit when an overzealous cabbie brings a 'prisoner', Wesley Carter, to the station, saying he heard him making a drug deal. When Carter is linked to gangster Leroy Jones, Trident get Rickman to go undercover. As they reunite, Jones admits there are Yardies operating on the patch and he is trying to take on their drug running operation - but that a rival firm is trying to stop him - leaving Rickman caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting.

To finance his buy-in to the Yardie drug dealing operation, Jones and his gang rob a building society, with Rickman forced to be getaway driver. Despite Trident being tipped off, the relief are left lying in wait for them at the wrong bank when Jones spots a cash in-transit van, with a special constable who tries to disarm Rickman being seriously injured. The relief buzzes with rumours that Rickman has "gone native", and she finds loyalties torn as she gets close to her target. However, she is given a harsh reality check when Jones is kidnapped by rival gang leader Touissant - who gives her an ultimatum.

With Leroy Jones being held captive by rival dealer Touissant, Rickman is sent to make a second purchase from the syndicate. Rickman tails her contact to a tower block in the city, where Touissant's crew burst in and shoot the ringleader of "The Syndicate" and Rickman's contact. When Jones is ordered to kill Toussaint's main rival, Nathan Clarke, Rickman finds she has fallen for Jones and confesses her love and status as a police officer. When he abandons her, she goes back to Sun Hill before getting into Touissant's so SO19 can conduct a raid. With Jones a surprise member of the group, Rickman warns him to leave, but she finds herself as a hostage for a vengeful Touissant when SO19 storm in.

Stanton is desperate to be discharged from the Beech case due to her love for Boulton, but Hodges assures her she is doing well. Boulton accepts a free night at a plush Docklands hotel, and invites Stanton to join him. Sure enough, as the pair settle down for their evening of luxury, an assault and robbery at the hotel sees Sun Hill officers arrive to investigate, and their night is ruined. The next day, CID investigates the theft of a laptop computer, and Beech is intrigued by reports of a "mystery blonde" sighted fleeing from the hotel. Horrified that Beech could have discovered their affair, Boulton and Stanton send Beech to the other side of London on a wild goose chase while they solve the case themselves.

Responding to an urgent call for assistance, Smithy arrives and has to deliver a baby in the street. Worried about the mother's condition, he investigates her background, and discovers a history of prostitution and drug abuse. When she vanishes from the hospital and abandons her newborn baby, Smithy has no choice but to inform her father, who subsequently reveals that he and his wife will be adopting the baby and bringing it up as their own. Smithy enlists the mother's help to catch her pimp, who is also dealing drugs in the process, by setting up an obbo to catch him in the act. However, the obbo goes badly wrong when the girl makes off with the drugs and tries selling them herself to local users.

Klein and Hagen are called to a stabbing at a shopping centre, where a foreign aid worker has been attacked and left for dead. Initially, suspicion falls on a local youth, Wayne Stevens, who has previous for similar offences and was seen running away from the scene. However, when another witness claims she heard the victim shouting something before she was attacked, the pair find themselves on the trail of a Rwandan war criminal, Colonel Augustus Ngeze, who is wanted for mass genocide and rape by the UN. Klein's personal views begin to cloud his judgement when they fail to obtain any evidence to prove Ngeze's identity, so he sets up a chance meeting with a Rwandan national in an attempt to identify him.

Proctor, under pressure over his poor performance, decides to trap a burglar to avoid being transferred from Sun Hill after being told by Deakin that he has a new job lined up for him at the Isleworth CSU, who are looking for a DC to investigate domestic violence. Proctor's hospital interrogation of the victim nearly results in the man's death and a bust up between his wife and his secret girlfriend. Proctor goes undercover with Page in an attempt to catch the culprit, but a jealous Quinnan, leaves the obbo, and Proctor's Sun Hill career in tatters. Meanwhile, when Hagen hears an Area Car crash on the main set, her investigation uncovers the car being chased by the officers wasn't the only vehicle involved in the crash. Things escalate when one of the officers involved in the crash dies.

