Heartbeat is a long
running British
TV police
drama series set in 1960s Yorkshire
. It is made by ITV
Studios (formerly Yorkshire
Television) at The Leeds Studios
, and on location, for broadcast on ITV. Heartbeat first aired on Friday 10
April 1992 (it was later shifted to Sunday evenings). By autumn
2008, it had reached its 18th series, clocking up over 370
episodes.
Heartbeat has proved popular since the beginning when
early series consistently drew over 10 million viewers. In its
first year
Heartbeat averaged 14.5 million viewers and was
regularly in the top five TV programmes across all British
channels.
It has even scored higher figures than soap
opera Coronation
Street
(one of Britain's best known and most popular
TV shows). In 2001
Heartbeat came sixth in the UK
TV ratings list with a peak audience of 13.82 million and was sixth
again in 2003 with 12.8 million viewers. In autumn 2008 typical
viewing figures were around 6 million per episode.
It stars
Steven Blakeley,
Joe McFadden,
John
Duttine, Rupert Ward-Lewis,
Derek
Fowlds,
William Simons,
Lisa Kay,
Tricia
Penrose and
Gwen Taylor alongside
Peter Benson,
David Lonsdale, and
Clare Wille.
Filming for the 18th series began at the end of May 2008 and
finished on 8 May 2009. The first episode of series 18 was screened
on 12 October 2008.
Future of the show
Kathleen Beedles, the new producer as of series 18, originally said
Heartbeat was expected to continue until at least series
20 (2010–2011). However, it was announced on 28 January 2009 that
production of both
Heartbeat and its spin off show
The
Royal would be suspended for an unspecified period of time so
that a large backlog of unbroadcast episodes could be cleared. Some
newspaper reports interpreted this as meaning the show would be
permanently cancelled. Further reports in early March 2009 stated
that
Heartbeat along with
The Royal and several
other ITV shows had been axed owing to budgetary cuts necessitated
by falling advertising revenues. A report in
The Telegraph
suggested
Heartbeat may return in 'a new lower budget
form'.
In March 2009 a meeting to discuss the future of the show took
place between ITV bosses and
Heartbeat cast and crew
members. The mood after the meeting was reportedly pessimistic
about the show's long term survival. Actor Steven Blakeley who
plays PC Younger said the cast were to be released after series 18,
indicating the show had been cancelled and filming has finished.
The final nine episodes are to be shown in 2010. However, as of
August 2009 ITV continue to maintain on their website that reports
the show has been 'axed' are untrue. They say production is 'taking
a rest' so stockpiled episodes can be aired but they do not
specifically say if or when production will recommence.
The show's cancellation has prompted protests from
Heartbeat fans around the world as well as from
communities in the Yorkshire region where the series is filmed and
where the
Heartbeat-themed tourist trade is seen as an
important part of the local economy.
Current cast and characters
Background to the series
The show
is set in the 1960s and revolves around the work of a group of
police officers in the fictional town
of Ashfordly in the North
Riding of Yorkshire, whose "patch" also includes the nearby
village of Aidensfield, a fictionalised version of the real-life
village of Goathland
in the North York Moors
, where the series is partly filmed. Each
episode is an hour long, including commercial breaks.
The series was originally based on the
Constable books
written by former policeman
Peter
Walker under the pen-name Nicholas Rhea. The title
Heartbeat was chosen to represent "the bobby's beat and
the medical connotations of the word 'heart'" ("bobby" being
British slang for a police officer, and "medical connotations"
referring to the medical themes that have featured regularly in the
show since its inception). The show was originally a starring
vehicle for ex-
EastEnders actor
Nick Berry, cast as PC Nick Rowan, the
Aidensfield policeman newly arrived from London. Berry also sings
Heartbeat's theme song – the
Buddy
Holly song of the same name. Berry's recording reached number 2
on the
UK singles chart in
1992.
Scripps Garage from the series
Over time the show has evolved into an
ensemble drama. The motorcycle-riding
Aidensfield village bobby, the role originally played by Berry,
continues to be central to the storylines, but in recent series the
main cast has been listed in alphabetical order on the opening
credits, reflecting its standing as an ensemble piece with no clear
"star". In the 2005 series no fewer than twelve regular actors had
their names and faces included in the opening credits – an all-time
record for any British series. In series 18 (2008-9) this had
increased to thirteen.
