Heartbeat - Season 13

Merton is put under pressure when a group of youths commit a number of serious offences in the village and they are suspected of drug-dealing when Liz hands in amphetamines found stashed in a local boy's bedroom. She refuses to reveal who passed on the drugs due to patient confidentiality rules, but Merton heads for the surgery regardless, pretending to see Jenny, who promptly calls off the wedding when she discovers her fiancé used the visit to sneak a look at the patient list. As Merton becomes concerned with saving his relationship, Steve tries to gain the trust of a young biker and his girlfriend in his efforts to nail the bullying ringleader. Meanwhile, David and Bernie are losing their patience with Vernon's airs and graces as he continues to enjoy his newfound wealth, especially when he employs a distinguished chauffeur who is used to skivvying for royalty. With an image to maintain, Vernon begins searching for a new house: His interest in one particular house lands him in trouble when some bronze figures are stolen immediately after his viewing, whilst Bellamy treats Gina to a holiday in the Highlands.

Steve investigates a fire at a textile warehouse and it soon emerges that the owner's wife has spent time behind bars for fraud, and her husband isn't too forthcoming when questioned, leading Merton to suspect the blaze was the outcome of a bitter feud between husband and wife. Meanwhile, Vernon moves into his new mansion, but has trouble keeping up with his well-to-do neighbours. Meanwhile, Vernon moves into his new mansion, but David isn't too keen on joining him. Trying to impress his neighbours, Vernon ends up going into business with a silver-tongued housewife involving horse-drawn hearses. However, he finds himself forced to choose between his new friend and surrogate son David. Elsewhere, tension boils over between Jenny and Merton following recent events.

Liz faces a tough time when one of her patients develops a heavy drinking problem after being left to look after her two mischievous young sons whilst her husband is working abroad, and the doctor's efforts to help leads to trouble with Steve when she is caught drink-driving. Meanwhile, Vernon learns the true value of friendship when a gambling addict kidnaps David and demands a ransom from the wealthy entrepreneur, whilst Bellamy and Gina return from their holiday with exciting news - they're having a baby!

It's Merton and Jenny's big day, although the event doesn't go according to plan when a former CID colleague of Merton's asks the team to track down an ageing bank robber known as "Ronnie the dog man". Things begin to go wrong when Jenny's disgraced brother Steve returns, claiming to be a changed man and desperate to make amends. Meanwhile, Vernon promises Jenny that he will catch a fresh wild salmon for the wedding, only for Bernie to be more successful than him, whilst Bellamy turns to Blaketon when Gina becomes paranoid that he only wants to marry her because she is pregnant.

With Merton on honeymoon, acting Sergeant Ventress goes in search of a bogus waterboard official who has been robbing the elderly, but ends up investigating a suspicious death linked to one of the burglary victims. Meanwhile, Blaketon restages a pre-war darts tournament between the Aidensfield Arms and rival pub, the White Lion, to reclaim a silver trophy that the Aidensfield Arms originally won. David is upset when Blaketon rejects him as a team-member and joins the White Lion darts team instead, and Gina faces a few obstacles in her impending marriage to Bellamy.

Merton and Jenny's honeymoon is cut short when Jenny's health takes a turn for the worse, and Merton receives another blow when he returns to Ashfordly station to find Ventress has let standards slip in his absence, which has incurred the wraith of a constabulary inspector whose car has been stolen. With the reputation of the station at stake and a flash car to find, the team have a lot on their plate when a crooked travel agent cashes in on local holiday-makers absence. Meanwhile, Vernon's fortune comes crashing down when he makes a disastrous investment whilst organising a Bentley rally at Ashfordly Hall, whilst Gina isn't happy at the thought of giving up the Aidensfield Arms to marry a policeman.

