Series 23 saw the return of several multi-part story arcs, the likes of which had last featured in the second half of Series 17. The series was similar to the late 90s and early 2000s where the police drama and character focus were balanced; however, more individual episodes were emerging than had been the case in the previous series. The show concluded several arcs from 2006 in the first few months including the disappearance of schoolgirl Amy Tennant and DC Zain Nadir's work undercover in a drugs ring, which culminated in his exit alongside PC Honey Harman, who was killed after four years when Zain's girlfriend and drugs baron Kristen Shaw shot her dead in a struggle, Zain jailed for hiding Honey's body. The other big plot was Sergeant June Ackland's romance with school headmaster Rod Jessop, retiring as part of the exit plot for the show's longest-running cast member to date,
Trudie Goodwin, leaving the role of Ackland after 23 years on 8 March 2007. Her exit scenes coincided with three guest appearances by former series regular
Jim Carver, who made a brief return two years after his original exit, having been the co-protagonist with Goodwin in the series pilot in 1983. This was also the last episode not to feature an on-screen title. The series also featured a plot on
honour killing, with the episode it was featured in, To Honour and Obey, being broadcast out of order after its mastertape was stolen in November 2006 along with the one for the previous episode, Blood Money; the episodes were originally due to air in December 2006. Other plots included Superintendent John Heaton being targeted by both a rampaging gunman and a former colleague turned villain, Ray Moore (portrayed by
Mark Bonnar). == Cast changes ==