An attempted burglary and a hit-and-run accident - PC Lynch sees the connection first. Proving it is a job for the whole of Victor Division.
Two arrests, two court cases - and also two people, in one of whom Fancy Smith takes a personal interest.
Chief Inspector Barlow is known locally as something of a gourmet, but not even the chef believes that he is interested only in food.
The bang is loud in the night. The conspiracy of silence which follows is more sinister. When an explosion destroys Bill Webster's betting shop CID runs up against a blank wall. No clues and there is nobody willing to talk. Webster himself stubbornly maintains it was an accident, but Barlow is convinced there is a connection between the explosion and the fact that Webster intends to compete with his rivals by opening more shops in the area.
PCs Lynch and Graham find that a quiet night can be just as busy as any other, but for some of the people they encounter it is also a night of tragedy.
A slight collision between two cars, a bad-tempered blow, and a young man finds himself involved in serious trouble - both for himself and for those close to him.
A young rookie constable cannot hold his liquor. In his cups he reveals the whereabouts of a 'safe house' holding a vital witness, with disastrous consequences.
An outbreak of thefts from offertory boxes, a flood of dud cheques - and Victor Division's crime figures begin to soar. Barlow and Watt try to identify a petty criminal with an interest in churches.
Lynch and Graham investigate a domestic tragedy. And for Barlow there's the urgent problem of saving a man's life.
Complaints about a fast-moving, fast-talking door-to-door salesman give Weir and Smith a busy day, while Sgt. Watt prepares the trap.
When a Newtown pillar box begins to belch smoke Graham's first reaction is that someone has been posting red hot love letters. But by the time thirteen pillar boxes have been burned out he and Lynch are on the trail of an unusual kind of pyromaniac. Meanwhile Sgt. Watt is keeping an eye on Oliver Snow, a visitor from London who goes out of his way to be offensive.
Freddy Milligan is servinga prison sentence for robbery with violence. With six weeks of his sentence to run, he is given compassionate parole to attend his wife's funeral. He fails to report back, and the Newtown police get the job of bringing him in.
A report of breaking and entering at Mallory Hall and soon Lord Tenterden's home is swarming with policemen from the ACC right down to Fancy Smith. The thieves have taken something far more valuable than the money they were after. Is espionage involved?
A case of shoplifting, the disappearance of 3,000 bricks and some unbuilt houses give Barlow and the boys in Z-Victor One a busy day.
Dave Graham is used to sorting out the problems of other people, but only as a policeman. He finds it much more difficult to cope with a crisis in his own home.
Some crimes are solved by logic. Barlow finds one but Smith and Weir look like upsetting him in their persistent search for a stolen purse.
On Christmas Eve Lynch and Graham are as full of goodwill to all men as any police officers can be - with a garage robbery to deal with and other people's celebrations getting in the way.
The revelry of New Year's Eve has its normal problems for the Newtown police and its special opportunities for a lone marauder in the streets. Sgt. Blackitt, leaving PC Sweet on the desk, is on the beat himself for a change. Down by the canal is a nurse from the Cottage Hospital and she is out on a cold night without a cloak over her uniform.
When a happy-go-lucky thief refuses to confess to a simple breaking and entering job Barlow continues enquiries. This starts an avalanche of evidence and soon Barlow fears that everyone in Newtown is implicated somewhere along the line.
It can't possibly be blackmail - the old lady seems much too innocent and can have nothing to hide. But Lynch and Graham are sure that something has happened and Barlow decides to set a trap.
Weir finds that being a policeman doesn't stop when he goes off duty, particularly as his girl friend Sally has shady connections.
A chance encounter is soon forgotten by Lynch and Graham. But remembering a face becomes vital when Barlow orders a search for missing money - and a missing man.
Barlow loses a case against a known criminal. He believes the man is guilty but he is ordered to re-investigate the crime and finds a problem he doesn't want to face.
A mysterious meeting at a sports pavilion attracts the attention of Z-Victor Two. John Watt investigates. When a sharp warning to a friend is unheeded Watt finds himself at the centre of hostilities.
Barlow's attendance at a police conference starts a spring cleaning at Newtown station. But the arrest of an elderly drunk by Smith and Weir upsets the efficiency drive.
When a seemingly harmless practical joke goes wrong and leads to a disturbance Lynch finds himself involved in a very personal problem.
When a young offender escapes from custody he is seen hiding on a roof and DC Hicks is detailed to bring him down.
When Josh Tansfield tries to make a deal with the police John Watt is worried - but Barlow gets the best of a good bargain.
A mother finds her schoolboy son in possession of pornographic photographs. Then the lad goes missing and Smith and weir have the job of finding him. Meantime Barlow tracks down the source of the photographs. John Watt deals with his marital problems. JOSS ACKLAND appears here as the villain: four years later he became a cast regular as DI Todd.
A mail van raid - a quick getaway - and no description of the raiders. When an easy arrest is made Barlow finds a new angle on the 'inside job'.
The search area is wide and time is short - for Barlow is in charge of a murder enquiry for the first time. He places his faith in two seemingly harmless questions.
'Punchy' Palmer is not too bright. When he tries to help Newtown police it isn't easy to know what is truth and what is daydreams. In this guesswork lies the answer to a series of crimes.
Two children are the only witnesses of a robbery. It seems that the men concerned will get away with it - until Barlow takes over.
Old Eli Mosscrop was once the best spiderman in the north. Now no-one will employ him. When he tries to show his skill he makes a problem for John Watt, who has no head for heights.
It is a routine job - a break-in at a jeweller's shop. But Barlow believes the owner is in danger.
A brutal mid-afternoon shooting in the middle of a shopping area leaves a store full of people dumbfounded and the Newtown police force shaking its head in disbelief.
A baby is taken from a pram near a bingo hall. Graham and Lynch are involved in a long search.
A wrist-watch and a camera. Not unusual gifts for a twenty-first birthday, but they make a busy Saturday for Smith and Weir and upset a wedding.
Frank Wood is a homosexual, unable to go to the police when a man sets out to blackmail him. If he does go to the police he faces trial, possible conviction, even prison, not to mention local scandal and the end of his business career.
Arty Timmins is out of jail. Chief Supt. Robins put him away when he was an Inspector and Sgt. Blackitt was a constable. With Barlow away on a course Robins makes it his personal business to keep a close watch on one of the hardest characters ever to cross his path. For there are three citizens of Newtown who, even after ten years, have good cause to be frightened.
When Danny Sullivan, boisterous and irresponsible, returns to Newtown Z-Victor Two is alerted. When he goes into the used car business there is trouble.
Smith and Weir are called to a disturbance in a tenement block. An unemployed black man has attacked a bailiff with an axe, then barricaded himself in his flat with his wife and children. Barlow is called and eventually persuades the man to come out, whereupon he is promptly arrested. It looks like an open and shut case of attempted murder, but Barlow is not satisfied. Later that evening Smith and Weir find the man's wife and children sleeping in a bus shelter: they have been evicted without notice.