Heartbeat - Season 4

The team look into a spate of savage sheep killings, and with Crossley taking every opportunity to discredit the Ashfordly police, Blaketon wants everyone pulling their weight. Nick is faced with a tough predicament when he learns Greengrass's beloved dog, Alfred, may be responsible. Greengrass is devastated when the dog is ordered to be put down, and plots to rescue him from the police station. However, Greengrass must first tackle his growing debt troubles with the Inland Revenue. Meanwhile, Kate begins her new job with Dr Radcliffe in Whitby, but she soon discovers a rival practice is poaching their patients and suspects their receptionist is a mole.

Nick is caught up in a deadly feud between a deceased locals live-in-friend and her relatives when three children supposedly see a witch vandalizing a church. When the feud uncovers a shocking secret, the team take on a murder enquiry. Blaketon is far from impressed with Crossley's harsh methods on the case and hatches a plan to get rid of him. Meanwhile, Ventress feigns an arm injury to get revenge on Bellamy when he calls him unfit.

A former soldier and his family cause panic when they visit Aidensfield and lose their rabid-riddled dog, putting the life of the local garage owner on the line. Meanwhile, disaster strikes when Ventress takes a new police car for a drive - and crashes it into Claude Greengrass' lorry.

Ventress and Nick are sent undercover by Whitby CID to entrap the ring-leader of a gang of smugglers. Nick tries to gain the trust of a young father whose newfound responsibilities have forced him into a life of crime. However, their new enemy proves to be a tough opponent, and the officers soon find themselves in peril. Meanwhile, Kate fears a young girl is being pressured into having an abortion by her boyfriend and refuses her request, leading to big consequences for both women when she tries to perform the operation herself. Elsewhere, Blaketon fills in as the Aidensfield bobby while Nick is away, and attempts to thwart Greengrass' latest scheme of selling Venison to the locals.

The Ashfordly team investigate a robbery at the Ashfordly council office, and Nick discovers an adoption file concerning a 3-year-old boy has been stolen, and soon after, the child is abducted. Blaketon immediately suspects his birth mother, and his theory is confirmed when she goes missing. However, Kate makes an alarming discovery that turns the case upside down and leaves the officers un-prepared for the events that follow. Meanwhile, Greengrass causes all manner of trouble for the locals when he takes revenge on Lord Ashfordly's new gamekeeper for interfering in his pigeon racing society.

When Gina is the victim of an attempted rape on her way home from a rugby match, she is horrified by some villager's reactions, whilst Bellamy finds himself forced to fight for his life when evidence puts him under suspicion - until another member of the force is placed in Nick's limelight. Meanwhile, Greengrass is conned into buying stolen pigs, which he accidentally lets loose in the Aidensfield Arms.

Nick, George and the Ashfordly team become caught in a case of theft, fraud and bigamy when a villager who abandoned his family 7 years previously makes returns claiming to have no memory of his life after Aidensfield. Meanwhile, Greengrass is targeted by a money-driven criminal in a series of attacks when he refuses to torch a shop in an insurance scam, forcing him to ask police for help when his beloved further Alfred is kidnapped.

Nick is called in to investigate the, supposedly accidental, death of a horserider called Joe Richards when the pathologist report gives evidence of drugs in his blood stream. He discovers Joe's wife Susannah isn't quite the grieving widow. Could she be responsible? And is there a connection between Joe's death and the death of a petty thief? Meanwhile, Blaketon and Ventress seize the opportunity to teach Greengrass a lesson when he takes over a deceased villager's cock-fighting enterprise.

When a Russian ship docks in Whitby, Nick and Kate meet a sailor demanding political asylum and claiming he had to fight for his life to get into Britain. When he goes missing, it leads Blaketon and his men into a case that sees them forging an alliance with the Secret Service. Meanwhile, Greengrass' poaching leads him into a chance encounter with an unlikely partner in crime.

Blaketon and his team struggle to keep control when hooligans break into a war veteran's house, steal his stash of illegal weapons and sell them to the local troublemakers, but Nick discovers there's more at stake than anticipated when a bag of explosives go missing. Meanwhile, Kate's strange behaviour doesn't go unnoticed by her new boss, forcing her to make a shock confession.

Nick and Kate's marriage is on the rocks as they continue to drift apart now that Kate has got a job in Whitby. Kate hasn't told Nick about her pregnancy, and with their marriage in crisis, she questions whether a baby is right for them, and she begins neglecting her patients. As Kate seeks comfort in Dr Radcliffe, Nick decides to take his mind off his marriage troubles by investigating a spate of roof thefts. He discovers Greengrass has been selling lead and suspects the old rogue is in league with three corrupt soldiers.

When a local couple return to find their farm in disarray, Nick and Kate are caught in the middle of a feud between the Jacobs brothers in the wake of their father's death when Kate goes beyond her duty of care to help a pregnant patient. Meanwhile, Gina is delighted when her old flame Billy is released from prison and joins her at the pub to escape bad habits. However, he finds the straight and narrow isn't as easy as he thought when he becomes mixed in a dodgy deal with Greengrass involving stolen record players, whilst Blaketon orders a full clean-up of the streets.

Nick is convinced something ghastly is afoot when an animal rights attack on a battery farm results in the accidental death of the owner. Meanwhile, Bellamy falls for a beautiful guest at the Aidensfield Arms and tries to impress her by showing her the wonders of Yorkshire, with disastrous consequences. Elsewhere, Greengrass goes into the free range egg business, whilst Kate's new nursery finds itself under inspection.

Howard Franklin arrives in Aidensfield to scatter his late wife's ashes. However, his mother-in-law blames Howard for the separation of her family and the death of her two sons in World War 1, and sets out on a path of self-destruction in a vindictive quest to make Howard's life a misery, causing trouble for Ashfordly's officers. Meanwhile, Nick gets involved with a security alert at the village fête, whilst Greengrass enters Alfred into the Lurcher Challenge Cup.

Nick and Kate make an alarming discovery about one of their friends when they attempt to track down the relatives of a frail farmer who is being forced to give up his rundown farm after its products land a villager in grave danger. Meanwhile, Greengrass and Gina try to track down the long-lost brother of a rich Australian who is staying at the Aidensfield Arms because he is offering a reward.

It's Christmas in Aidensfield, and Nick meets two children who have turned to crime to make their ill brother's wish come true. Meanwhile, Ventress and Bellamy attempt to give Blaketon a Christmas to remember by reuniting him with his estranged son. Elsewhere, Kate persuades Greengrass to play Father Christmas for the Christmas concert, but he has bigger worries when he becomes the prime suspect in a spate of Christmas tree thefts.