Heartbeat

- Season 7

(1997)

PC Bellamy surprises a burglar at the Kettley's Coaches bus company, and he and PC Rowan apprehends Keith Megson, an old friend of the police. Megson disposes of the loot before they catch him, and Megson's sleazy lawyer Sellars demands his immediate release. Megson is released on bail in the custody of the well-known pillar to society Claude Jeremiah Greengrass. There is a series of break-ins at older people's homes, and Megson claims the police are trying to pin them on him. Greengrass, who is fed up with the situation, cannot supply him with an alibi and decides ...

Somebody has "deposited" a truckload of pig manure in the driveway of special constable Hector Cowley. He correctly blames his neighbour "Sweaty" Betty Sutch and her son Simon and goes to their farm to sort out the matter. The next morning the coat of his uniform is found in their pigsty unlike himself, who is nowhere to be found. When his boots, trousers and other items belonging to him are found at the same place, rumour has it that he has been eaten by the pigs. Greengrass has a surprise visitor, Ellen Birley, an old friend from his past. She moves in with him and ...

There has been a break-in at Sanger's Telephone Services. CID suspects a gang, who is behind other break-ins in the area and wants no help from the Ashfordly police, but sergeant Blaketon thinks it is an inside job and pushes his constables hard to solve the case and prove to CID that they are capable of handling their own patch. Greengrass is supplying Tony Mowbray, who works at Sanger's, with pheasants, hares and other kinds of game, but because Mowbray is under suspicion they cannot shift it. Jo Weston is concerned about Dennis Cross, who is absent from school ...

Bag-snatchers are at large in Ashfordly and the police know that Ian 'Duster' Murray and Robert 'Red' Broadbent are the perpetrators, but cannot prove it. When they attack Phil Bellamy's grandmother he takes it personally and gets determined to see them behind bars at any cost. Greengrass is also in great demand. Mr. Braithwaite has died and his daughters Joan and Norma are convinced that he hid his will in his stuffed prize ram and that Greengrass knows where it is. Jo's mother has become ill and she does her best to make Jo feel bad about it, because she will not ...

A tobacco warehouse has been raided and a van used by the raiders is found burned-out on Berley Moor. The police manage to close off all the roads in the area and the perpetrators, Ned and Pete, hideout at Greengrass' house. When he finds out what they have been up to he wants them out of the house, but Ned leans on him to give them shelter. Clive Thompson is in Aidensfield to paint. He discovers that his daughter Cathy is in love with the landlady's son Stephen and he takes her home the next day, but she makes off to meet him. Jo convinces her mother to go to ...

Jean Lightfoot believes she is being followed and she receives mysterious phone calls. One day she finds a strange, well dressed woman at her doorstep, Susan Williamson, who claims to be an old sweetheart of Jean's husband Derek, but he says he has never seen her before. The Australian couple Len and Julie Wilcox is in Aidensfield to look for relatives. When Greengrass discovers they have plenty of money he offers his services to them - for a small fee of course. He also discovers that they are distant relatives of his and tries to sell them "valuable heirlooms". Jo ...

Charlie Fenton has just picked up his girlfriend, Lisa, from the train station, when they nearly run down a little boy Justin, who is saved at the last moment by his grandfather Alec Oxley. Oxley reports the incident to the police because he smells alcohol in Fenton's breath. When PC Rowan lets Fenton off with a warning, Oxley takes matters in his own hand Greengrass gets a very unwelcome visitor, his big brother Cyril. Cyril is on the lookout for a weekend cottage. But his wife Edith does not necessarily need to know. Claude is more interested in taking a ride in ...

A group of farmers are hunting for a dog, which has killed some of their sheep, when one of them, Richard Ealham, gets hit by a shot. Most likely suspect is Jeff Kean, who has just found out that his wife Sheila is having an affair with Ealham. There is great demand for the famous Aidensfield buns, but Bill Dyson is the only one, who knows the recipe, and he does not want to give it to his sons, who runs the bakery, because he has become senile, but do not get along with each other. Instead he trusts it to Greengrass in a clear moment just in case he should forget it ...

