Beyond Paradise

After leaving the Met for the sleepy Devon town of Shipton Abbott, DI Humphrey Goodman quickly makes an impression on the local police force - DS Esther Williams, PC Kelby Hartford and Office Support Margot Martins - as he investigates a reported assault with a very unusual prime suspect: a seventeenth-century witch.Humphrey's got his work cut out at home too as he tries to impress Martha's mother Anne, whilst Martha looks for premises for her café business.

Humphrey and Martha throw themselves into work in an attempt to distract themselves from recent events. For Humphrey, this means investigating one of the strangest cases he's ever encountered: an entire family have vanished from their house, with the TV and lights left on and dinner half-eaten.Meanwhile, Martha nervously prepares for the opening of her new café. Racing against the clock to get it all ready, she is dealt a blow when the bank call to refuse her loan, and her situation isn't helped by Humphrey's impulsive decision to blow their savings on a ramshackle houseboat. Help comes from an unlikely place: local vineyard owner Archie Hughes, who also happens to be Martha's ridiculously handsome ex-fiancé, volunteers to become a partner in the business. This could be the answer to Martha's prayers, but how will Humphrey react?

The community of Shipton Abbott is rocked when a beloved painting disappears in a seemingly impossible heist. Humphrey tries his best to find some common ground with Archie.

Humphrey and the team face one of their strangest cases yet when a dead man is found in the centre of a crop circle. No-one knows who he is or how he got there. Conspiracy theorists suggest aliens are to blame, which seems possible when footage emerges of mysterious lights hovering above the field, but pragmatist Esther is sure that the answer lies closer to home. Brother and sister Andrew and Cassie Parker own North Farm, where the body was found. Do they know more than they're letting on? When the investigation leads the team to the site of an illegal rave, they're reunited with a familiar face who just might be the key to cracking the case wide open.Meanwhile, Martha faces her own professional challenge as her café is visited by a food critic. With Archie's help, she rises to the occasion, but in doing so, misses an important IVF appointment with Humphrey. Given pause for thought, she starts to question what she really wants. Archie, however, misreads Martha's uncertainty for something else, which has unforeseen consequences.

Panic spreads throughout Shipton Abbott when an arsonist targets three local businesses, scrawling 'PIG' at the scene of each fire. Humphrey and the team are baffled until they realise the fires follow an unusual pattern by invoking the Three Little Pigs fable.Meanwhile, Martha is in turmoil over what happened with Archie.

Reeling from Martha's decision, Humphrey must pull himself together to solve an inexplicable crime. A house was burgled and all forensic evidence points to one suspect. The only problem is that this suspect was locked up by Kelby in the station's police cell at the time of the break-in. With the arrival of the suspect's hard-nosed lawyer, the team are under pressure to get results. But with Humphrey distracted, it falls to Esther to take the lead on this investigation and crack the case.Meanwhile, Martha is equally distraught in the wake of recent events. Despite her mother's protestations, she remains firm, however painful it may be. With Humphrey at an all-time low, perhaps an unexpected journey can provide some hope?

As a steam train races through the Devonshire countryside, Humphrey and Esther join the Shipton Abbott Players for a murder mystery rehearsal. Though Humphrey is only playing a detective, things turn from amateur to professional when the actor playing the victim is found dead with a real knife in his back.Life begins to imitate art as the pretend suspects become all too real, and the steam train is scoured for genuine clues. With the victim barely known to his fellow performers, and the whole group under suspicion, the team sets out to unravel a dark past that reveals hidden connections between the actors.Meanwhile, love is in the air as Humphrey and Martha enjoy date nights and Anne throws herself into the world of online dating. But has she bitten off more than she can chew? And it's all change for Humphrey and Martha as they start a new chapter in their lives, embarking on the process of becoming foster parents.