Boulton is determined to bring down a known drug dealer by using his wife as an informant to gather information. However, when a raid on his property goes pear shaped, Boulton is less than pleased. When broker Neil Ramsey is discovered to be part of the scam, Lennox's loyalties are tested when he discovers that Ramsey is one of his wife's business associates. Lennox attempts to gain Webb's silence in order to protect his wife, but Boulton soon gets wind of what is going on and threatens that Lennox could lose his job if he tries to intervene. Lennox is forced to make a tough decision when he has Ramsey in his clutches – let him go and his wife is off the hook, or arrest him, and she is in deep trouble.

Ch. Insp. Conway is astounded when an elderly man (and former police officer) turns up at the station with a suitcase containing half a million pounds, which he claims he found on the street. As PC Rickman counts the money, Conway decides to do some digging, as surely no-one could be that honest.

Glaze and Holmes investigate the apparent suicide of local councillor Anthony Snape, and uncover a plot involving two other councillors, Colin Cooper and Steven Trent, to pervert the course of justice by ensuring that massage parlours with links to the local freemasons' lodge are not raided. Glaze treads very close to the edge as he becomes determined to prove Brownlow is bent, as he is a member of the same lodge; even leaking information to a journalist who prints the story on his front page. When Glaze enlists Cooper's daughter as his star witness, it is soon discovered that Snape may not have committed suicide after all, and may be the victim of a very carefully planned and executed murder.

Conway is astounded when an elderly man, Charles Arthur Cullen, a former police officer, turns up at the station with a suitcase containing half a million pounds, which he claims to have found on the street. Conway asks Hollis to count the money independently but he only manages to count £499,920. As Rickman counts the money again, Conway decides to do some digging, as surely no-one could be that honest. He discovers that the land on which the money was found has recently changed hands, and is now in possession of the Met. As the scam begins to show all of its true colours, Conway attempts to bargain with Cullen in order to get a deal which suits the both of them just perfectly.

Cryer decides to take it upon himself to discover the identity of a body found on a roundabout, after Webb shows a less than caring attitude towards the case. His investigation leads him to believe that the deceased is Graham Dennis Anderson, a man wanted by the fraud squad for falsely selling pensions and other financial services to customers. Cryer is convinced that Anderson's business partner is in fact his alter-ego, who created Anderson as a way of escaping capture. However, his trail soon leads him to uncover one individual with several alter-egos – and as pieces of the what seems impossibly difficult jigsaw begin to piece together, he finds himself with a body it seems nobody can identify.

When a woman is reportedly raped in an alleyway behind the Whitegate shopping centre, Lennox and Webb rake over the CCTV footage, however they fail to find the woman captured on the footage. When it is revealed that she was lying to protect herself from her husband, a sinister cyberstalker who is dating and attacking women is discovered to be operating in Sun Hill. Ackland adopts a new "virtual" identity to trap him, but comes under the radar of a particularly annoying drunk who nearly scares the attacker off the scent. When the first obbo goes pear shaped, Ackland tries to pull together what little evidence the team have left in order to catch the attacker in the act, and organizes a second, more secure operation.

Boyden is shocked to discover that someone has been impersonating him, raiding illegal poker games and pocketing all the cash, and decides to go undercover as a punter to trap him. However, during the operation, the technology provided by the yard goes haywire and all of the suspects manage to escape without capture. Meanwhile, as the phony Boyden attacks and robs a prostitute, the real Boyden finds two Yardies on his case set out for revenge. As a second operation is organised, Boyden asks one of the players from the first game to go undercover and catch the fake police officers in the act. However, having gotten the Yardies on his side, Boyden organises sinister revenge for his fake counterpart.

