Probationary PCs Ben Hayward and Roz Clarke arrive for their first day at Sun Hill, and are subjected to a series of wind-ups by the relief. Boyden tricks Clarke into thinking that he has hit a pensioner in the surveillance van, while Stamp and Quinnan subject Hayward to the ride of his life in the area car. Hayward manages to stop a curb-crawler who evades capture, but his arrest is thwarted by Hollis. Meanwhile, Hagen and Rickman spin Clarke a story about 'nipper' Cryer, the famous bum-pinching sergeant, and Klein gets Worrell to be pretend to a dead body in order to wind up Hayward. However, the joke backfires when an angry and upset Hayward is punched in the face by Stamp.

Hayward and Clarke try to redeem themselves after a disastrous first day, and decide to exact revenge on the wind-up merchants on the relief. Ackland is furious to learn that half of the relief are involved in the wind-ups, but is even more upset to discover Boyden played the worst trick of all. Meanwhile, after a curb-crawling class at the station, Hayward, Clarke and Page investigate when a tom is burgled and the ashes of her best friend are stolen. Hayward and Clarke believe not only have they discovered who is responsible, but they may have cracked the identity of her best friend's murderer as well, however they are brought back to earth by a tragic twist. Clarke exacts the ultimate revenge on Klein after she discovers he fancies her.