Although the show is often criticised for seeing the 1960s through
rose-tinted spectacles, in reality it has
tended to avoid the usual "
swinging
sixties" clichés. If there is a cultural revolution going on,
then it's not going on in Aidensfield and Ashfordly. Some episodes
do, however, make reference to swinging sixties culture, as well as
to hippies and psychedelia, usually imposed on the community by
outsiders. Sixties pop music is prominent, forming the soundtrack
to the show. Occasionally records from the 1970s appear,
anachronistically, on the soundtrack (
The
Hollies' 1974 hit "
The Air
That I Breathe" being an example). In an extreme example (and
perhaps a deliberate effort to confound expectations), the closing
scene of the series 17 episode "You Never Can Tell" is accompanied
by
The Flying Pickets' 1983 hit,
"
Only You".
The notion that people were friendlier and the world was safer in
the 1960s is given short shrift too. The local people are often
portrayed as insular and suspicious of strangers, and the area's
high crime rate speaks for itself. Nevertheless, although its
storylines regularly involve serious crimes and human tragedy,
later series of
Heartbeat deal with these themes in a
relatively cosy and comfortable manner compared to many modern TV
police dramas, and much of the grittiness and social realism of the
early series has disappeared. Episode 16.14 ("Another Little Piece
Of My Heart") was given a warning before airing on ITV1 due to its
"containing scenes of domestic violence", though these proved to be
relatively mild by modern standards.
Plot
First series
The first series dealt mainly with the experiences of a young
married couple, PC Nick Rowan and Doctor Kate Rowan, arriving in a
small Yorkshire village after living in London. Both faced initial
suspicion from the villagers, but over the course of the series
came to be accepted as part of the community. The stories focused
almost entirely on the experiences of the two main characters. The
build-up to the wedding of Sandra and Alan, two youngsters from the
village, provided a running thread through the first series.
However, Sandra and Alan were never seen, or even mentioned, after
the first series.
Subsequent series
Once the characters had settled in, subsequent series focused more
on criminal and medical storylines, with a greater role for the
other policemen at the Ashfordly station, who had appeared in the
first series but only as quite minor supporting characters. Various
new characters were introduced along the way, such as Gina Ward
(played by
Tricia Penrose), landlady
of the Aidensfield Arms village pub, Bernie Scripps (
Peter Benson), undertaker and proprietor of the
Aidensfield Garage, and David Stockwell (
David Lonsdale), hired hand and taxi/lorry
driver. After Kate Rowan's death from leukaemia, Nick Rowan gained
a new love interest, teacher Jo Weston (
Juliette Gruber).
The two married and
emigrated to Canada
, and the
central role of local Aidensfield bobby has since changed hands
several times – as has the role of Aidensfield doctor. These
and numerous other changes to the cast that have taken place over
eighteen series are detailed at
List of Heartbeat
characters.
As of autumn 2008 (series 18), two regular characters have survived
from the first series: police-sergeant-turned-pub-owner Oscar
Blaketon (played by
Derek Fowlds) and
police constable Alf Ventress (
William
Simons). Constable Phil Bellamy (
Mark
Jordon), another original, was written out of the show in
Series 17. The recurring character of local landowner Lord
Ashfordly (
Rupert Vansittart) is
also a survivor. Gina Ward (
Tricia
Penrose), who was introduced early in the second series, is
also still present.
As it reaches middle age, the show has become rather formulaic,
with most episodes following a very similar structure. The main
storylines are generally to do with criminal activity and related
medical matters, and personal traumas. Typically one or more crimes
take place, which are investigated by the Aidensfield bobby and the
other policemen from the Ashfordly police station. The villains are
almost always apprehended by the end of the episode, and usually
appear for one episode only.
In parallel, the regular "lovable rogue" character of the day (a
role originally filled by Claude Greengrass, played by
Bill Maynard) dreams up some scheme or other,
often involving making money on the fringes of the law. This forms
the sub-plot, which acts as light (and sometimes comic) relief.
Sometimes these sub-plots are closely interwoven with the main
storyline; other times they barely impinge and might be better
termed "parallel plots". Other regular local characters get
involved in the main plot or sub-plot in one way or another, with
the Aidensfield Arms and Aidensfield Garage featuring
prominently.
Storylines are usually resolved within the episode, but the
development of the main characters and their personal relationships
- especially love interests - takes place over many episodes or
even series. Because each episode is designed to be more-or-less
self-contained, the show can sometimes appear to suffer from abrupt
lurches in continuity. Extremely dramatic and traumatic events that
afflict the central characters are often forgotten by the next
episode, and characters who assume great importance in one episode,
as, say, relatives or close friends are frequently never seen nor
mentioned again.
