Heartbeat

- Season 4

(1994)

A number of sheep has been savaged or killed, and Inspector Crossley is convinced that a very big cat like a puma is at large in the area. To Blaketon it looks more like the workings of a dog and Greengrass' lurcher Alfred seems to be the culprit. Kate Rowans starts in her new job at Dr. Radcliffe's surgery in Whitby, although she feels as if she is being kept outside deliberately. Not by Dr. Radcliffe himself, but by his receptionist Christine Ferguson. Meanwhile Greengrass has settled his outstanding account with the Inland Revenue in his own, very unique way.

PC Rowan is stopped by three children, who claim they have seen a witch. And indeed they find an urn with the remains of on of Kate's former patients Amy Dewhurst, which the mysterious woman threw over the church yard fence. The description of the woman matches Nancy Bellow, the housekeeper and companion of the deceased. Now she cooks for Marjorie Salter, the grand niece of her former employer, and her husband, who are renovating her aunt's old house. The following night the Salters are admitted to hospital with symptoms of food poisoning. Inspector Crossley is so ...

Young Jamie Halsted is camping out with he parents. He is very sad because his dog Sam is missing, and when a man dies of rabies Sam gets under suspicion because Jamie's father is a former army major, who has been stationed abroad, and Blaketon organizes a major search for the animal in order to stop the disease from spreading. There's a new police car in town, and PCs Rowan and Ventress take it out for a spin. It has been some time though since the last time Alf Ventress was behind the wheel.

PC Rowan gets assigned to special duty with the CID in Whitby. He will be investigating reports of smuggling among the local fishermen. Ventress is asked to help him, but unlike Rowan he has to pay all expenses by himself since he is on holiday. Rowan's main suspect is Cedric Shanks, but to get close to him Rowan needs the help of young Jake Stirling, who is in dire need of a job because he has gotten his girlfriend Liza pregnant. Blaketon takes over Rowan's patch while he is away and uses the opportunity to keep an eagle eye on Claude Jeremiah Greengrass.

There has been a break-in at the county council office. At first it seems that nothing but petty cash was taken, but then it is discovered that an adoption file is missing. When the child of that file is abducted suspicion falls on its biological mother Sandie Eliot. Only the abducted child is not hers! Greengrass reports a murder. One of his homing pigeons has been killed by a peregrine falcon, and when the police will have nothing to do with it he and his fellow members of the local pigeon fanciers association decide to take matters in their own hands.

Gina is on her way home from celebrating a rugby match victory. Somebody attacks her and tries to rape her when her car breaks down. Luckily the attacker is frightened off by Greengrass, who is on one of his 'nightly expeditions', before things get too far. Inspector Murchison does not believe Gina's story and leans very hard on her trying to get her to drop her story. Meanwhile Phil Bellamy's tie has been found in Gina's car. Phil has nothing to do with the assault, but names a likely suspect, Neil Gibson, who is arrested. Gibson's family scares Gina into dropping ...

A stranger walks into the Aidensfield Arms and collapses. George Ward recognizes him as Dennis Parker, who left Aidensfield and his wife and daughter seven years earlier. Parker claims he has no recollection of what has happened since he went away. He only hopes to find his family. But that may not be as easy as he thinks, because Parker is wanted for embezzling his former employer of 800£ on the day he went missing. Inspired by Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" Harold Jackson approaches Greengrass and wants him to set fire to his work shop. In return the Jackson ...

Susannah Temple-Richards has found herself a young lover although she still loves her husband Jack. She just does not want to sleep with him and puts sleeping pills in his bed time drink. That brings her in trouble when Jack is thrown off his horse and killed during a hunt. But his is not the only death in Aidensfield. Petty thief Artie Sneed has popped his clogs as well and the Rowans find Claude Greengrass lurking around in his house. The old scoundrel claims he only wants to pay his respects to Artie, but Sneed was heavily into illegal cock fighting and Greengrass ...