Smithy and Rickman attend a break in at a primary school and find a seven-year-old boy looking for food. Further investigation reveals that the boy has been living alone for three days and his parents are nowhere to be seen. Interviewing the family's friends and relatives, Deakin discovers that it is very unlike the parents to just disappear without trace, and CCTV footage shows a van watching the family's house on the night of the disappearance. Blood found in the family bedroom indicates the parents may have been harmed, but Deakin is furious when a racial attack on the restaurant where the boy's father works is found to have been investigated by Smithy over a week previously.

Smithy gets closer to Tim Tze as the search for his parents continues. His failure to investigate the attack on the Chinese restaurant correctly continues to hang over him, but when it appears that the man responsible had prior contact with the Tze family, Smithy finds he may well be in the clear. Deakin discovers that the restaurant has been put up for sale, but despite putting pressure on the owner, he refuses to give evidence. When Lenny Tze's car is found, and Tim finally gives up some information, Deakin uncovers details of an extramarital affair. As Jung Tze turns up alive and well, Smithy begins to wonder if the entire kidnapping has all been staged, until he and Tim are kidnapped.

Smithy and Tim Tze are held hostage, while the kidnappers make their demands – they want their money back, and Lenny Tze to deliver it. Trouble is, Lenny is nowhere to be seen, and Deakin suspects that Lenny may well be dead, when Jung Tze's story fails to hold up. Still troubled as to the reason why Lenny was given £500,000 from an unknown source, Deakin digs deeper and discovers that the boy's missing parents were involved in a money laundering operation, but that Lenny had planned to do a bunk with the cash and flee to Hong Kong. During a bungled move, Tim escapes. Deakin realises he must discover the whereabouts of Lenny's body if he is going to save Smithy in time.

A terrified young woman, Emma Roberts, fears that she has become the victim of a stalker when paint is thrown over her car and her cat is killed in mysterious circumstances. After spending a night at her house, Hagen is convinced that she is making the entire story up for attention, and refuses to believe her. When Emma makes a claim of rape against her boss Brian Woods, Page investigates the case, and she finds that she too is being drawn into a nightmare world of unseen terror. After going out to dinner with Dave and Jenny, Emma arrives home to find her house has been broken into. Page grows a little too close for comfort by inviting her to stay the night.

As her friendship with stalker victim Emma Roberts develops, Page is determined to find the stalker and starts to believe that he might be closer than she thought. When a past allegation made against Woods comes to light, Emma decides to press charges. Woods is released on bail, but soon turns up and tries to force his way into her house. He is subsequently arrested again and remanded in custody. Meanwhile, Polly is spooked when she starts receiving nuisance calls and a strange bunch of flowers are delivered to her. Suspecting she may have become the victim of the stalker, she looks to Emma to find comfort, but little does she know that her stalker is much closer to home than she imagined.

Page learns what it is like to be a victim of crime as the crazed stalker targets her further, making more nuisance calls, breaking into her flat and tearing up her clothes. Lennox and Glaze focus their investigation on Brian Woods, and discover he had an intriguing visitor in prison. Lennox is convinced that Woods is not the man responsible for the stalking, but Polly isn't so sure. As her suspicions turn to intrigue, Polly lets herself into Emma's house and finds a number of her missing photos that were stolen during the break in, but turns up a surprise lead when she finds Gina Reynolds lurking in the garden. Little does she know that Emma is not only her stalker, but she has a mad plan to prove to Polly she loves her – by getting Jenny Quinnan away from Dave, leading Emma to take horrifying action.

Lennox is stung by comments about his physical fitness, and becomes determined to beat Brownlow at squash, as soon as he has arrested a villain from his past. When his flat is broken into and his personal photographs are stolen, he begins a campaign to get his nemesis arrested and put behind bars once and for all. Rickman is asked to attend the magistrates court to prevent a demonstration against a cabinet minister, but when he is sacked, she reaches out to him and helps him to recover some very important cabinet documents from Conway's office. Meanwhile, still absent from duty, Page reaches out to Quinnan after being stalked by Emma Roberts, but he rebuffs her due to the injuries sustained by Jenny in her attack by Roberts.