A clairvoyant predicts unusual events that begin occurring in the life of a recently bereaved woman. The team starts to suspect that the psychic's powers might be too good to be true, as the woman starts ending up in more and more dangerous situations. When the team discover a connection to her deceased grandfather, everything begins to fall into place.On the home front, it's a big day for Humphrey and Martha, as they have their fostering interviews. Can they show their social worker Hannah how much fostering means to them, or will their nerves get the better of them?

A fishing trawler heads out to sea with three brothers and their ailing stepmother aboard. When it returns to Shipton Abbott harbour several hours later, only the three fishermen remain. A note found on deck suggests the woman took her own life. As her estranged daughter comes to town to help make funeral arrangements, the simple case grows more complex.Meanwhile, it's the day of the house visit, but it's no plain sailing for Humphrey and Martha. Will the houseboat hit the mark or be an obstacle in their path to fostering?

When a priest from a Catholic boarding school suddenly disappears, Humphrey and Esther find that his case has uncanny similarities to a local myth – ‘The Devil on the Rocks'. Why was he last seen marching on a nearby beach in the middle of a dense fog, and where is he now?With the school's headmistress reluctant to aid the investigation, a large sum of money missing from the school safe, and the priest nowhere to be found, the team have their work cut out trying to pin down the truth.Meanwhile, Zoe helps Martha clean up Ten Mile Kitchen after a break-in, but it's clear she's hiding something. Anne's new flame helps her move onto the Lily Bond as Humphrey and Martha take over her house, but is there more to Richard than meets the eye? Eager to please, Kelby ups his game when Margo suggests his job may not be secure.

On the open ground of Abbott Moor, an early-morning walker stumbles across a chilling sight: a woman, face down on the ground, with an arrow straight through her shoulder. The victim, Niamh Kirby, didn't see her attacker, and there's no trace of their presence or weapon at the scene.As the team dig deeper, they uncover a family feud between Niamh and her brother-in-law. She accused her brother-in-law of murdering her husband, who vanished from Shipton Abbott overnight a decade before, and the bad blood between them has never settled. With answers lying in the past, they find themselves with more than one crime to solve.Meanwhile, other plans are afoot; with the wedding fast approaching, Anne dives headlong into the planning, but Humphrey and Martha worry that she might be a little too invested in their fairytale ceremony after her recent romantic entanglements. Esther wrestles with unexpected consequences when a white lie she told Zoe about her dead father comes back to haunt her.

Humphrey and Martha's wedding day has finally arrived…and now they've come face to face with the lavish affair organised by Anne. But such a big day seems to have come all too quickly, and Anne's plans feel far grander than anything either of them actually wanted.Meanwhile, there's no rest for the Shipton Abbott team. They have to deal with the theft of a valuable museum piece and a nefarious pair of cyber criminals before they can join in the celebrations.With bride and groom running around, and thieves running amok in Shipton Abbott, can the team wrap everything up in time to mark Humphrey and Martha's long-awaited union, or does fate have other plans?

When a body is found in the river on the county border between Devon and Cornwall, Humphrey and Esther are thrown in at the deep end, having to work alongside their Cornish counterparts. While their rivals are quick to brush off the death as a tragic accident, Humphrey's instincts tell him there may be more lurking under the surface.Meanwhile, Martha has her hands full as Ten Mile Kitchen expands to a bigger and bolder venue. With the demands of their careers ever-growing, Martha and Humphrey start to consider what their future may hold.

When Kelby's old friend Emily becomes the target of threatening texts, the team must act fast to uncover who's hiding behind the screen. With Humphrey busy at home, Kelby steps up to help Esther with the investigation, facing endless potential suspects as they delve into the world of social media and online spats.Meanwhile, Humphrey and Martha have a rocky start as they welcome Rosie – their new foster child – into their home and grapple with how to best care for her.Elsewhere, new relations are formed as Esther finds herself in a surprising romantic entanglement and Anne finds solace in an unlikely friend when rocked by a potential health scare.