Believing he has killed his captain in a brawl the Russian sailor Vladimir Ivanov makes himself scarce and asks PC Rowan for political asylum. But Ivanov does not trust immigration officer Fillingham and clears out once again during transport to the immigration office in York. To satisfy his hunger he steals the lunch of Dr. Radcliffe's daughter Jennifer, who is on a field trip with her class. Jennifer wanders off with her friend Dennis and follows the Russian with a childish notion of catching him and become heroes of the day. Sergeant Blaketon starts a big search ...

Ron Cooper is an old army veteran with enough illegal weapons, ammunition and explosives to run his own militia. He gets injured when a rifle backfires and is taken to hospital. Unknown to him four boys have found his collection and they "borrow" a box of ammunition not knowing how dangerous it is. Furthermore Greengrass buys some hand grenades from Cooper's helper Morris and cleans out lord Ashfordly's entire stock of trout. Meanwhile Kate Rowan's work at Radcliffe's surgery in Whitby is taking its toll on their marriage and they start to drift apart, when Kate ...

Lead is very much in demand in Aidensfield. At least among the thieves who steal lead from the roofs of the village. Greengrass gets under suspicion when he suddenly is flush from selling lead, which the old scoundrel claims stems from his own roof. He also earns some money by letting three young men camp out in their tents on his land. Both Nick and Kate Rowan have difficulty coping with her working in Whitby. He has a hard time dealing with both domestic chores and his police work, while she appreciates being needed and respected as a doctor, but discovers that she ...

When Arthur and Emily Jacobs return home from a trip to Scarborough they find their house burgled and their cattle on the loose even though they had asked his brother Darcy to keep an eye on the place. PC Rowan soon discovers that there is bad blood between the Jacobs brothers. Gina gets a visit from her old boyfriend Billy from Liverpool. But Billy has some problems with honesty. First he steals 5£ from the till in the pub and then he tries to give Gina a record player that stems from the burglary at the Jacobs farm. The latter, he claims, he bought from Greengrass -...

One morning when the employees of the egg producing Rongar Farm they find the place scribbled with slogans against the use of battery hens. The owner Mervyn Sykes tries to trap the culprit when he or she returns - with tragic consequences. Greengrass uses the opportunity to start a production of eggs from free range hens, but he has no luck with it. The Aidensfield Arms is visited by the young and beautiful Loveday, who is exploring the sights of the area and needs a guide. Phil Bellamy is keen on the job. But when he goes looking for the girl he finds she has had an ...

Howard Franklin arrives in Aidensfield with a special request. His wife has just died and her last wish was to be laid to rest in the family grave although they have had no contact with her family since World War I. But her mother Hannah Stockdale blames Franklin for keeping her daughter away from her and for the loss of her two eldest sons in the war, and she will not even give him the time of day. On arrival he discovers that his suitcase with her urn has been switched by mistake. The annual county fête draws nearer and sergeant Blaketon has everybody on their toes....

Ronald Pitts wants to buy Tom Abbott's farm, but the old man does not want to sell. One morning his sheep have been let loose. Furthermore Kate Rowan suspects that there is brucellosis on his farm, because a young girl, Jane Shields, has caught the disease apparently by drinking unpasteurized milk from one of his cows. Greengrass is going to church. He has not become a holy man though, but he tries to get a reward for finding a lost heir and wants to look into the church records. PC Ventress still has not quite got the hang of driving. On a nightly patrol he parks his...

Christmas is near and Kate Rowan has arranged that Danny Parkin, who is very ill, gets home from hospital during the holidays. A trip to a sanatorium in Switzerland will do wonders for him and to earn money for the trip his siblings "borrows" Christmas trees from Lady Whitly's estate in order to sell them. The snobby, but very attractive Lady Whitly shows a lot of affection for PC Rowan, who is sent to investigate, and she is also involved in the local Christmas charity concert. The same concert needs a Santa Claus and a reluctant Greengrass is hired for the job. Not ...