Estranged from her violent husband, mother of three Gina Dixon meets another single mother who appears to have no financial worries. Carol's secret is simple. She is a prostitute.
The hunt is on for Gina's killer, and the finger of suspicion points in several directions as her friends and family struggle to come to terms with the loss.
Gina's estranged husband Steve is still coming to terms with her death and former secret life, and he goes on the trail of Gina's friends in an attempt to understand what his wife was doing.
Demons from Tracy's past and present catch up with her in a dream and bring her screaming out of a coma...
Two months on, Carol is in a psychiatric ward after her attack on Curly and Anita is living on her own following the split from George.
A sinister gift sends Carol's spirits plummeting as she realises that Gina's killer has her firmly in his sights. A burglary leads to the discovery of a macabre shrine to the murders, complete with video footage of the next victim...
The girls are back again and busy running their cleaning co-operative, but they are unable to break links with their previous life and are struggling to survive...
Nobody knows what happened to Anita after she was run over. Rose has fallen out with Tracy and Colette and has problems to deal with at the leisure centre when it is revealed that the women used to be prostitutes...
It is the morning after Curly's murder; trying times lie ahead for the women. Rose and Carol frantically try to get rid of any evidence, whilst Joyce, having slept with Steve, is getting ready to leave Blackpool.
George has been murdered in exactly the same way as Curly and it appears that a serial killer is at large. Meanwhile, Rose is in Manchester looking for her daughter, whilst Curly's nephew Vinnie confronts Carol...
Tracy's former pimp, Dez, is released from prison and she brings him back to her house and sleeps with him. Rose discovers that her daughter is not in Manchester after all, but in Sheffield and, to Rose's horror, on the game...
Colette desperately tries to get Tracy to realise what she has done but Tracy seems to be in another world. Colette has no choice but to tell Rose. There is a time bomb ticking and the climax to the series is both unexpected and shocking.
Carol and Rose have given up working The Lane, and rose gets a job as a Community Liason Officer working with the police in an attempt to 'clean up' the darker side of life on The Lane.
Paula has disappeared after the murder of D.C. Mace and Rose is called upon to assist the police. Rose finds Paula and takes her to shelter at Carol's.
Carol accuses Vinnie of spending factory money and arranges for him to be beaten up. He is duly hospitalised. Rose continues working with the community.
After being raped by Ed Smithson, Sherrie tells Rose. When the police become involved, Sherrie suddenly retracts her statement.
Police find the body of a black woman. Rose finds out her name was Marva and Raymond is questioned by the police. He blames Rose and after his release attacks her with a gun...
Raymond kidnaps Rose who tells him Shaun killed Marva. When Shaun dies, Carol and Rose realise the kidnapper is actually Charlie and that he must have killed Marva. Vinnie takes revenge on Carol for sacking him by setting fire to the factory, unaware there is anyone inside...