"Light Duties" sees the series moved to a pre-watershed, twice-weekly timeslot, with episodes shortened to a half hour format. Amid several cases, Sun Hill Station is beset with gossip about the arrival of a new female Inspector.
Sgt. Cryer leads a raid to enforce an eviction order on a squat occupied by upper-class kids. Meanwhile, P.C. Smith and P.C. Haynes are called to the local library where a homeless woman and her kids are sheltering.
Sun Hill launches a mass operation to infiltrate and take down an organised gang of football hooligans. Unfortunately for the undercover Burnside, he's given away by Carver and Roach - even worse for them, he's the new head of CID.
When Carver spots Yorkie having a secret meeting with a drug dealer in a pub, he and Burnside are convinced he's got himself involved in drugs however Yorkie admits that they were for his upcoming rugby match.
Yorkie befriends Mickey Cozen, a man with the mental age of 7. After taking him home, they get into an argument and Mickey knocks Yorkie out. The father then bundles Yorkie and his son into the car and abducts Yorkie.
DS Jarvis arrives in London to arrest a suspect believed to be living in Sun Hill. Uniformed officers attend a bus crash where the driver and passengers are badly injured.
Yorke volunteers to do some work at a youth club, a decision he will later regret when he is forced to deal with a gang of vicious teenagers who go joyriding which later turns into a murder investigation.
Burnside sets a trap to settle an old score by parking a van full of VHS recorders in front of his house with the door open but the trap is back backfires. Tom Penny pays the price for having come back to work too soon after being shot.
P.C.s Melvin and Ramsey conduct an observation from a shed, Ch. Insp. Conway attends a council meeting where his attempts to improve community relations go nowhere, while the arrest of a youth on the Jasmine Allen estate results in a riot.
PC Ramsey befriends Joanna Mancini, a pregnant women suffering from domestic abuse. However, Joanna rejects Ramsey's help and tries to deal with her abusive husband herself which leads to a confrontation.
WPC Brind makes an enemy of Burnside when she gets in the way of a CID operation; she arrests a teenage tearaway on the local estate, she is suspicious about the girl and her family so she decides to investigate.
Cryer and Martella investigate an army surplus shop that appears to be stocked with stolen goods. When two military police arrive to take over the investigation, Cryer discovers that there may be more to the case.
When a young baby is kidnapped by a mystery man, CID turn their attentions to the baby's mother Brenda, who appears to have something to hide. Burnside pushes Brenda to the truth and the man's identity is revealed.
D.S. Roach spots a drug deal taking place on the Rochester Estate, but he, Carver and Dashwood fail to catch the dealers. P.C. Haynes and P.C. Ramsey spot the escaping car in their panda and give chase.
While trying to take their lunch break, P.C. Edwards and W.P.C. Ackland investigate a terrible smell coming from a nearby property, and discover a shed full of battery hens -- both alive and dead.
Sgt Cryer introduces two special constables who will be joining the relief: Mary Kilnair and Brian Defoe. While on patrol with P.C. Edwards, Kilnair is pricked by a junkie's needle, there is concern she may have been infected.
W.P.C. Martella and P.C. Stamp take an American woman who has been caught shoplifting into custody. She is very insistent that the police contact her husband who is staying in a hotel.
It's a busy day on the station front desk, and P.C. Smith fails to notice that someone has left a hold-all next to the desk. When it is discovered, Insp Frazer orders the station evacuated as a safety measure.
P.C. Melvin sees a chemist being robbed, but he has powder thrown in his face and the thieves escape. D.C. Carver spots what looks like a drug exchange and pursues the car.
A schoolgirl has been abducted, and D.I. Burnside is determined to find her. The girl's father is reluctant to have the police involved, as the kidnappers have threatened to kill his daughter if the police are called.
While Melvin and Haynes are on the beat, they are nearly decoyed away from a robbery. Giving chase Haynes is diverted to an armed robbery while Melvin has to let his prisoner go so he can help Haynes.
D.Cs Tosh Lines and Jim Carver are carrying out an obbo (observation) on a man who might lead them to an arms dump. W.P.C. June Ackland and P.C. Pete Ramsey arrest him because he beat his girlfriend who didn't want him to go out.
W.P.C. Brind takes part in a television reconstruction to help find a missing woman, due to her resemblance to the person in question. Meanwhile, Roach and Carver investigate a video piracy ring, and uncover a far more serious crime.
D.I. Burnside visits D.C. Carver's prisoner, and interrogates him alone, against regulations, leaving Carver outside wincing at his methods as he hears Burnside bellowing at the prisoner.
W.P.C. Brind is called to the house of an elderly lady, who has just been robbed. The old lady is in such a state of shock, she attacks Brind and then suffers a heart attack. It appears there's been a spate of burglaries.
P.C. Haynes arrives at a house to investigate what seems like a routine disturbance. Instead he finds a bailiff who has been shot in the hand while trying to evict the lodger in the upstairs room.
Frazer witnesses an accident on the way to work. On informing the man she has rescued she is a police officer he hits her. Ramsey deals with a victim of assault and an old lady helps Mike Dashwood with info about motorbike muggers.
D.I. Burnside receives a phone call from an Asian boy who is frightened that a gang from the White Swan pub are planning to attack his father's restaurant. D.C.s Carver and Lines check it out but their car gets turned over.
Neighbours report an elderly man who hasn't been seen for days. P.C. Ramsey breaks into the house to find the man dead on the floor. It becomes apparent that the man had a fetish for restraining women against their will.
Yorkie and Haynes investigate a removal van. The elderly driver doesn't think the company is to be trusted and he is proven right after visiting the station three times. Tosh's wife turns up looking for housekeeping money.
Sun Hill police are being called out to a series of bogus shouts which the Yard pins down to a computer hacker breaking into the police computer network. Sgt Cryer investigates, and finds a former university student.
An excavator on a building site has uncovered some human remains, and Sgt. Cryer calls in C.I.D. Cryer is avoiding returning to the station, as his son Patrick is being charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
D.C. Dashwood and D.C. Carver are on an observation in a street where a spate of burglaries has taken place. They see a young man, Kevin Boswell, climbing over a wall with a bag full of 50p pieces, and they arrest him for theft.
