DC Dinah Kowalska discovers a pattern in the deaths of two young women and realises Friday Street Station has a twisted serial killer on its hands. With a third girl already missing, the officers - led by the capable but unstable DI Vivienne Deering - face a race against time to rescue her.
Deering and her squad lose the serial killer case to Maclaren's team after Dinah becomes personally involved with Cathy Calvert, the girl who survived the attack. As recriminations fly, the cops spot a chance to redeem themselves when a lethal new street drug has the locals dropping like flies.
Racial tensions in the area are on the rise when an Asian woman is murdered in what is suspected to be a racist attack. An undercover operation is organised to bring the prime suspect to justice. Deering is finally allowed to resume her place on the serial killer investigation, but time may be running out for her team to catch the murderer, as Dr Peep is convinced that he has missed his fix and will strike again very soon.
DI Vivienne Deering and the long-suffering Friday Street team discovers a scam encouraging people in debt to sell their kidneys on the black market. Meanwhile, the search for another girl kidnapped by the serial killer leads to an important breakthrough in the case. However, it remains to be seen whether it will be enough for Dinah and the team to bring things to a close.
As Paul Abbott's procedural saga continues, there's no shortage of fresh problems for DI Vivienne Deering and her team. The police are readying a trap for the prime suspect in the serial killer case, but their best-laid plans soon come unstuck. The long-suffering law enforcers risk their operation being derailed entirely when a notorious child murderer's new identity is leaked online, so the team have to come up with a new approach - and fast.
Deering leads a manhunt through Manchester as the net closes in on the serial killer. Meanwhile, Joy and Spike discover an unsettling slavery case after a brutal attack on a young homeless man.
The fatal shooting of a respected surgeon leads the team to an unlikely suspect. Meanwhile, Dinah and Deering make disturbing new discoveries in the serial killer case, fearing it might not be over.
Dinah clashes with Deering, setting off an irreversible chain of events which brings them into conflict with their professional duty. Meanwhile, Jonah's job is also on the line when an attempt to save the lives of a mother and baby goes disastrously wrong.
On full surveillance mode, the Friday Street squad have an explosive start to the day, at the funeral of the son of notorious gangster Nora Attah. Straight back in the deep end, DI Viv Deering and the team fight to prevent the breakout of a gang war in the city. Meanwhile Joy and Tegan literally uncover a body of work to piece together a case against the dodgy crematorium owners.
As the team quell the riots that are exploding throughout Manchester, Dinah's discovery of young casualties in a gang-owned property pushes investigations in an unexpected direction. Joy is thrown into freefall after a shock discovery at Friday Street.
The dead vape shop kids are all identified, as Dinah and Deering hunt for those aiding the Attahs in child exploitation.
Tensions run high between Joy, Dinah and Deering over the Attah case and the Friday Street team. And an urgent search ensues when a father reports his teenage daughter missing.
The race to nail the Attahs sows seeds of mistrust and secrecy between Deering, Dinah and Joy. And controversy rains when Deering recklessly co-opts mouthy Donna Calvert to infiltrate the Attah gang. Dinah has to solve a chaotic puzzle at an abortion clinic where a peaceful staff protest takes an unexpected turn and quickly starts to spiral out of control.
With Deering suspended from duty, she runs rogue determined to get Nora. Back at the station, Lickberg tries to control the team, as they urgently up the manhunt for one of the Attahs' missing victims. And an unlikely alliance is agreed between Deering and Nora, who wants to stop an FGM cutter arriving on her patch - and Teegan is sent in under cover.
With Deering, Dinah and Joy's friendship in jeopardy and Donna Calvert missing, the race to prevent the Attahs' escape and to bag them once and for all puts the team's lives at stake. The final action-packed showdown sees Viv at her finest, deconstructing Nora's family, and trying to repair the fractures that have crept in to her own...
A contentious mayoral election is being fought between incumbent liberal Kashif Hassan and political underdog and local-girl-done-good Caroline McCoy. Crowds gather for a mayoral debate between Hassan and political underdog McCoy - only for the hustings to end in bloodshed when an assassin strikes. As Viv Deering and her team investigate, they are forced to infiltrate the far right, and their murky world of political benefactors, if they are to catch the culprit.
Killer Beckett's next target is Manchester's children and Viv and the team must track down the poisoned batch of halal meat that Beckett has unleashed on the city before it's too late. In the hunt to get closer to Beckett, Dinah attempts to win the trust of the undercover cop in the midst of the far-right group Beckett used to be involved in - and uncovers explosive secrets
Election day looms and the team is on high alert, as Beckett's reign of terror appears to be escalating when an elderly Jewish man is found dead in a graveyard. The team is right on Beckett's tail, and a meeting between getaway driver Dennis and Beckett promises to be the key to capturing him.
The team have 48 hours to get Dennis to betray his best friend and turn police informant. When Viv tunnels down to Dennis's deepest insecurities she unleashes more than she could have bargained for.
Caroline McCoy's political reign brings chaos to the streets of Manchester, and catapults hardline DCI Terry Taylor into Friday Street cop shop, to bring the police in line with her agenda
The team are running out of options and their strategy is threatened when one of their own is placed in peril
