Pullman's (Amanda Redman) professional and personal worlds collide when the team reopens a case originally investigated by bent copper DCI Bobby McAdam, a colleague of her dead father.

Having discovered that her father, a police hero in her eyes, was being investigated for corruption shortly before his death, Pullman uses McAdam to find out the truth about her dad's past. But the truth leads to a discovery that puts enormous pressure on her already-volatile relationship with her mother, Grace. Meanwhile, the boys are enjoying the fruits of their labour at Felspar's Brewery. Family run, Felspar's was rocked by the death of 26-year-old Chief Brewer Graham Thompson, who drowned in one of the fermentation tanks. At the time of the original investigation, DCI McAdam had been too busy chatting up the victim's girlfriend, Anna Hodgkiss, to bother taking her seriously when she claimed that Graham was anxious about something at work.

However, the team does believe Graham may have been deeply troubled. But does the answer to his death lie with brewery owner, Sir Wilfred 'Freddy' Felspar and those working for him, or does it lie in the beer itself? While Brian (Alun Armstrong) takes on the brewery, Gerry (Dennis Waterman) and Jack (James Bolam) tackle the brew. Surprisingly, both result in the same outcome.