Sam, who is still stuck in 1977, comes face to face with a man he helped convict of murder in the present day. Some of Sam's methods of police work surprise his colleagues.

At a loss to discover the guilty party in a spate of armed robberies, A-Division goes to prison to escort notorious safe-cracker Dickie Fingers back to CID. However, as they transport him out of the gaol, they are set upon by a dangerous gang who will stop at nothing to get their hands on Fingers.

When a bomb warning is reported, A-Division go on red alert. According to the caller, the IRA has brought their mainland bombing campaign to Manchester.

When the body of a beautiful young woman is found in wasteland, DCI Gene Hunt fears a serial killer he thought he’d sent down in the late Sixties may still be at large. For Sam, the victim, a Beauvoir beauty rep like his Aunt Heather, triggers vivid recollections of childhood.

An urgent investigation of a man who tried hanging himself in A-division puts Sam’s personal problems on hold for awhile.

Sam is bothered by the DCI's bigoted reaction towards the murder of an Asian man. Also, Gene is determined to find the owners of heroin, which shows up in Manchester.

The team try to prove that Gene is innocent when he becomes one of the suspects in a murder case. The investigation heads to a shocking discovery though.

Sam questions the ethics used by the rest of the team. After talking to Morgan what he learns turns his whole life upside down and it also offers him the chance to return to the present.