Merseybeat

Supt Susan Blake returns to work from maternity leave. For PC Steve Traynor the day starts rather differently. Within the station, as the news spreads of their colleague's injuries reaches the officers, emotions are running high.

The day starts badly for Steve - he has slept through his alarm. His concerned colleagues have to break into his flat to get him up for work. The team responds to a call about a till snatch from a newsagents.

Bill faces a life-or-death situation when he and Steve chase two men who have broken into the home of an antiques dealer, and Jim Oulten faces financial and marital problems.

Steve and Larry go undercover to catch muggers and Steve finds himself facing an old woman with a submachinegun; a pregnant woman makes a confession to an off-duty Susan; Connie puts her career ahead of a family life; and Steve narrowly escapes being blown up by a hand grenade dropped by the old woman whose husband collected war memorabilia.

A past case comes back to haunt Susan, but it is Jim who makes a grave error of judgement, which puts a suspect and his daughter in danger. Meanwhile, Steve continues his reckless behaviour and hopes to cover up that he has crashed a squad car in a high-speed chase.

Miriam oversteps the mark after being called to a domestic violence case, which forces Susan to face some unwelcome memories. Meanwhile, Steve and Connie pick up a youngster suspected of credit card fraud, little realising they know his cousin rather well.

Jim and Susan go after a former cop who's gone on the lam after being sentenced to five years in prison. Meanwhile, Susan is struggling to make time for her family and Jim is devastated after his wife asks for a divorce. Jackie runs into her old friend Jodie from their training days, and together they bring a touch of glamour, energy and tough-talking to Newton Park Police Station. There's never a dull moment when the two of them are around and it soon becomes clear that their relationship's going to be far from plain-sailing.

On the morning after her rape, Susan develops an idea of who her attacker might be. Jim pursues a reconciliation with his estranged wife. Jodie queries Steve about his unprofessional relationship with a nightclub owner. Larry gets a tip from an unusual source.

Jodie has a disturbing case where a 12-year-old boy may be abusing his younger sister. Jim is in for a shock when Jodie lets slip the news of Susan's attack, but Susan refuses to go public. Steve is also keeping quiet about his forbidden romance with Blue, even when he has to investigate an attack on her club.

PC Jodie Finn breaks Supt Susan Blake's confidence by revealing to Insp Jim Oulton that only days ago, Susan was raped in the car park. Appalled, Jim confronts Susan, keen that they should begin an investigation and find her attacker. Jim discovers that not only has Susan disposed of all evidence she also hasn't told her husband, Al, about the rape. Susan insists she'll not be forced into telling Al or reporting the incident - it's her choice. PC Steve Traynor's also keeping secrets - his strictly off limits relationship with night-club owner, Blue McCormack. However, when Blue's bar is vandalised Steve looks in serious danger of compromising himself professionally as he investigates the crime as an officer. Things just get worse when Blue reluctantly confides in him that the attack was not perpetrated by kids as she suggested to Sergeant Connie Harper, but the work of businessman and professional criminal, Phil Brack. Brack supplies knock off cigarettes and hasn't been too thrilled th

Susan tries to convince her husband that he could not have prevented the rape. Jim questions Susan's ex-husband, Guy Morgan, but is unable to break his alibi. Further enquiries lead the police to Cody Martin, who has a history of sex crime and eventually confesses to the attack. But inconsistencies in his story convince Jim that the real rapist has yet to be caught.

Jim wonders whether a psychic can provide any clues in Susan's rape. Connie and Jackie take opposite sides in a dispute between neighbours. Steve decides on a course of action that defies both his colleagues and his own moral code.

PCs Larry 'Tiger' Barton and Jackie Brown were called out to an incident on the Maple Court Estate. A young child lay unconscious. How much did anyone see of the crime? It turns out that a couple, Kim and Tom Vale, returned from their honeymoon to sounds of a scuffle in the next door flat and a child screaming. Tom went to investigate and found 11- year-old Callum being attacked by a thug looking for money. Both Callum and Tom were injured in the struggle. But Tiger and Jackie couldn't work out why Tom, even though he got a clear view of his attacker, was reluctant to testify against the thug? Meanwhile, with his marriage over, Superintendent Jim Oulton was putting all his efforts into efficiency at work. With new boy PC Glenn Freeman flavour of the month, would PCs Jodie Finn and Jackie Brown have to buck up their ideas? With the introduction of a CID Unit at Newton Park came DI Pete Hammond. But his presence looked set to hinder the investigations of Jim and his team, when the vital

PC Larry 'Tiger' Barton is feeling low and isn't focused in his job. Sidekick PC Glenn Freeman is on the case though and takes charge of what seems to be a simple dispute at the river. But it soon turns onto something more serious. There's a dead woman's body in the river. Jim Oulton and Charlie Eden discuss Tiger's love life - his wedding day is fast approaching! Is that why his mind on his wedding or is it connected with previous week's tragedy when a police car chase, with Tiger at the helm, went wrong and a woman was killed? Probably both! Charlie Eden and Jodie Finn visit the man who's related to the dead woman found in the river. She's his wife and he has no idea that she's missing. He takes the news particularly badly - badly because he thinks he must have killed her while having one of his frequent stress-related attacks... but Charles isn't so sure. CID's Pete Hammond continues to win friends and influence people in his position at Newton Park. He and Inspector Charlie Eden ar

PC Glenn Freeman seems to be moonlighting as a limo driver - what's going on there? He certainly seems to be enjoying the female perks that seem to come with the job...! But is there more to it than meets the eye? It's the eve of PC 'Tiger' Barton's wedding. Jim Oulton is determined that he'll enjoy his last night as a free man. PC Jodie Finn finds a a kid home alone and investigates the boy's parental situation. She finds a situation more complicated than she'd imagined. CID's Pete Hammond needs to work closely with ex-love Inspector Charlie Eden - will it go smoothly? Meanwhile, PC Jackie Brown and DI Vince Peterson discuss their bosses previous relationship whilst on lookout.

PC Jackie Brown arrests a woman for stealing a baby from a maternity unit. But is she a distraught mother who needs support and sympathy - or are her motives more sinister? Inspector Charlie Eden is less than amused to find out her next job involves posing as a couple with ex-boyfriend DI Pete Hammond. Newton Park has a celeb in its midst! Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy turns up. But Jim Oulton is less than impressed - he supports Everton! Jim Oulton tries to arrest Danny Murphy for driving with illegal tyres - but is he about to make a fool of himself?

Jim's father Bernie Oulton and Bill Gentle reinvestigate an old murder case, when new evidence suggests that the man who was convicted, and who has since died in prison, was innocent. Jackie Brown and Jodie Finn hunt for money that has gone missing from a recently dead man's mattress.

When an elusive sex attacker strikes again, Newton Park is under pressure to catch him before another attack occurs. Natalie's work and home life is thrown into direct conflict when she discovers that her brother has lost his job and has turned to stealing cars for a living.