History     1996  

The year opened with Croft and Skase adopting different tactics when a series of hoax phone calls threatened to tear a family apart (Call Waiting); Boulton was keen to prove himself by arresting a local drug dealer (Outer); and a one hour story saw the tragic drowning of Marshall whilst chasing a suspect (Judgement Call). The new Crime Reporting Computer - CRIS - was introduced (Old Dogs New Tricks); a two part story featured a missing child (Worst Fears and One Night With You); and Beech and Croft were lead on a merry chase when a man was found dead in a car with a large amount of crack cocaine (Stop the Music). 

Chief Superintendent Brownlow's return to Sun Hill caused a stir (Back in Business); a one hour special dealt with a compulsive confessor (Confession); and Stamp suffered a crisis of conscience when he was called to supervise the eviction of a father from his home (Home From Home). The search was on to find the owner of a left-hand found in a rubbish dump (Bits and Pieces); a Hens night saw the relief running around in circles (Girls' Night); and Ackland (pictured) finally got her promotion to Acting Sergeant at least (Dead of Night).

Slater lost a girlfriend for not being truthful about his job (Party Pooper); Boulton's investigation of a local bookie raised suspicions about Beech's private life (Beating The Odds); and Boulton's unorthodox approach riled Carver in a one hour special (Dangerous Game). Acting Sergeant Ackland had her first surveillance job (Decent Proposals); DS Dashwood returned briefly from the Arts and Antiques squad (Going for a Song); and Hollis went undercover in a seedy nightclub (Value Added).

Also that year, Loxton and Page went undercover at a wedding (Cold Feet and Hot Coffee); Jarvis did his advanced driving test at Hendon (Final Drive); Brownlow witnessed road rage (Jekyll and Hyde); and DS Geoff Daly (pictured) made his debut (Knocking on the Door). A sense of humour prevailed when Sun Hill held its annual tea dance for retired officers and police widows and Hollis did his magic act (Dancers); and the tale of a tanker lorry crashing outside a busy tube station and its contents of chemicals spilling out marked the 999th episode (Spill) in which all three emergency services worked together - police, fire and ambulance. 

Monroe investigated when a young boy alleged he was assaulted by a school teacher (Big Bullies); Ackland and McCann took their Sergeant's exams (Theory and Practice); but McCann succumbed to some bad advice; and Daly and Carver went after a missing prisoner hell-bent on restoring his reputation as a hard man (Reminders). Beech employed the help of a teenage car thief to catch a dodgy car dealer (Junior); a group of Brownies visited Sun Hill (A Day in the Life) while Keane struggled with a fatally wounded robber; and WDC Rawton made her debut (Liar).  

The relief celebrated Ackland's promotion to Sergeant - having failed, McCann chose to work rather than party (A Good Night Out); Jarvis (pictured) had to look after a horse in Sun Hill's yard (Champing at the Bit); and Deakin warned Beech that if he had any gambling debts he would be out of the force (Hedging Your Bets). Meadows had to decide where his loyalties lied when an old friend was arrested on a murder charge (Out Of The Past); Hollis clashed with a social worker over the handling of a man recently released from psychiatric care (Road to Recovery); and Quinnan and Greig helped an ex-Sun Hill Sergeant investigate a murder from World War 2 (Old Codgers).

Carver and Rawton unmasked a bigamist (Trust Me); Ackland instigated a policy of officers patrolling alone which proved dangerous (A Woman's Place); and Keane and Slater completed their probation period and underwent the traditional initiation ceremony (Finishing School). Meadows and Deakin investigated the apparent gangland execution of an innocuous taxi driver (Death of a Nobody - 1 hour special); Loxton came under scrutiny from the Complaints Investigation Bureau (Boiling Point); and both Hollis and Skase tried to impress a young journalist spending a day at Sun Hill (Public Relations).

At the end of the year, Croft and Rawton looked into a case involving a dentist charged with indecent assault (Scorned); Daly slipped up when giving evidence in court (A Gun to the Head); and Skase ended up behind bars at Christmas (Merrily on High). Boulton was infuriated when he had to investigate a case involving footballers (Hat Trick); Page and Stamp (pictured) were in pursuit of a missing hearse (Hers); and WPC Jamilla Blake arrived at the station (The Right Thing).