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.

When the relief carry out a routine raid on a nightclub, The Pink Cockatoo, Carver is suspicious after he suspects that a face from his past was present at the scene. Later, he stops a driver who appears to be a little bit worse for wear, and discovers that it is none other than his former CID DS, Ted Roach. Carver encourages Roach to provide information on Mickey Owen, the owner of the club, in return for being let-off the drink-driving charge. However, his leak to the police soon turns out to be the driving force behind a harsh beating, warning him not to give evidence. Meanwhile, Quinnan uncovers a body on the marshes, and Lennox discovers a link between the deceased and The Pink Cockatoo.

Recovering in hospital, Roach agrees to tell Carver everything he knows about Mickey Owen, but asks that the police protect his long-time friend and former informant, Roxanne, from Mickey's clutches. Meanwhile, as investigations continue, Lennox discovers that the body is that of Phillip Macey, one of Roxanne's best friends, who disappeared without trace in the 1990s after a gig at The Pink Cockatoo. Realising that Owen must have been responsible for his death, Roxanne agrees to help Meadows set up a sting operation to catch Owen in the act. Roach's old-school police methods begin to yield results, much to the delight of Carver, but before they can catch Mickey red-handed, tragedy strikes.

Beech meets businessman Howard Fallon at a poker game. When Beech's winnings turn out to be counterfeit notes, he confronts Fallon, who offers him a substantial bribe to find out who hijacked one of his lorries, and to get to the stolen shipment back before customs or the police seize it. Daly becomes suspicious when Beech tries to get involved with the investigation, but one of Daly's snouts points the finger at a former employee of Fallon's, and the driver of the missing truck. As the missing shipment is safely returned, and with Daly off his back, it looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Beech and Fallon.

Boulton and Stanton investigate the vicious attack on Rachel Booker, a dancer at one of Howard Fallon's clubs, and Beech is furious when Fallon reveals his mobile number is among her possessions. Boulton and Stanton find the main suspect is Warren Askew, who was obsessed with Rachel, but he doesn't appear to be responsible. When Boulton tries calling the phone numbers in Rachel's diary, he is shocked when Beech answers the phone. Beech makes an excuse that he tried to pick up Rachel in a bar, and begs Boulton to overlook the evidence. When Rachel dies of her injuries, Fallon confesses to Beech that his associate Ray Bazzini was responsible, so he plants evidence on Askew that leads to his arrest for murder.

Following the death of prime suspect Warren Askew in custody, Stanton urges Deakin not to close the case of Rachel Booker's murder immediately. A series of mysterious numbers found in Rachel Booker's diary are later revealed by Scotland Yard to be a set of number relating to a number of bank accounts. One of Rachel's fellow dancers, Lynette, is persuaded by Boulton and Stanton to tell them exactly what is going on. They soon discover that Vickery's, a fur export company owned by Howard Fallon and Ray Bazzini, is actually a front for a major money laundering operation. In an attempt to uncover further information, Stanton and Boulton go on a double date with Beech and his girlfriend, Maggie Lyons. When the case is subsequently turned over to the NCS, Stanton covertly photographs Beech meeting in secret with Fallon and Bazzini.

Harker is volunteered to work with a young offenders group in Canley, and immediately takes a shine to Carmel, the organiser of the group. When Carmel's foster son, 14-year-old Scott, goes off the rails, Harker steps in to try and defuse the situation. When one of Scott's friends is found dead from a heroin overdose, Harker discovers that despite previous claims that he is clean, Scott and his friend have been drug running for one of the major dealers on the Bronte. However, the situation is complicated further when Harker discovers that Scott and Carmel have been sleeping together, leaving him conflicted about job responsibility and his friendship with Carmel. Meanwhile, as Stanton and Boulton try to locate a witness, Beech attempts to prevent this due to his corrupt connections.