Chronology and period detail
When the programme began, it was set in 1964. The setting then
moved on, approximately in "real time", until it reached early
1969, where - apart from the Christmas episodes - it has now
remained for some years. However, the show's chronology has been
seen to be quite flexible: the inhabitants of Ashfordly and
Aidensfield have certainly celebrated more than four
Christmases between 1965 and 1969.
The 1998 episode "Heartbeat: Changing Places", which follows Sgt.
Rowan as a
Mountie
, opens with the caption "1968". This is
sometimes thought to be the only explicit time reference in the
series; however, one 2004 episode was specifically set on 6
February 1969, the date being deliberately displayed clearly in an
extreme close-up of "today's newspaper", and in the Season 7
episode "Brainstorm", the date August 20, 1967 is prominently
displayed in a police logbook. Whenever a car or motorcycle's tax
disc is shown on screen, it is always valid until 31 December 1969.
However, the show often depicts steam trains still in service on
British Railways, which is
incorrect for 1969 since steam-hauled passenger services finished
in August 1968. In fact, most of the railway detail is little more
than fantasy: the main line steam engines and coaches used (really
part of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway) would rarely or never
have been seen on such a line—in any period. Other inaccuracies
include milk churns on the platform (abolished in Britain before
World War 2, having been replaced by rail tank wagons) and
anachronistic references to station masters and other outdated
railway job titles.
Road vehicles are usually closer to the period, including not only
many classic cars but also Vernon Scripps' lorry (the same one was
previously driven by his predecessor Claude Greengrass) and a red
single decker bus with the (correct) logo UNITED. Some of the road
signs, however, are very odd. British road signs began to be
replaced with the current types in 1964, and a mixture of old and
new would be authentic in the later 1960s, but in practice,
although some of the "old" road signs seen in the series resemble
former types they are actually fictional. Why genuine 30 mph
signs (for example) could not be used is unknown.
The
Torrey
Canyon
oil spill provided an off-screen plot point in a
series ostensibly set in 1969, despite having actually occurred two
years earlier. An episode broadcast in August 2007, "One
Small Step", depicted the people of Aidensfield gathering in the
pub to watch the
Apollo 11 moon landing,
which precisely "dates" the story to 20 July 1969, though it was
actually aired just three weeks after an episode that was clearly
set in winter. Perhaps anachronistically, the Moon Landing episode
featured an early example of
hoax accusations –
Peggy Armstrong casts doubt on the authenticity of the mission and
takes fake photos of David Stockwell in a space suit to prove her
point. The locals are unimpressed by her efforts.
The series 16 finale
used the Northern
Ireland
"Troubles", generally
acknowledged as starting in 1969, as a plotline. In the
series 17 episode "Bully Boys", David's invitation to a school
reunion gives the date as 9 March 1969. Since this is before "One
Small Step", yet the episode takes place after the death of Phil
Bellamy, it can be inferred that there is no longer a consistent
internal chronology within the series. In the series 17 episode
"Taking Stock" Alf Ventress complains that his
Austin 1100 is an old banger when it fails to
start, even though it has an H registration plate, which means the
car can be no older than August 1969.
Judy
Garland along with her husband
Mickey
Deans were mentioned in the Series 18 episode "Cashing In".
This places the episode between March 17, 1969 and June 22,
1969.
Geography
The
North York
Moors scenery is the backdrop to most episodes.
In
earlier series, Aidensfield's most distinctive local landmark –
like that of its real-life counterpart – was the RAF
Fylingdales Early Warning Station
, the exterior of which appeared in numerous
episodes. This is no longer featured, however, since the
original "golf balls" were demolished in the 1990s.
When the action moves
further afield (for example, when an old-fashioned market town is
required or a criminal attempts a getaway by sea), the towns of
Whitby
or Otley
are normally
used (Scarborough
is occasionally featured instead for
variety). Other real-life towns and cities - such as
Leeds
, York
, Sheffield
, Hull
, Middlesbrough
, Northallerton
, Harrogate
and Saltburn-by-the-Sea
- are also sometimes mentioned. Two series
18 episodes have been filmed on location in Australia.
