Matlock's town matriarch, Grace Falconer, is brutally attacked and robbed. Suspects include a group of hippies who become involved in town affairs when a local girl's horse is shot, two yobbos on a hunting trip who are found trespassing, and a handyman recently sacked by Mrs. Falconer - who refuses to account for his movements on the night in question.
Local tough guy Brownie Merkle becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a man and the disappearance of another when he suddenly begins paying his debts, and Det. Sgt. Maddern finds his attention diverted from his marital problems.
The search for a trio of prison escapees, Carol Price, Judy Bennett and Bob Pollard, endangers many lives when searchers and escapees alike are caught in a bushfire.
A mysterious hermit, has lived in a shack outside Matlock for seven months. Suddenly, his past and present catch up with him, when he is terrorised by three local youths. When one is accidentally blinded, Chip Richardson burns down Herman's shack and later blames him for the accident. Herman takes off in panic and the police mount an intensive search for him.
A motel robbery and the death of a young police constable in a car accident lead to the revelation of several Matlock townspeople's personal conflicts.
Matlock police investigate a complaint of carnal knowledge involving an itinerant artist and a young girl, but the accused has his own way of extricating himself from the situation.
The Matlock saw-millers are a tough breed, but the builders of a new dam claim to be even tougher, A series of ugly incidents lead the two groups towards a violent showdown.
A broken down ex-heavyweight boxer, Dan Regan, is in Matlock on a sinister assignment. Unforseen events cause Regan's past, present and future to meet head-on in the biggest battle of his career.
An important businessman, Eric Schneider, wants to set up a deal with a Matlock company. However, when he is arrested for assaulting a young girl, public feelings rise up against Det. Curtis who may have made a serious mistake. Schneider, with his lawyer Harrison, puts his money and his pressure in the right places to beat the charge.
When Johnny Marcelli returns from the Vietnam war on compassionate leave, he is told that his father has committed suicide. He refuses to believe it and sets out to solve the mystery.
The investigation of a series of wool thefts in the Matlock District uncover the problems of one of the suspects, and provide some surprises for the police - especially Cont. Hogan.
Ron Grey, an ex-Spitfire pilot embarks on a dubious mission as a courier to gain some quick money, because he only has a few years of active life lift - he is a chronic diabetic who keeps coma and semi-blindness at bay with insulin shots. While flying a light aircraft with his girlfriend Betty Holmes, the plane strikes trouble and they have to crash land in the Candowie Rangers. When the plane is found by a police search party, they discover that Gray and Holmes both fled into the bush.
A feud among some Albanian immigrants in Matlock starts to get out of hand, and police are soon investigating an attempted murder.
When salesman Frank Ross finds himself in serious financial difficulties, he takes an illegal way out and starts an unexpected chain of events that bring surprise to the Matlock police.