Stanton tries to find out if Boulton is working with Beech. When star witness Lynette resurfaces, they immediately hide her in a safe house, where she informs them that Ray Bazzini killed Rachel Booker. Beech informs Fallon the location of the safe house, but Lynette escapes from the thugs who are sent to attack her. As Stanton prepares to confess all to Boulton about her undercover op, he gets a phone call from Beech. They meet at a construction site, where Beech admits he has been working for Fallon, and reveals that it was him who gave up Lynette's location. He tries to convince Boulton to help him out, but an angry Boulton refuses, with the resulting fight ending in tragedy.

Quinnan and Carver find the body of Boulton at the construction site. Sun Hill is in shock, none more so than a devastated Stanton, who is suspicious when Beech lies about meeting him the night before. The Area Major Incident Pool arrive to investigate Boulton's death, and their subsequently investigations eventually lead them to Beech, who mysteriously disappears without trace. Maggie Lyons tries to smuggle Beech out of the country at the airport, but he cancels his escape after spotting AMIP outside the terminal. Knowing that his time is gradually running out, Beech weighs up his options, leading him to a stunned Stanton.

After Beech hands himself into CIB, Stanton is horrified when Beech convinces Hodges to ensnare Fallon, along with two Drugs Squad officers on Fallon's payroll, in exchange for a full confession of his crimes. He meets with DI Tasker and DS Garrard to arrange a double cross, working out that Fallon must have been who gave him up to AMIP. After being caught with a phone whilst attending the funeral of Boulton, Hodges threatens to pull the deal, until Beech falsely offers up the Drugs Squad DCI. Stealing the money for a drug deal, Beech attends a warehouse with Fallon, who tries to kill him. When Tasker and Garrard rescue Beech, they tie up Fallon and his associates, before Beech turns on his rescuers. When shots ring out, CIB and SO19 storm in, with Hodges and Stanton left furious when Beech is nowhere to be seen.

CIB sweep into Sun Hill and suspend the entire CID department with immediate effect, and all of their ongoing cases are subsequently transferred to uniform. Lennox is horrified when he discovers that Stanton is a CIB mole. As the disgraced detectives are interviewed to establish their connection to Beech, Meadows hurriedly calls in some favours at Scotland Yard. Mannion demands Brownlow resign to make a strong statement to the public and media, and after arguing the decision with Conway, he decides to make the tough decision after a heart to heart with Monroe. Meanwhile, Beech prepares to go into hiding, and radically overhauls his image in the hope that he is not recognized. He goes off to meet Maggie at a shopping centre, unaware Stanton is hot on his tail.

Beech manages to evade Stanton yet again, but she takes Maggie Lyons in for questioning. Beech recruits a crooked lawyer to represent her and perform other useful services for him. Beech obtains a false passport and buys a quantity of diamonds with the money he stole from Howard Fallon, as he prepares to flee the country with Maggie. Sun Hill officers continue to be interviewed by CIB, and although no firm connection with Beech can be established, it's the end of the line for Deakin and Daly, while a furious Holmes requests an immediate transfer. Meadows manages to survive the cull due to his contacts in the Yard, much to the dismay of Deakin. Maggie changes her mind about following Beech, and he boards a flight to Australia alone, while Stanton vows to make Beech pay for Boulton's death.

The new CID team arrives at Sun Hill, led by the new station commander, Supt Tom Chandler. His pally attitude with the relief doesn't go down well, with the likes of Cryer, Smith and Meadows skeptical. Meadows feels the pressure of facing a disciplinary board hearing following the Beech scandal. New DI Alex Cullen is assigned to head the investigation of an apparently racially motivated harassment of a local family, along with cocky DC Paul Riley and hard-faced DS Debbie McAllister, after complainant Frank Griffiths says Meadows had history with Helen Freeley, whose sons are suspected of racially abusing Griffiths and his family. As facts become apparent, events take a dramatic turn. Meanwhile, new arrival DS Vik Singh dishes the dirt immediately by warning his new colleagues that McAllister is overcompensating for a recent promotion to DS, whilst telling them that Cullen in Chandler's pocket.