On occasions when real-life maps have been shown on screen, the
town of Ashfordly has been indicated to be in the location of
real-life Grosmont, some six miles southwest of Whitby (though
Ashfordly is portrayed as a reasonable-sized market town, whereas
real-life Grosmont is a small village). Aidensfield (although not
explicitly pointed out), would then fit in neatly with the
real-life location of Goathland (where much of the show is filmed),
which lies about nine miles southwest of Whitby and about two and a
half miles from Grosmont.
A distance of two and a half miles between Ashfordly and
Aidensfield fits with the impression given in the series that the
two are very close. For example, all the Ashfordly police – not
just the constable assigned to Aidensfield – seem particularly well
acquainted with the village and its affairs and inhabitants, and
seem to treat the Aidensfield village pub as their "local". In one
episode Vernon Scripps stated that Ashfordly is "a few miles" from
Aidensfield, and in the series 11 episode "Class Act" Gina Ward
again describes Ashfordly as "a few miles up the road". In the
episode "Not So Special", featuring a "hot rod" car race, a
signpost is explicitly shown that reads "Ashfordly 3, Aidensfield
2", indicating a distance of no more than five miles. However, in
the series 16 episode "Memoirs of a Fighting Man" it was said, in
reference to Aidensfield Garage, that "there isn't another garage
around for twenty miles". It seems inconceivable that a 1960s town
the size of Ashfordly would not have a garage, so by this evidence
the distance is greater than twenty miles. In addition to this, at
the start of series 17, Aidensfield is described as being "too far
away" from Ashfordly for there not to be a police presence. In the
series 17 episode "Heirs Apparent", Ashfordly Hall was said to be a
quarter of a mile from the Aidensfield Arms.
In
2005–07 Hornby Railways based a
Skaledale Model series on Goathland
railway station
, part of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway,
which features in the show as Aidensfield Station. The same
station is used in the series of
Harry
Potter films.
Scheduling
United Kingdom
When
Heartbeat first began on 10 April 1992 it aired on
Fridays at 21:00, but from series 2 it was moved to Sunday nights
and now airs in the ITV Network Sunday evening 20:00 or 19:00
timeslot. All
Heartbeat episodes are 45 minutes long (one
hour with adverts). The opening episode of Series 11 was planned to
be the show's first two-hour episode, but it was eventually split
into a two-part story, "Sweet Sixteen" and "She's Leaving Home". In
1994 a one-off feature-length episode was filmed, starring Lloyd
Owen as constable Tom Merriweather.
In recent years,
Heartbeat re-runs have appeared on ITV
during the summer months (often billed on-screen as "Classic
Heartbeat"), typically at 17:00 or, in 2006, at 16:00. In 2006,
episodes from the first few series were repeated again. These were
originally designed to be screened with two commercial breaks, but
were slightly edited for time to fit ITV's newer policy of having
three breaks. Most of the swearing ("bloody", "bastard", etc.) that
was present in the early episodes was edited out for these daytime
broadcasts.
Series 1 – 10 have also been repeated on ITV3. For these
broadcasts, the episodes were kept in their original two commercial
break format. Most of the early swearing was edited out, but in
some episodes was left in. More recently, some of the ITV
three-commercial break edited versions have appeared on ITV3 mixed
in with the original versions of other episodes, in late night
airings of the series. Series 14 has also been repeated, shown on
Saturdays and Sundays on ITV3.
As of 2009,
Heartbeat repeats from various series air each
weekday on ITV3 in an early evening timeslot in three-commercial
break versions.
Heartbeat around the world
- The
series airs on Sunday evenings at 20:00 on TV3 in Ireland
.
- The
series airs intermittently on Saturday afternoons on TV1 in New
Zealand
; it is regularly taken off for sport or other
reasons and may not show for months at a time
- The
series airs on weekday at prime-time on ETV in Estonia
, where it is called Südameasi ("Matter of
the heart").
- The
series airs daily on both TV2 and its
sister channel TV2 Charlie in Denmark
, where it has been retitled Små og store
synder (English: "Small and Large Sins" or "Petty and Big
Sins").
- The
series airs weekday mornings in Sweden
.
Broadcaster TV4 has retitled the show
Tillbaka till Aidensfield ("Back to Aidensfield").
- The
series also airs every Saturday evening in Norway
where
broadcasting channel NRK1
has named it Med hjartet på rette staden
("With the heart in the right place"). Reruns are shown
every Monday morning.
- In
Finland
, YLE broadcasts the series on
Friday evenings at 19:10. The show has been retitled
Sydämen asialla ("In the business of the heart").