A local chocolatier falls under suspicion when three customers are poisoned after sampling her confections. Humphrey must explore every avenue to determine whether she orchestrated the attack or was framed.The mystery deepens as the team finds no trace of poison in the remaining chocolates – how did the perpetrator ensure the victims ate the right one? With public panic spreading across Shipton Abbott, the team must work swiftly to uncover the culprit.

It's the final day of the regatta, and rival sailors Francine and Polly are neck-and-neck for the top spot. But just as the race gets under way, disaster strikes. Polly collapses and plunges into the sea, throwing the entire race into chaos.When it's discovered that Polly's smoothie had been tampered with, suspicion starts to grow. All eyes turn to Martha, the seemingly innocent smoothie maker, who now finds herself in the spotlight as an unlikely prime suspect. Martha and Humphrey, already juggling the demands of work and childcare, struggle to stay composed under this new pressure.

As the harvest ends, Stella and George Ellis follow their long-held tradition of hanging a corn doll to mark its close. But this simple ritual takes a darker turn when the doll mysteriously falls and a figure dressed as the mythical Cornman strikes. With their milk ruined and their hay set ablaze, the Ellises are pushed to the brink. Can Humphrey unmask the saboteur before their livelihood is completely destroyed?Meanwhile, Martha and Humphrey embark on a new chapter as foster parents when Rosie begins her first day at Shipton Abbott Primary, while Anne takes a bold step to embrace life to the full.

When nurse Lucy vanishes on her way to the hospital, all eyes turn to Kelby's long-standing nemesis - Josh Woods. Is he up to his old tricks again? But after Josh receives a chilling voicemail, the team start to suspect that something far more sinister is at play. In the recording, Lucy can be heard shouting 'Devil!', followed by a beastly growl. Josh reveals that Lucy's route to work crosses the Devil's Hump, a mound on the outskirts of town rumoured to claim the souls of those harbouring dark thoughts. Could the local legend hold a vital clue to unlocking the mystery of her disappearance?After accidentally crossing the Devil's Hump, Kelby grapples with his own fears surrounding the superstition. While Esther remains a steadfast sceptic, Kelby starts to see signs of the 'devil' everywhere. Opening his mind to the unexpected leads him to an unlikely friendship with Josh. Can they finally put aside their differences to find Lucy?As the case intensifies, Humphrey finds himself torn between the personal and professional. With Rosie's birthday fast approaching, he and Martha are determined to throw her the perfect party. But as they start to enjoy family life, they start to forget how easily things could change. Will their world be torn apart? Elsewhere, Esther faces the consequences of her impulsive decision making. Noticing a shift in her mum's mood, Zoe decides to take matters into her own hands.

Humphrey is beyond excited to be attending a book signing by his favourite crime novelist, Kenneth Linder. But when Kenneth is found dead the next day, Humphrey is baffled to discover that the details of his demise eerily mirror the murder in his final novel. But is it a coincidence or murder by design?Meanwhile, Humphrey and Martha find themselves lost at sea when the Lily Bond is caught adrift. With their houseboat out of action, Humphrey and Martha soon find themselves back with Anne. Reluctant to live with her mother again, Martha is set on finding something more permanent, whilst Humphrey faces an impossible decision at the hub that will change his team for ever.

Humphrey and Esther are just as surprised as owners Clive and June when they arrive at the site of a burglary to discover the crime scene has been meticulously cleaned and returned to its prior state, despite reports that the room had been turned upside down. Clive's office is then ransacked before their house is broken into once again, leaving the couple at their wits' end.Meanwhile, despite putting their fostering journey on pause, Humphrey and Martha find their decision back at the forefront of their minds as they await a message from someone from their past. Kelby grapples with Margo's insistence he keep up positive affirmations whilst dealing with a young teen held captive in a garden shed, and Esther wrestles with a tension headache from a cricked neck and stress. Zoe organises her a massage with a hot new masseuse in Shipton Abbott, but Esther struggles to relieve any tension when she discovers a connection between them.