Meadows is furious when Chandler demands he replace Cullen as Senior Investigating Officer following the murder of Darren Freeley. Meadows is desperate to make the breakthrough as quickly as possible, aware that Chandler will be coming to his discipline board later in the week. Meadows questions the prime suspects, two friends of Melody Griffiths who were seen leaving the scene, KJ Leonard and Oz Benson. Traces of Leonard's skin are found on Darren Freeley's knuckles, and although Oz Benson admits they were there and were angry with Freeley, they didn't kill him. When Rickman finds the murder weapon, the forensic evidence points to an unlikely killer.

Quinnan finds the body of Dennis Quigley, a man who has died of a heart attack in his car. Whilst delivering the man's personal effects to his wife, Quinnan is mortified to find they include a gift to the man's mistress, a woman named Alice. Trying to do a good deed, Quinnan resolves to deliver the gift to its intended recipient, and manages to locate Alice and give her the gift. However, things become much more complicated when his wife Jenny discovers the gift and thinks he's having an affair, while CID discover that the dead man is wanted by Interpol for diamond smuggling. Suspecting the package that Quinnan handed over may well be a shipment of uncut diamonds smuggled in from Antwerp, Cullen is left dismayed after realising the evidence has been lost.

Glaze is sent undercover to attempt to infiltrate a drugs ring when they become involved with a high-flying player, Bunny Small, who has been a target of the area drugs squad for some time. Meadows seizes the opportunity to try and win some brownie points for Sun Hill by nailing not only three small-time local dealers, but finally getting evidence to put Small away. During an obbo, Glaze and McCann end up at loggerheads over each other's attitudes to policing, but decide they must work together to get the best result. When Small is murdered during the obbo, NCS arrive to crucify Glaze, McCann and Meadows over their conduct. Glaze does back undercover, but has a brush with death during St Pauls Carnival.

Whilst out on a crime prevention sweep, Spears visits a local building society, only to be caught up in an armed robbery. Smithy tries to stop the robbers as they make their escape and is also taken hostage. As SO19 units surround the building, Conway and Chandler arrive to negotiate with the two robbers, Dwight and Rollo. A tense stand-off ensues, and Smith realises the men are ex-soldiers, and that they had help from one of the bank employees. When Rollo shoots Dwight during an argument, Chandler orders SO19 to storm the building despite Conway's objections, putting Spears at further risk.

Smith and McCann investigate a robbery involving local youth Lennie Cox. When they arrive at his flat, they find him liaising with Jurgen Holz, a Neo-Nazi criminal wanted by Interpol for drug trafficking charges. Holz manages to escape, but Smith catches up with Cox, and he is cornered by a group of black youths. As the pair catch up with Holz, they give chase, but Smith finds himself in a radio deadspot. He is then is suspected of having a racist motive when he fails to respond to an urgent assistance call from McCann, who is badly beaten by a gang of neo-Nazi skinheads. Determined to clear his name, Smith veers dangerously close to compromising an SO10 undercover operation to arrest Holz.

Klein spends all night DJing at a local nightclub, and lies to Cryer when he skips work the next day. When his car is broken into, his possessions are handed in at the station, with Cryer soon finding out what really happened. Smith has a touch of toothache and gets Rickman to take him to A+E. Klein, forced to come by an angry Cryer, is paired with Rickman. Klein finds his day is getting worse by the minute as Singh and McAllister investigate an abduction and extortion case involving two people who were at the club the night before. When both accuse Klein of using drugs at the club, he battles to clear his name and find the missing girl before it is too late.

Spears and Worrell chase a suspect from the scene of a violent assault. They discover that the victim, Donna Elliot, is the sister of Frank and Peter Elliot, two insurance brokers suspected of being the ringleaders of a post-match fight that has been arranged between two rival gangs of football fans. With Sun Hill as the venue, Chandler assigns Cullen to the case, but Meadows is determined to show him up by cracking the case himself using a teenage assault suspect and member of the Larkmead Crew as an informant. When Cullen and Lennox discover Meadows' informant has lied to him about the gang's intentions, CID and uniform rush to head off the mob before they attack an Asian marketplace.