- The
series airs on Friday nights at 21:00 in Ontario
, Canada, on TV Ontario, a public broadcaster.
- The
series also airs Saturday nights in British Columbia
, Canada at 20:00 on Knowledge, the publicly owned
network.
- The
series used to air in Australia on
ABC TV
and then the Seven
Network, which is airing over the summer non-ratings period, on
Saturday evenings. Australia is seeing episodes from series
15. Episodes are currently being shown on Seven
HD on weekdays at 12pm.
- The
series airs every weekday on Flemish public broadcaster één in Belgium
.
Awards
- 1995 - ITV Programme of the Year (TRIC Award) -
Won
- 1998 - ITV Programme of the Year - Won
- 1998 - ITV Programme of the Year - National Television Award - Most
Popular Newcomer (Jason Durr) - Nominated
- 1999
- Best Performing Peak-Time Drama (ratings higher than Coronation
Street and Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire) - Won
- 2007 - Best European Drama (voted by Norwegian viewers) -
Won
- 2008 - Best Drama (nominated by ITV Studios along with The
Royal and Emmerdale) - Won
Ratings
| Series |
width="20" > Year
|
Rank # |
Average Audience Share |
| 1 |
1992 |
?? |
?? |
| 2 |
1993 |
?? |
?? |
| 3 |
1993 |
?? |
?? |
| 4 |
1994 |
?? |
?? |
| 5 |
1995 |
?? |
?? |
| 6 |
1996 |
?? |
?? |
| 7 |
1997-1998 |
?? |
?? |
| 8 |
1998-1999 |
5th |
14.35m |
| 9 |
1999-2000 |
6th |
13.71m |
| 10 |
2000-2001 |
5th |
13.21m |
| 11 |
2001-2002 |
6th |
10.77m |
| 12 |
2002-2003 |
7th |
11.29m |
| 13 |
2003-2004 |
8th |
13.11m |
| 14 |
2004-2005 |
10th |
8.77m |
| 15 |
2005-2006 |
10th |
8.42m |
| 16 |
2006-2007 |
8th |
7.80m |
| 17 |
2007-2008 |
11th |
6.90m |
| 18 |
2008-2010 |
?? |
?? |
Special programmes
- 10 Years of
Heartbeat (13 April 2002): A Heartbeat
documentary screened in celebration of the show's tenth
anniversary. Past and present members of the cast and crew and
celebrity guest artists recalled their experiences of the show and
reviewed their favourite moments from the previous ten years.
- Heartbeat: Christmas
Album (18 December 2005): A special that looked back at
Heartbeat's Christmas episodes. This included a sneak
preview of the Christmas special "Auld Acquaintance" (s15.e12) that
was broadcast after this documentary.
- Heartbeat: Farewell
Phil (December 2007): A one-off special, commemorating the
departure of the long-running character Phil Bellamy, whose final
scenes (in "Touch And Go", series 17, episode 6) aired the previous
night. Actor Mark Jordon relived his time on the series, along with
contributions from fellow actors.
The Royal
The ITV medical drama series
The
Royal was originally a spin-off from
Heartbeat,
with the twelfth-series
Heartbeat episode "Out of the
Blue" serving as an introductory pilot for the show, with the
Aidensfield police officers conducting parts of their
investigations in "The Royal" hospital. The series initially had
close ties with
Heartbeat, and several
Heartbeat
characters made an appearance. However, over time
The
Royal has gone on to develop its own separate identity.
In January 2009 it was announced that production of
The
Royal would
also rest due to a backlog of unaired
episodes.
See also
References
- "TV recruits rogue to rival Greengrass",
Telegraph, 19 June 2001
- Niamh Cusack - TV.com website
- 2001 TV ratings
- 2003 TV ratings
- BARB
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7855740.stm
- "Heartbeat axed by ITV after 17 years",
Mirror.co.uk, 29 January 2009
- "Daytime stars for ITV axe", The Sun,
4 March 2009
- ITV to slash drama as profits plunge,
Telegraph.co.uk, 4 March 2009
- 'No hope' for ITV's Heartbeat after crunch meeting
with bosses, Yorkshire Post, 12 March 2009
- "Axing reports untrue" ITV retrieved 18 August
2009
- "Heartbeat petition gets Euro MP's signature",
Robin Hoods Bay Today, 20 February 2009.
- Why the title of "Heartbeat" was chosen
- "Heartbeat films on the Gold Coast", TV
Tonight, September 10, 2008
External links
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