Steve and Liz help a young women fight a custody battle for her orphaned siblings following the death of their father. Blaketon feels a sense of responsibility towards the family as he was good friends with the patriarch. The case proves very personal for Steve as he is reminded of his own uproaring childhood. However, not all goes to plan when one of the parentless children become linked to a series of break-ins. Meanwhile, Vernon bounces back after losing his fortune by opening up a caravan park, but the campers are not impressed when he leaves David in charge of the entertainment.

Blaketon asks Steve to accompany a group of delinquents on an outdoor adventure course on the moors, but trouble is not far behind when two cousins manipulate their way onto the trip with an ulterior motive. Meanwhile, Vernon's latest venture sees him unsuccessfully trying to persuade Lord Ashfordly to rent out Ashfordly Hall to a religious sect looking for somewhere to hold their meditation convention. Elsewhere, Steve's mother Babs returns to Aidensfield and makes it clear she is back for good by getting a job as assistant librarian to Joyce Jowett.

An elderly man reports an unusual break-in, during which the uninvited visitor left a mysterious statue on the kitchen table. It soon emerges that it is just the first in a series of unexplained events, as a police phone box arrives and then disappears from his garden, cement is delivered to his house for no apparent reason and a fire is started in his garage. Acting Sergeant Nokes advises Steve to dismiss it as it is not technically a police matter, but the officer's curiosity causes him investigate further. Meanwhile, Vernon is called up for jury service, but soon finds it's not as much fun as he hoped, whilst David is left to hold the fort back in Aidensfield in his absence. Elsewhere, Gina goes back to Liverpool as her dilemma about her imminent wedding continues.

Vernon is left fighting for his life when he buys a batch of soil for his new compost-producing venture, and Liz finds herself under increasing pressure when a lot of villagers wind up dead, whilst Steve is pre-occupied when the seductive Sergeant Nokes tries to seduce him. Meanwhile, Gina's absence is having a profound effect on Bellamy.

A dysfuctional family causes all manner of personal troubles for the officers of Ashfordly when Bellamy accidentally runs down a local boy whilst chasing joyriders, his father demands compensation and his sister, a maid at Ashfordly Hall, falls pregnant, claiming Steve Crane is the father! Meanwhile, David is hired by Lord Ashfordly to rid the land of Ashfordly Hall of moles.

Blaketon is one of many suspects under suspicion when a hardened criminal, who claimed to be wrongly convicted of murdering a local factory owner, is killed after returning to Aidensfield to confront the past. Meanwhile, a recently widowed woman arrives in Aidensfield wanting to bury her late husband in the family grave, but the dead man's brother refuses to co-operate because of an old feud. Vernon and David attempt to broker peace and find themselves held at gunpoint as a shocking case of fraud comes to light.

Gina makes a surprise return to Aidensfield and Bellamy's delight sees him take his eye off the ball when he encounters a key informant who proves to be quite useful, causing catastrophic consequences for his career when the informant disappears before he can give the police a tip-off about an imminent armed robbery performed by a highly-dangerous London gang. Meanwhile, Lord Ashfordly hires a new land manager called Ben Morton, who faces opposition from protesting villagers when he makes plans to tear down the cottages tied to the estate. Liz joins the protest alongside Jenny, causing sparks to fly between her and the newcomer, whilst Vernon buys a miniature railway from Lord Elisby's bankrupt estate in his latest scheme to impress the local royalty.

Merton is reluctant to involve his team when one of Liz's patients becomes convinced her husband is trying to kill her - until she is nearly killed by a runaway tractor. Meanwhile, Vernon's pest control solution jeopardises Aidensfield's chances of winning the "Best Kept Village" award, leaving him to contend with a furious Blaketon's wraith. Elsewhere, Steve is smitten with Gina's cousin Diana when she turns up to help Gina with the wedding preparations, whilst Bellamy neglects his police work to plan the wedding and faces a dilemma when trying to find a best man.

A heartbreaking chain of events are set in motion when Gina goes into premature labour after she is caught in the crossfire of a punch-up in the Aidensfield Arms, whilst Merton is delighted when his team seize the chance to bring a major drugs operator to justice, but one of the officer's oversteps the mark when they develop a personal grudge against the LSD dealer.