Webb and Spears investigate when a house fire traps two young girls, who end up in hospital in a critical condition. Meadows is later assigned to lead the investigation when suspicion soon falls on a loan shark who was seen outside the house just before the fire. When witnesses place him elsewhere at the time of the fire, suspicion then falls on the girls' father, however questioning him is delayed when one of his daughters succumbs to her injuries. With Webb convinced of his guilt, Spears clashes with him when she suspects the mother is to blame. After cracking the case, Webb and Spears grow closer.

Boyden spearheads a raid on a brothel, which uncovers several illegal immigrants from Croatia being forced to work as prostitutes. The owner of the premises, Carson, agrees to reveal who is bringing the girls into England in exchange for a lesser charge. However, on the way to court, the police van is ambushed and Carson is kidnapped. After the car used in the ambush is found with blood stained seats, it is suspected Carson has been killed. Carson's lawyer, Doyle, eventually agrees to set up a meeting with Luca, and Boyden sets up a surveillance operation on a locker. Meanwhile, McCann agonises as he waits for word on a transfer that hinges on the result of his Sergeant's exams.

Page and Hayward attend a disturbance at a pub and find the landlord and one of his regulars being beaten up by three masked men. Meanwhile, Stamp, Quinnan and Klein attend the scene of a second beating, another three masked men attacking local villain Frank McBride outside the back of his club. Realising the incidents could be connected, Hayward investigates, and discovers a turf war between two rival gangs of cigarette smugglers. As the evidence against the two rival firms stacks up, Klein finds himself in trouble when he tries to buy a mixing desk from his favourite DJ, Johnny Margolis, and ends up abducted by the McBride gang, but a freak accident leaves Tony McBride dead and Klein seriously injured.

After noting Klein missing from morning parade, Quinnan and Stamp find him unconscious and badly injured in the back of the crashed van belonging to the now-deceased Tony McBride and his cigarette smuggling gang. With McAllister determined to prove that Klein is corrupt, Boyden and the relief race to find evidence to clear his name. As Klein continues to recover in hospital, Hayward suspects that missing DJ Johnny Margolis may seem to be the key to the whole mystery, and he is found trying to escape from three thugs. Boyden searches McBride's house, and an obbo is soon set up to catch the cigarette smugglers red-handed. Boyden is stunned when he works out who is responsible for the smuggling ring.

Smithy becomes a knight in shining armour for a shop assistant when he and Rickman apprehend a shoplifter, with a little help from Santa! The shoplifter is suspected of brutally assaulting a shop assistant in the same store. Lennox bonds with the suspect due to the boy being from Glasgow, but Webb's hatred for Christmas leads to him refusing to help the boy out, although he attempts to track down a reported accomplice to the theft. Meanwhile, McAllister maliciously ruins Hollis's plans for the Sun Hill Christmas Party, by getting the pub landlord's son arrested on drugs charges. When they reschedule at a nightclub, the party turns sour and a fight breaks out. Quinnan, having argued with Jenny about her hopes of moving to Colchester, acts on his feelings for Page after Hagen's teasing about Page and Stamp being close.

Sun Hill returns to normal after the Christmas break, although Quinnan and Page act suspiciously after their pre-Christmas encounter. As the pair try to rekindle their affair, Lennox and Webb continue investigating the assault on the shop assistant, and discover that the story concocted by the pair of crooked security guards is completely phony, who may be responsible for the attack. Monroe attempts to build bridges with the landlord of the Elcott Arms, while Riley nearly lets slip that McAllister was responsible for the sabotage. Meanwhile, Hagen and Page have a minor PolAcc in the yard, and Hagen later catches Quinnan and Page getting intimate in the back of the arrest van.