DCI Alex Drake of the Metropolitan Police is shot in the head and wakes to find herself apparently thrown back in time to 1981. She soon recognises DCI Gene Hunt and his team from detailed reports made by DCI Sam Tyler about his own trip to 1973. Alex, a modern, no-nonsense woman, soon clashes with her sexist colleagues but both DCIs have to learn to adjust while she tries to find a way back to 2008.