Jenny falls victim to con-men who have devised an elaborate loan and savings racket to fleece unwitting villagers. Meanwhile, Vernon, Bernie and David put their artistic prowess to the test by entering a poetry competition run by the Ashfordly Gazette, and their competitive spirit soon causes friction between the trio, whilst Blaketon fears Gina and Bellamy's grief is pushing them apart rather than bringing them together.

Bellamy's fiery temper boils over in dramatic style against a snobbish nobility and a charmer with an eye for Gina when the team pursue a sniper who has been improving his skills at clay-pigeon shoots. Meanwhile, Vernon decides to venture into the bed-and-breakfast market - but his cooking skills leave a lot to be desired.

Merton's police work finally has consequences for his marriage when he is forced to investigate Liz's professional competence when one of her patients, a former Formula 1 driver, dies of an insulin overdose. Meanwhile, Vernon meets his match in a charismatic wheeler-dealer, and the pair embarks on a mission to make Aidensfield sparkle with a new brand of cleaning products.

Steve and Liz comes to the aid of an amnesiac struggling to piece together his identity, but they soon discover jogging the newcomer's memory may not be a good idea when they become uncover a shocking case of domestic violence. Meanwhile, Bernie and David are once again left picking up the pieces when Vernon becomes morbid and sets out to make an everlasting impact on the world, whilst Jenny issues Merton a few home truths about the troubles in their marriage.

In his final case before retirement, a downbeat Ventress mounts a large-scale surveillance operation in an effort to nail the son of the biggest rug manufacturer in Yorkshire when he begins de-fleecing sheep in Aidensfield. Meanwhile, Bernie finds himself in hot water with a Australian newly arrived in Britain to bury his estranged father, who has already been buried by the undertaker, whilst Blaketon fends off the advances of a local widow.

After David witnesses a man getting thrown off a moving train, it leads to Steve foiling an armed robbery at Ashfordly Hall, but also leaves an escaped convict loose in Aidensfield. As the team pursue him, Ventress feels lost without the police force and is delighted when Merton comes up with a solution. Meanwhile, Vernon is stalked by a donkey, but later turns it to his advantage by opening up a donkey sanctuary, only to have his plans opposed when he discovers a sanctuary already exists in the village.

The police are puzzled when it seems a retired colleague of Ventress and Blaketon's has become the unlikely victim of vandalism. Suspicions are soon aroused over the reasons for his sudden return to the village and his connection to a prominent judge who is staying at Ashfordly Hall. Meanwhile, Vernon encounters dangerous wildlife as he stashes his capital in Ashfordly woods following a visit from the Inland Revenue, but decides to turn the incident into another money-making scheme, leading the entrepreneur into further peril.

Merton isn't happy at the prospects of dozens of dangerous drivers when Aidensfield hosts a prestigious car hill-climb. The villagers aren't happy either, and when a saboteur begins causing chaos, the team face a race against time to identify the culprit and prevent a catastrophic disaster. Meanwhile, Bernie finds an old car in a cowshed and decides to renovate it, giving Vernon his chance to scoop the winnings in the car hill-climb event.

A seemingly straightforward burglary enquiry takes an unexpected turn when the victim is found to be leading a double life and suspicions are raised that the break-in could have been part of an insurance fraud. Meanwhile, Blaketon falls for the charms of a lady solicitor and teams up with Ventress to help her track down the beneficiaries of an unusual bequest, but the ageing detectives struggle to work in a partnership, and when David is recruited as their driver, he finds himself acting as peacemaker.

A little girl disappears, prompting Merton to begin a desperate search, convinced her errant father has snatched her. Blaketon decides to lend his expertise to the case - only to end up fighting for his life. Steve and Bellamy's dedication to duty sees them placing their lives on the line to rescue the youngster. Meanwhile, Vernon offers his services in pest control when the Aidensfield Arms is hit by a rat infestation.