Greengrass has a soft job cleaning Lord Ashfordly's lawns for moles. To ensure a lasting employment him and David puts the moles back again at night. One night they are surprised by his lordship's sister Patricia, who is drunk as a skunk. It soon becomes clear that she has a drinking problem, and she is convinced that the law against drunk driving does not apply to nobilities like herself. She also has a soft spot for Steve's father Harry, whom she had a crush on when they were young. When Lord Ashfordly is away hunting for a couple of days Greengrass decides "to put ...

Terry Ainsworth is more interested in train spotting than going to school, and he is happy when his father Eddie takes him on a train ride. Little does the boy know that his father, who is fresh out of jail, is planning to steal a lot of fur coats and he wants to check out the railway line for the best spot to do it. It does not matter to him that his wife Molly is working at the company which produces the fur coats. Greengrass is doing some gardening for Mr. and Mrs. Dobson when he finds some old, Roman coins. Convinced there are more where they came from he rents an...

Sammy Maxton is found injured on Shafton Moor and witnesses heard a shot and saw Barry Rooksby running from the scene and driving away with is daughter Suzy. Rooksby has recently lost his job as game keeper and blames Maxton for telling lies about him to get the job himself. Alice Jessop is released from hospital after a stroke and hires the butler Alan Lester to look after her. A couple of days later Eileen discovers that a valuable clock is missing from Mrs. Jessop's home Gina is nervous because she has to appear in court to apply for the license to run the ...

The day of Nick's and Jo's wedding has arrived. To calm his nerves Nick takes a ride in his car when he is flagged down by a woman because of an accident. Suddenly the woman drives away in his car and Nick is stuck miles away from everywhere on the moors with an injured man on his hands. He manages to get the man to hospital, but time is getting short if he has to make it to the church in time. Sergeant Blaketon's day of retirement is nearing and he has applied for a year's extension of service, but the news from his medical exam is not good. News is not all bad ...

Sergeant Blaketon is out on patrol when he is overtaken by a long-haired bully wearing a leather jacket on a motorcycle. He catches up with him while he is parked at a petrol station, and when he is asked for his name the "bully" introduces himself as Mike Bradley, the new police constable. After getting a much needed haircut PC Bradley soon has his baptism of fire when two armed criminals take Greengrass and Gina hostage so that they can hide in their catering truck and get into a pipeline compound to empty the safe. And they make it very clear that they are not ...

Sergeant Blaketon is recuperating from his heart attack and cannot get back to work fast enough, when Dr. Bolton informs him that his days on the police force are over due to risk of another heart attack. That does not suit him at all and especially not when he learns that the Deighton family is back in Aidensfield. The Deightons have done mischief in the area before and they are definitely up to no good this time either. From his hospital bed Blaketon tells his constables to keep a close eye on them. Greengrass lets Lieutenant Craig and her girl scouts camp on his ...

Nick and Jo Rowan return from their honeymoon in Spain. They find out that he has been made acting sergeant at the Ashfordly police station, while Blaketon has taken over the post office. A fair is visiting Aidensfield and one of its main attractions is the wall of death and its riders Dirk and Liam. Especially 15-year old Tracey Knight is fascinated by Dirk who has promised her a spot on the show. Dirk is seriously injured when he crashes off the wall during practice. The police soon find out it was not an accident. Another attraction is the mouse show, which ...

Demand for TV sets is high due to Christmas and the upcoming message from her majesty the queen, and especially one customer, Jim Brody, is set on getting a new set - in colour. But only if he gets the very first colour TV set in the area. That is one of the reasons why Rex Hawkins TV rentals and repair shop is very popular and Hawkins is also very popular among the wives of his customers. But he is bullied by Lol Baxter because has failed to pay for a shipment of very cheap, but defective TV sets. Also PC Ventress carries a grudge against Hawkins because Hawkins got ...