When the team attend a Dark Morris Dancing event, the ‘Legend of the Knuckerhole Dragon', Margo finds herself at the centre of a crime when a member of her team collapses during their performance. With a severe allergic reaction to blame, and the victim's epi-pen case empty, Humphrey is stumped as to how the attack was triggered unseen whilst all eyes were on the stage.As jealousy and secrets come to light, the targeting of the victim's allergic reaction begins to paint a sinister picture. And with a connection to the crime, Margo is put to the test as she goes undercover to see what clues a familiar face might hold.Meanwhile, Humphrey and Martha take a big step on their homeowning journey, but Humphrey's mind is preoccupied when a powerful figure from the Hub arrives at the station looking for answers. Elsewhere, Esther is floored when Zoe suddenly reveals her decision to travel the world.

The team are baffled when an eyewitness, fisherman Jeff Simmons, swears that he saw a legendary mermaid on the night a seaweed farm was sabotaged. With no logical explanation for how someone could sabotage the farm and get away unseen amongst glowing bioluminescent waters, Esther braces herself for an excited Humphrey to run wild with the possibility that their prime suspect could be a mermaid... though it's clear that something else is playing on his mind.Investigating the nets used to sink the seaweed farm, the only clue Humphrey has to go on is a mysterious tropical shell, along with the discovery that the farm is looking to expand. Could it be a protest from angered environmental groups? A personal vendetta? Or is a vengeful mermaid out to stop those who threaten her seas?Meanwhile, Humphrey and Martha's new house renovations get off to a bad start when Humphrey's attempt at plumbing leads to disaster. Increasingly distracted, Humphrey comes clean to Martha about the weight on his shoulders as Mr Smith ups the pressure from the Hub for his decision. Martha and Esther finally find the time to let their hair down and throw caution to the wind when their night out ends in skinny dipping. And Kelby continues to gush about his new online girlfriend, though Margo reckons she sounds too good to be true.

Humphrey and Esther are left baffled when a dogwalker leads them to a man painted green and bound with ivy. Delving into the mystery of the mythical Green Man, the team discover an off-grid community living off the land. But when their woodland home comes under threat from a developer from the city, tensions rise and accusations fly as the image of the Green Man continues to crop up at crime scenes, including painted across a developer's office as it goes up in flames.Learning more from the two warring brothers who own the land, with one siding with the off-gridders, and the other keen to get the diggers in, it's up to the Shipton Abbott team to uncover the ties that bind and those that don't. But when one alibi doesn't check out, it seems the battle lines in this extreme sibling rivalry aren't as clear-cut as they seem, as dark secrets threaten to be unearthed.Meanwhile, the pressure on Humphrey from Mr Smith continues to mount as the deadline to lose a team member rapidly approaches. A family dinner looks set to offer some respite, but things go from bad to worse when it turns out Anne has invited Mr Smith as her special guest. Elsewhere, a determined Martha shocks all around her when she takes on some of Margo's advice, leaving even Humphrey and Anne speechless. And Kelby is joined by Esther and Margo as he anxiously awaits Agnieszka's arrival from Poland. But as the night draws on and Kelby continues to wait, Margo's theory that he's being scammed looks all but confirmed...

It's Humphrey's last day as detective inspector, but there's no time to dwell, as the whole team is eagerly awaiting the town's annual pirate festival. Danger, however, is ahoy when Geraldine Desai's nautical exhibition goes up in smoke, leading to the ancient treasure map of pirate Elias Cutler going missing amid the chaos. On the trail of the missing map, Humphrey soon has suspicions when he discovers that Geraldine has been selling her memorabilia to pay for her husband's care and recently had the map revalued. Touching base with an antiques dealer, who is adamant the map is worth nothing, the team begin to question if they're dealing with a harmless prank, an insurance job, or something more sinister.Meanwhile, Humphrey frets about a potential leaving party as Mr Smith prepares to take over. Smelling a rat, Anne recruits Martha and Kelby to launch an investigation of her own. Elsewhere, Esther braces herself to say goodbye to her daughter, unaware that Zoe has prepared a shock surprise.