Underbelly

In 1988, a young, skinny boy named John Ibrahim from the outer-suburbs arrives in King's Cross to seek his fortune after being expelled from school, which results in a chance meeting with Sydney crime boss George Freeman. Impressed by Ibrahim, Freeman offers him a job as a bouncer. The Kings Cross detectives get into a confrontation with some thugs and illegally rough them up.

Young waitress Kim Hollingsworth turns to prostitution after she discovers her abusive boyfriend Trent has stolen money from her. Corrupt King's Cross detectives Trevor Haken and Jim Egan go too far when arresting a pack of drunks, sparking calls for a royal commission into the NSW Police. However, Haken and Egan, along with drug dealer Bill Bayeh, set up an elaborate "sting" for their own profit.

After a shooting in a cafe, Trevor strikes a deal with Bill Bayeh to control police raids and competition in King's Cross - Bayeh gets the "Green light" from Trevor to sell drugs, providing he does not sell to minors and there are no more drug-related shootings in the Cross. Narrowly escaping a shooting in Bayeh's gaming room, John receives some advice from George Freeman.

Benny Kassab, a nightclub bouncer, quells a street brawl and earns the attention of Bill Bayeh. Soon, Kassab becomes Bayeh's "fall guy", holding the money and drugs from Bill's deals. Not content with his position, Kassab begins distributing drugs secretly. When Bill's business suffers as a result, tensions rise between Bill and his brother, Louis Bayeh.

Benny Kassab turns to Jim Egan and Trevor Haken for assistance in light of Shaka and Norm shooting at Louis Bayeh's house. Egan and Haken organise a deal with Kassab that if Shaka and Norm turn themselves in at the Bankstown Police Station, they will get off lightly. However, Louis Bayeh uses his own police contacts to successfully oppose bail for the duo, causing Kassab to look like a liar.

New King's Cross beat constable, Wendy Jones, quickly crosses paths with John Ibrahim and the attraction is mutual. However, after going on a scuba trip with Ibrahim, Wendy starts to have second thoughts. Chief Inspector Dennis Kelly applies to enter the National Crime Authority in order to improve his resume in the race for police commissioner.

When gang violence breaks out in King's Cross, John Ibrahim is placed under pressure to clean up the streets. Because of the urgings of his friend to co-operate with the investigation, John is faced with the unenviable choice of "dobbing in" Townsend and losing the respect of Sydney's criminal underworld. Debbie Webb joins the fraud squad, but is snubbed due to her whistleblower reputation.

Kim Hollingsworth's police friend, Sergeant Dave, abandons her after she "dobs in" to Internal Affairs. Having obtained the HSC via correspondence, she enrolls in a detective's course at Goulburn Police Academy. Debbie Webb leaves King's Cross police and allies herself with her husband Greg Locke and politician John Hatton. Joe Dooley leaves the King's Cross police and enrolls at Goulburn Academy.

Trevor Haken's paranoia reaches an all-new high. However, his paranoia is justified as he discovers the Commission has a lot of incriminating evidence against him. In order to escape conviction, Trevor volunteers to become a "supergrass" and expose corruption in King's Cross. Benny Kassab suspects that he has a rat in his ranks. Kim Hollingsworth's colourful past comes back to haunt her.

King's Cross detectives Graham "Chook" Fowler and Neville "Scully" Scullion are called to testify to the Wood Royal Commission. Trevor Haken wears a wire to a meeting with Bill Bayeh. Whilst Fowler denies he is involved in corruption, he is shown covert video footage of him accepting a bribe. Kim Hollingsworth is expelled from the Goulburn Academy for failing to disclose her work as a prostitute.

Aware that he is being investigated by the Wood Royal Commission, Dennis Kelly dobs in Jim Egan to investigators. Commission investigator Gerry Lloyd hires Shaka, a former lieutenant to Benny Kassab, to wear a wire to expose the corrupt police working with Bill Bayeh. However, the operation goes awry. Kim Hollingsworth continues to risk her life to expose Eddie Gould's corruption.

All the old forces of the King's Cross drug trade have been imprisoned and corrupt police have been cleaned out of the New South Wales police. In order to stake his claim to power in King's Cross, Danny "DK" Karam hires a group of young thugs. Together, they form a ruthless gang and set about taking over the King's Cross drug trade. Concerned, the NSW Police form Strike Force Lancer to stop him.

In 1998, after disposing of Danny Karam, drug dealer Michael Kanaan devises a plan to murder John Ibrahim and his bodyguard, Kiwi Steve, in order to divert attention. Dennis Kelly fights off competition from Gerry lloyd and Sid Hillier for the role of Police Commissioner. An angry Kim Hollingsworth returns to Sydney from Adelaide, intending on suing the NSW Police.