Greengrass buys a used police car at an auction, where Bernie Scripps recognizes the former racing driver Russell Palmer, who now works for his cousin Keith Hibbert. Hibbert and Palmer are arrested after a brawl at the Aidensfield Arms and have to spend the night in prison at the police station under the watchful eyes of PC Bradley, who has the night watch. During the night Palmer complains of head aches and early next morning he is found dead in his cell. Hibbert accuses PC Bradley of beating Palmer up and thus causing his death. Acting sergeant Rowan has no other ...

Somebody has been snatching Gina's empty bottles and PC Bradley has offered to stake out the pub. Meanwhile his past is catching up with him due to the death in custody case. His former girlfriend Penny turns up in Aidensfield with her baby son Tommy claiming that Bradley is the father. But also the gangsters Linden and Martin, who Bradley helped put away when he was with the Met, are eager to get hold of him when their sentences are reversed. Greengrass is "liberating" some fish from Lord Ashfordly when he befriends the tramp Tessa, who is doing a little liberating ...

The Upton family returns home only to find much of their furniture stolen and most of the rest smashed to pieces. John Upton suspects Harry Somers, who has been seeing his daughter Ruth a lot against his wishes. The Uptons move to the Aidensfield Arms while their home is repaired, but Ruth is attacked, when she returns to the house in the evening. The upcoming artist Moira Hamilton has rented a cottage in the village and is very interested in some of Greengrass' old car parts. She even paints a portrait of the old scoundrel - well sort of. Greengrass and Bernie ...

Nathaniel Clegghorn believes his farm is haunted and has sent for paranormal investigators to authenticate it so that he can arrange guided tours for a fee. Greengrass thinks that is a brilliant idea and produces a couple of "ghostly manifestations" himself. An old acquaintance of Oscar Blaketon and the police, Jimmy Turpin, is back in Aidensfield and Blaketon warns sergeant Rowan that he might be up to something. He is, but gets his daughter Mitzi and her husband Johnny Wyler to do the dirty work. Nick Rowan has got a new job with the Royal Mounted Police and he and ...

Oscar Blaketon gets a visit from Jim Ryan, his sergeant from the war in the Far East who has recently lost his wife. He enjoys seeing his old friend, but he gets worried about him, when Ryan sees a couple of biology students, Jill and Kathy, with a Japanese camera at the Aidensfield Arms and goes completely mad. Greengrass buys a herd of sheep from his friend Charlie Blunkett, but when the sheep turns out to be stolen, Greengrass wants his money back. Only Blunkett suddenly remembers nothing about any sheep and Greengrass must resort to drastic means to clear his good...

Oscar Blaketon gets into trouble when two young criminals steal his car and run away from an accident they have caused, because he will not account for his whereabouts at the time of the accident and did not report the car stolen. Meanwhile the two criminals, Joey Sharp and Frank Collins, supplies drugs to the schoolgirl Lizzie Tyler and her friend Babs. Greengrass overhears how PC Bradley talks to a friend about buying classic motorcycles and spots an opportunity to earn a quit or two. He even knows where hen can get his hands on some if he can get Bernie Scripps to ...

The schoolboys Trevor and Stuart Chivers break into the house of WWI hero Gerard Sefton, while he is in hospital, and smashes up everything searching for money. The boys also have a little sideline collecting "lost" golf balls at the golf club and selling them to Claude Greengrass. But the youngest, Stuart, is fascinated by Sefton's war exploits and visits the old man at the hospital. When PCs Bellamy and Ventress want to question the boys their battleaxe of a mother says that her little "angels" have nothing to do with it, and throws them out.

There has been a dance at the youth club in Aidensfield and 15-year old Maureen asks PC Bradley if he would walk her home. Bradley thinks it is only a schoolgirl prank and tells her to ask a boy of her own age. She has a crush on him, but she also claims that somebody is following her. And a couple of nights later Maureen disappears on her way home from the club. The new sergeant, Raymond Craddock, arrives at Ashfordly police station. He is very narrow-minded and goes strictly by the book and when his mind has been made up it stays that way - even if he is wrong.