For a cop, Christmas can be the hardest time of the year. Jo can't wait to eat, drink and be merry with her nearest and dearest. Tess is determined that Hayley has her best Christmas ever.

Tom finds parenthood is no easier the second time around. First his younger stepson is injured in an anti-abortion rally, then the older one admits to having caused the pregnancy of a local girl. To cap it off, his daughter gets defensive because her flatmate is a suspect in the brutal attack of the local doctor, who is running a controversial women's clinic. Tom recognises that his elder stepson isn't a kid any more and an unexpected bond forms between them.

With the turn of the millennium just weeks away, Inspector Falcon Price pulls an impromptu blackout at the station to test the Heelers' preparedness for potential Year 2000 problems. There can be no cause for alarm if the police force and emergency services are ready for every situation. Jack finds Gary Scully dangling in a net up a tree on the Janssen property, the victim of a crude but effective man trap and saves him. Ben's daughter Emma returns to the Watchhouse after a stint in hospital but her presence is a painful reminder for PJ of Ben and Maggie's vigil over Emma's sickbed. They make a picture perfect family. PJ tells Ben he can no longer stand in the way of Maggie's happiness and asks her to consider Ben as her future partner. Now Maggie must choose between her troublesome love for PJ and growing intimacy with Ben. The Heelers talk to the Jenssens about the mantrap and learn the family has been zealous in their Y2K preparations. The family expects the worst case scenari

(from tv guide): Jonesy gets itchy feet when a hack wrestling troupe he once worked for comes to town. Meg, the owner, is an old flame and she makes her interest in Jonesy clear. The troupe is struggling to stay afloat and the theft of a valuable wrestling belt places their future under threat. Meg's plans for the troupe are unpopular with the older wrestlers. Did one of them steal the belt in an effort to protect their history? A pyrotechnics accident leaves one old wrestler badly burnt and Meg leans on Jonesy for support. Jonesy is disbelieving as evidence mounts against his old girlfriend. Would she risk someone's life to get her own way? Tess thinks so. As the troupe continues to splinter, Tess questions Jonesy's objectivity. Jonesy is torn when Meg asks him to leave the Force and join her and the troupe. Does he know her as well as he thought? Where is his future?

Ben becomes the victim of anti-gay slurs when his hairdresser friend, Tony, arrives in town. Prejudice builds however, when Tony's popularity wilts the opposition and happy clients confide their closest secrets to him. Someone it seems, confided too much, and Ben finds Tony dead in the salon stabbed in the neck with a pair of scissors.

Rivalry runs rampant between Chris and her opponent in the lead up to council elections. The community is split over a decision to ban men from the pools for Muslim women-only swimming sessions.

Jonesy finds his career on the line as he attempts to protect Donna, and so he is stunned when he learns that she is a call girl. When they are attacked by Theo, and Jonesy claims that Donna was abducted, Amy soon doubts his theory - thinking that Donna faked her abduction. Susie soon joins in on this theory, after Donna tells her that she has Jonesy now, and Susie can never have him back. Although Jonesy is allowed to return to work, and attempts to patch things up with the others, he is still seeing Donna - and is stunned when she tells him that a missing man named Hugo Allen was killed by Theo, and that Theo is actually a hired hitman.

When a pub patron orders a pie and bites into a dead mouse, the Heelers investigate a food-contamination scare in Mount Thomas.

Tom is sent away for some retraining, leaving the station seriously understaffed. Things go from bad to worse when the computer system goes down, an old man goes missing, and a young mother's car is stolen with her baby asleep in the back seat.

Mt. Thomas's resident witch, Siobhan Kennedy is back in town. Her arrival coincides with rumours that someone is taking money for lifting curses on people in Mt. Thomas. Ben is horrified to discover that a pregnant women is paying someone so that she will bear a healthy child. At first he is convinced that Siobhan is dealing in the evil eye, but soon realises that she is worried as he is. But a prerequisite of faith is not to be questioned, so those who believe they are cursed will not help Ben in his enquiries. And if no-one lays a complaint, the police cannot proceed any further. Frustrated at every turn in his attempt to uncover what he believes to be a scam on women in highly stressed, emotional states, Ben must find alternative paths to the truth. In his quest, Ben must not only question his own belief systems, he must be prepared to welcome assistance from someone who throws those beliefs into further doubts. But the life of an unborn child is at stake, and Ben learns that blind

Relations between Tess and Jo are becoming more and more strained. Tom decides to give Jo a case of her own to run to prove herself and when a theft at a local factory is reported, it seems the perfect opportunity for Jo to save her skin and her career. But a straight forward theft turns into a professional nightmare and she finds herself possibly facing criminal charges

A domestic at the church finds Jonesy's mate's wedding coming to a standstill. Geoff Vincent and Charmian Blakeney are planning to get married the following day but her father Ned is fighting with his ex-wife Hilary and her young lover Damian. To add to this, the best man - Wolfie Schmidt is having serious troubles. The wedding rings are missing, one of which was Ned's mother's. Sleazy jeweller Harold Craig has no idea where they are either, and although the Heelers have suspicions, he can't help them.

