Heartbeat - Season 17

New village bobby Joe Mason gets off to a spectacular start on his first day by single-handedly apprehending three armed robbers who have taken hostages in a church. However, his cocky attitude and his maverick personality alienates even the most friendliest villagers - and his fellow officers. Blaketon is impressed by the newcomer's crime fighting tactics when local troublemaker Tommy Unsworth wreaks havoc. With Miller losing patience and the community against him, Joe feels the strain, until a few helpful words from Ventress and Carol put him straight, whilst Rachel, Bellamy and Younger pursue a professional Manchester gang who are targeting country houses. Meanwhile, Aunt Peggy is up to her old tricks on the lands of Ashfordly Hall, but soon discovers she is no match for the new officer - and neither is his Lordship!

Joe discovers there's more to being an Aidensfield bobby than just crime-fighting when he's called to help Carol deliver a baby, and his animosity to Lord Ashfordly increases when he is arrested on suspicion of attacking a teenage girl who turned up on his doorstep claiming to be his daughter as a result of an affair he had with one of his staff, and Miller is far from impressed by Joe's handling of the sensitive case. Meanwhile, David decides to make a will following another villager's funeral on Blaketon's urging, but an innocent joke from Ventress makes him paranoid that one of the beneficiaries is hoping to secure their inheritance sooner than he anticipated when a series of accidents befall him.

When armed robbers hold up a night mail train, Joe pushes his luck when he interferes in a CID investigation led by his old adversary, the incompetent DI Lundlow. With Miller on the warpath and Bellamy exasperated by his attitude, Joe finds an unlikely ally in Rachel when she discovers Lundlow may know more about the robbery than he is letting on. Whilst Ventress and Younger seem to have warmed to him, Joe has a tough challenge gaining an ally in Bellamy. Meanwhile, Aunt Peggy is thrilled when she learns she has been left a legacy by a distant relative of her late husband.

A trio of Australian sheep-shearers are a big hit with the locals when they arrive in Aidensfield to help out at Grimedale Farm, but when they upset an angry bully desperate to impress his abusive father, it lands one of them behind bars after they are framed for the theft of a watch, whilst Joe and Carol try to protect the farmer's daughter, an aspiring nurse who is being terrorised by her brother. As she locks lips with Australians, Rosie is surprised when another lover from the past makes a reappearance and has to choose between two exciting offers for the future. Meanwhile, Peggy starts a laundry service, but leaves David doing all the work when the washing machine proves to have a mind of its own, Bellamy isn't happy when he discovers Gina has been taking contraceptives and worries she no longer wants a baby, whilst Joe is saddened when Miller tells him that his time at Ashfordly is nearly over as his replacement has been found.

Joe and Rachel investigate when a young father falls off a bridge after returning to Aidensfield with his girlfriend and son. Joe discovers Bellamy harbours a personal grudge against the couple as they were implicated in a baby's disappearance three years previously, and when the couple's son vanishes, they are forced to consider the possibility that the missing baby's broken parents are responsible. Meanwhile, Bernie's spirits are lifted after Rosie's departure when he makes a large amount of money after selling an inherited Rolls Royce to a shady cockney businessman, whilst Miller's worst nightmare comes true when it becomes apparent that there are two Peggy Armstrongs!

Joe prepares to take up his new post in London, although he secretly doesn't want to leave Aidensfield, but with the arrival of Rob Walker's permanent replacement Don Wetherby, it seems it's too late for him to change his mind. Carol is administering vaccinations at the local school when she notices extensive bruising on a boy's body and suspects he is being abused by his stepfather, just as his biological father returns to the area and demands custody of his son. However, tragedy strikes when a violent conflict outbreaks between the angry father and stepfather - with Joe, Bellamy and new recruit Wetherby caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile, Gina and Blaketon organise a charity quiz night on Lord Ashfordly's urging, but the evening is fated to be a disaster when Peggy's competitive streak gets the better of her.

It's a dark day in Aidensfield as the villagers prepare for Phil Bellamy's funeral. Gina is struggling to cope without her beloved and refuses medical help and considers leaving a life of heartache in Aidensfield behind for her old one in Liverpool. An emotional service sees the whole of Aidensfield turning out to say their farewells to the much-loved bobby, with Blaketon paying a touching tribute to his former PC. Back at Ashfordly station, it's business as usual despite the loss of an officer as Joe and Rachel investigate the suspected suicide of a local teacher. Don Wetherby is racked with guilt over the shooting of his colleague, convinced he should have taken the bullet. Despite Miller's reassurances, the bobby believes the villagers will blame him for the death of a close friend and decides to leave - until the sergeant makes him a proposition. Meanwhile, Carol fails to report an elderly motorist involved in a hit-and-run with a cyclist, which proves particularly embarrassing when the cyclist turns out to be none other than a new doctor at the hospital, whilst David is worried when Aunt Peggy takes Bellamy's death particularly badly and vanishes.

Wetherby is far from happy when a face from his past arrives in the Aidensfield and it soon becomes clear that the women is a deranged stalker who contributed to the end of the officer's marriage and the circumstances leading to his placement at Ashfordly station, forcing him to ask Joe for help in getting rid of her when she makes a serious accusation against him. Meanwhile, Bernie's dating weekend with a widower coincides with Ventress and Blaketon's private investigation into a spate of burglaries when they all find themselves staying at the same hotel, whilst Gina resolves to pick up the pieces of her shattered life after a heart-to-heart with Aunt Peggy and returns to work at the Aidensfield Arms, and Carol finds herself attracted to a new doctor at the hospital.

A local reverend becomes convinced an evil presence is at work in the churchyard when Satanic symbols are found painted on the church and a number of gravestones, but Miller thinks it's the work of hooligans. An attack on Lord Ashfordly's godson uncovers information that suggests a more personal motive, leading Joe and the team into the dangerous world of drugs and rock music. Meanwhile, a psychiatrist attempts to help Gina overcome her grief for Bellamy after they hit it off at a dinner party hosted by Carol, but her nightmare worsens when she discovers she is pregnant and wonders whether she wants to keep it.