Heartbeat - Another Sleepy Dusty Delta Day
Sunday 16 December 2007 8:00pm - 9:00pm on ITV1.
Mason (Joe McFadden) is riding his bike across the moors when he is flagged down by Nancy Beale (Hayley Rudd), with her toddler Peter, standing by the side of the Scarsdale River.
When Mason stops she is tearful and explains her boyfriend, Billy Hudson (Matthew Moxon), has fallen over the bridge. As Mason glances up at the bridge, he sees some movement, but can't make out what or who it is before wading into the river to rescue Billy.
When Bellamy (Mark Jordon) arrives at the scene he questions Nancy as to why Billy was on the bridge. As Mason drags Billy from the river, Bellamy leaves Nancy and checks for vital signs but it's too late. When Bellamy returns to questioning Nancy, Mason observes there is no love lost between them.
Drenched and exhausted, Joe would like to head back to the station, but is reluctant to leave having noted the obvious tension between Nancy and Bellamy. Bellamy insists everything is okay and Mason should get changed. What can have caused the rift between Bellamy and Nancy?
Trouble
Bellamy informs Mason about Nancy and Billy's history. It turns out Nancy's family were trouble and when the couple first got together they were involved with a bad crowd.
There is a mystery surrounding the couple and the disappearance of Edgar (William Rycroft) and Clare Summers' (Leah Muller) baby girl three years previously. Could this be the reason behind Bellamy's hostility towards Nancy?
At the garage, David (David Lonsdale) and Bernie (Peter Benson) are rushed off their feet following Rosie's (Vanessa Hehir) departure.
However, Peggy (Gwen Taylor) is reluctant to help out as she has a new business venture in mind. Bernie is quick to snap at David, because he's unable to keep up with the workload in Rosie's absence.
Stressed
Later that day, as Bernie gets more and more stressed with what he has to do at work, someone leaves a car on the forecourt. David is over the moon when he finds out the car is not to be repaired, but is a gift.
Having dismantled the car, David tries desperately to get the Rolls Royce working. Bad tempered Bernie tells him he hasn't the knack Rosie clearly had. Determined to do his best, will David prove Bernie wrong and will they both be in for a surprise?
Elsewhere, when Gina notices Peggy with a new hairstyle and Oscar (Derek Fowlds) sees her driving a new car, it's obvious she has big plans. As Blaketon and Gina (Tricia Penrose) watch Peggy behave mysteriously outside the garage they see her slide a brown envelope under the door.
Having received the same envelope, Gina shows it to Oscar. After looking inside the envelope, Oscar decides Peggy has gone too far and the police should now be involved. This opinion is held by other members of the village as Younger (Steven Blakeley) informs Sergeant Miller (John Duttine) that Mr Blaketon isn't the only person to complain.
What is the contents of Peggy's envelopes? Has another of Peggy's ventures landed her in trouble? Or is there some other explanation?
Post Mortem
The following day, the post mortem reveals Billy had injuries to his face, neck and hands, causing the police to suspect he may have been involved in a fight shortly before his death. Are the police now looking into a murder investigation?
When Mason and DS Dawson (Clare Wille) find out Billy and Nancy were blamed for the disappearance of Julia Summers, they begin to suspect it may not be a coincidence he fell off the same bridge where Julia was last seen.
However, the only witness who supposedly saw Nancy and Billy on the bridge three years ago with Julia has since died. When Mason and Dawson visit Edgar and Clare Summers to question them about Billy, there are clear signs they are not over the disappearance of their daughter.
The fact Billy died on the day Julia would have turned three years old leads the officers to believe Billy's suicide is more than they first thought.
Delving deeper into the investigation, Dawson and Mason discover from Nancy that the young family were back in the village as Billy was meeting someone. Clearly upset, Nancy confides in the police that Billy refused to say who or why he was meeting somebody. Could this person be behind Billy's death?
When Billy and Nancy's son Peter later goes missing, it seems someone is still convinced the couple are behind the disappearance of Julia. Will the police be able to find Peter before it's too late?
