In Series Three of this outstanding police procedural drama sees the role of Chief Constable passing from John Stafford (Tim Pigott-Smith) to former Metropolitan Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alan Cade (Martin Shaw George Gently, Judge John Deed).As John Stafford takes up a new position with Europol, Alan Cade replaces him as Chief Constable at Eastland, East Anglia.While Cade is every bit as capable as his predecessor, he finds that the challenge of frontline policing continues to be eclipsed by the pressure to manage ever-tighter budgets and justify expenditure. Sharing Staffords tolerant but scrupulous approach, he also faces ongoing conflict with his superiors, and certain local politicians whose cavalier attitudes towards issues of civil liberties contrast sharply with his own.