""Keep your hand's off him and we'll be friends""

The new constable Maggie Doyle arrives in Mt. Thomas. She is faced with not only rampant chauvinism but the fact that she is stationed with ex-boyfriend Constable Wayne Patterson who has recently moved there with his wife Roz.

Local girl Sally-Anne is raped by her boyfriend Bruce McLaren. She makes a formal complaint but when Bruce pressures her she attempts to withdraw it. When Sally-Anne discovers that this isn't possible she tries to commit suicide. Maggie and Nick find her and revive her.

Maggie and Wayne go to speak to farmer Mick Doherty about his parking fines. When his dog breaks it's chains Maggie shoots her. Mick then starts firing at them. Tom is forced to go out and have a ""yarn"" with Mick and with the help of PJ gets Mick a new dog.

Bush fires are ringing the township of Mount Thomas and Maggie and Wayne are out evacuating farm houses in the path of the inferno, but this routine job suddenly turns dangerous when they are confronted by a masked man brandishing a shotgun. Maggie and Wayne overcome the offender and take him into custody. Back at the station he is quickly identified as one of three bandits who held up St. David's bank the previous day. The prisoner proves to be uncooperative. He refuses to give his name or those of his accomplices and in an unguarded moment, he swallows a handful of thumbtacks. Although Mt. Thomas Hospital is presently under renovations, there is still a skeleton staff there and the bandit is rushed into emergency surgery under the care of Dr. Zoe Hamilton. Wayne is duped into giving up his gun and uniform by one of the bandits posing as a hostage. Maggie goes to the hospital to discover someone else dressed in Wayne's clothes. She plays it cool and attempts to put a call through to t

A siege has developed at the Mt. Thomas hospital. While the armed and desperate Nerida Davidson and Jason Bennett hold Maggie and Wayne on the inside, the rest of the Heelers lay in wait on the outside of the building. Meanwhile, bushfires ring the township making outside help a forlorn hope. The bandits' objective is to get their compatriot, Matt, out of the hospital and away, but this is not made any easier by his gradually worsening medical condition. When captured, Matt swallowed a handful of map pins in order to get to the hospital, a soft target from which he could be more easily rescued. The situation is further complicated by the presence of mother-to-be Augusta Torrini and her emotional, hot-blooded husband, Sergio. When Wayne bravely tries to overcome the bandits he ends up pistol whipped and chained to a hospital bed. Maggie, Dr. Zoe Hamilton and Nurse Tracy Mitchell play a dangerous game of bluff to try to and get Augusta to safety. Adam, meanwhile, comes up with some disco