When the victim of a motor accident claims his good Samaritan is trying to kill him, and two local farmers who have lost their mother suddenly come into money and their life changes, Tess and Jonesy have to learn to work together again when a dangerous situation occurs. Meanwhile, Liz is endangered and PJ has to come to terms with how serious he is about her, but she decides to go back to Melbourne. However there is definitely some unfinished business between these two... And Jo studies for her upcoming Senior Constable exam, will she get it?

Tess and Jonesy disagree about how to deal with a gang of troublesome teenage boys who seem to be beyond the reach of the law. The situation becomes complicated when a group of concerned citizens decides to take the law into their own hands. An injury to an old woman leads to retaliation with serious consequences for one of the youngsters. When Jonesy finally realises the source of Tess' intolerance, he helps her experience the childhood she never had.

Matt's military past is revealed as he is investigated by his peers in relation to a murder, while Amy grudgingly notes Jonesy's potential as a detective. Meanwhile, suffering from post-traumatic stress, Kelly makes a serious error in judgement which leads to a harrowing showdown with her number one fan.

It's Halloween in Mt. Thomas, and when Dash and Adam are sent out to apprehend what they assume is a seasonal prank—a naked man. Dash is astonished to discover it is her brother Ian, the victim of his bucks party the night before. Ian's wedding is only two days away, and Dash is horrified to discover his fiance in bed with a German tourist. But Ian is prepared to overlook her indiscretion and ignore warnings from Dash. Can Dash change her brother's fate in time?

Mt. Thomas is in the grip of fear as a serial killer stalks the area. But as police from around the state work to bring the man down in an organised sting, Adam notices a bystander behaving strangely and, acting on his instincts, brings the man into custody. In one swift move Adam ends the manhunt and makes himself a hero. As the Heelers review the event, the discussion turns to the new technique of ""profiling."" Maggie has recently learnt about it in a seminar and Adam is fascinated with its capabilities. But Nick maintain that it was old-fashioned policing that had captured the killer the day before, and it'll be the same thing that catches another killer tomorrow. Adam's interest in the issue stays keen as he helps to investigate a quick succession of fires at the local primary school.

Susie and Evan make the horrifying discovery of about 50 dead kangaroos, looking to have been ripped apart with an automatic rifle. As debates rage over whether or not to thin out kangaroo numbers, the farmer who owns the land where the dead roos were found comes under suspicion. He denies it and suggests a mate he served with in Vietnam might be responsible for it, thinking that slaughtering the kangaroos might send a message to not have a cull. As the Heelers dig deeper, it is discovered that a cache of weapons from Vietnam had been kept, but when they come to seize them, some turn up missing. Now the race is on to find the weapons and whoever might be holding them.

Dash & Nick are called out to an old farmhouse where they discover a vandalised room, a terrified child and swinging from a light fitting, a dead lamb.

A horse endurance race presents problems for the Heelers with both a sabateur and a thief on the loose. Dash and Maggie can't escape Johnny Kowalski's womanising and the team face PJ's return with mixed feelings.

Nick is delighted when his old friend Gordy Muir turns up in Mt. Thomas to run a ""war games"" course for corporate clients, and thrilled when Gordy offers him a partnership in the new venture. But things quickly go sour when the observing senior partner of a law firm is injured during a mock ambush on the paint splat course, and the Heelers are called in to investigate.

Ben is coaching a school swimming team and is surprised when one of the girls, Chloe, develops a crush on him. That night he drives her home and she throws herself at him. When he arrives back at the station, her mother is filing a sexual assault charge against him.

The Heelers are called to the local women's prison after a number of attempts had been made to break in, including a young boy who wants to see his mother. When a digital camera is found inside, the prison warden and director come under suspicion for hiring out the detainees for illicit purposes.

The new probationary Constable, Dash McKinley, arrives in Mount Thomas much to Tom's annoyance and Adam's delight. Meanwhile, a young woman turns up to confront a wealthy family with the news that she is a long-lost daughter, returned from the dead.

The Heelers are drawn into a hostile domestic situation when a distraught man arrives in Mt. Thomas to find his missing lover, who is terminally ill. Robert is sure his long-time partner, Peter Jones, has returned to make amends with his parents, whom he hasn't seen for 8 years. As Peter is not officially missing, Jack can do nothing to help him and is assaulted by an overwrought Robert. Behind the station counter, emotions are on a short leash as Ben and Maggie struggle to come to terms with their impassioned kiss at Ben's birthday bash. A few drinks, some silly games, a fine time had by all and then, somehow, it just happened. What now? Ben longs to pursue the matter with Maggie, who avoids him, unable to admit her true feelings. Although he seems genuine, Robert skirts some incriminating details of his relationship with Peter. The Heelers learn that theirs was a tumultuous household and that Peter has a history of prostitution. Could Peter be hiding from a violent domestic situa