Nicholas Rhea
Join the mailing list to receive information about books, events and other news:
| The Nicholas Rhea Mailing List |
|
|
Privacy statement: All mailings to this list will be sent out by or on behalf of Peter N. Walker; we won't pass your name or email address on to anyone else.
The man who inspired Heartbeat...
For the last 30 years, Nicholas Rhea has been writing books, drawing on his experiences in the police force, his never-ending enthusiasm for Yorkshire and his continuing interest in crime fact and fiction. His best known work, the Constable stories, provided the inspiration for the hugely popular Heartbeat TV series, and he remains involved with the series as a consultant.
This is Nicholas Rhea's official website, and on it you will find not only his news and information about the man, his books and, of course, Heartbeat, but also a country diary kept by Nicholas Rhea himself, in which he shares his observations about the county of Yorkshire, its countryside and traditions.
Heartbeat Farewell
As all fans will be aware, series 19 of Heartbeat is currently screening in the UK, and we can look forward to seeing 18 episodes. The final episode was completed in early May, and was marked by a grand party for all those who have been part of the series over the years. Rhoda Walker (Mrs Nicholas Rhea) was there, and sent us this description:
As the partner of Nicholas Rhea, I get invited to certain events and last Friday I went with him to a Heartbeat party in Leeds. It was a glittering occasion held in the stunning Corn Exchange building, with over 200 people; Heartbeat actors, scriptwriters, lighting technicians, make-up girls - in fact all the numerous people who have been involved in the making of Heartbeat for the past 17 years. This event was billed as a 'Farewell Party' and I thought it might be a sombre occasion but, on the contrary, everyone looked relaxed and happy in their party frocks and dinner jackets. We were all there to celebrate Heartbeat, say goodbye to friends and colleagues and talk about hopes for the future.
I'm sure we'll soon be seeing many of the actors in new roles. I chatted to Steven Blakely, who joined Heartbeat straight from drama school to play the loveable rookie constable, Geoff Younger. He said how much he'd enjoyed working on the series and later this year expects to be touring Europe with a theatre group putting on Shakespeare plays. Rupert Ward-Lewis (Don Wetherby) is going back to London and William Simons (Alf Ventress) has already moved back there. Some of the production staff are going to work on Emmerdale and others are taking time out for a while. But everyone I spoke to said they were very sad to be leaving and would miss Aidensfield and the North Yorkshire moors.
We watched some nostalgic clips from the series and there were a few misty eyes when the scene came up where a bereft Nick Rowan stood in the moonlight at the door of the police house on the night Kate died (sniff, sniff). Finally, Keith Richardson, head of YTV drama, made a speech, thanking everyone and saying that the Heartbeat team had been like a big extended family.
Nicholas Rhea adds:
For me, personally, it has been a delight to have my stories and characters portrayed in such a successful television series and I have been involved right from the start. Heartbeat filming is finished but the screening will go on, so keep watching and I will keep writing my Constable books.
If you want to know what happens to PC Nick, Oscar Blaketon, Alf Ventress, Claude Jeremiah Greengrasss and the rest, then see my next title, Constable Beats the Bounds is due out in August. It is already available for order from Amazon. In it, the ancient ceremony of beating the bounds sets Constable Nick thinking about the various boundaries of his role as village bobby: should he ever cross those boundaries?
Or signed copies can be ordered from Lynne at Holman's Bookshop, Skinner St, Whitby, tel.01947-602372 (map). I will be at Holman's on Saturday 22 August from 12.00 noon till 2.00 pm to sign them and meet fans - do come along and say hello.
More about Constable Beats the Bounds and all the Constable books »
New readers start here...
If you are new to the Constable books, there couldn't be a better time to trace the Heartbeat story back to its origins. Although the original editions have become collectors' items, Áccent Press have reissued some of those sought-after titles, in a smart new "Heartbeat" livery.
More about the Accent Press reissue of Nicholas Rhea's Constable books »
Visible, Audible, Accessible
Nicholas Rhea is very aware that some of his readers find things harder to see than others; he does his best to make his books accessible to visually impaired readers. He is always pleased when his books are published in large print and audio book formats, as many of them are. Constable on View - the latest in the Constable series - is already available as an unabridged Audio Book from from ISIS Soundings and can be downloaded from Audible.co.uk (where you can also listen to a sample clip), and Magna will be publishing a Large Print edition in the autumn.
A new feature on this web site aims to make it easier to find those books which are published in accessible formats; look out for the logos indicating ISIS Soundings or Magna Large Print editions on the individual book listings; visit the Accessible Formats home page to learn about a new large print venture which is bringing some of Nicholas Rhea's books back into print; and keep watching for further developments.
More about books in accessible formats »
Other Books
Nicholas Rhea is also the author of many other books, among them the Pemberton series (described by one critic as "distinctive and deserves to be better known"). The most recent of these was published on September 25th: in Murder under the Midnight Sun, DS Mark Pemberton embarks on a cruise to the Arctic Circle. He simply wants to enjoy his holiday, experience the spectacle of the Midnight Sun and admire the splendour of the glaciers and fjords. But then a man is found stabbed in a locked cabin and the captain turns to Pemberton - can he assist in investigating the death without alarming the other passengers?
Other include the 'Assured' series, set in the Yorkshire Dales a generation before Heartbeat, and the Montague Pluke books, about an eccentric detective with a passion for horse troughs. The latest Montague Pluke book is Prize Murder. Nicholas Rhea tells us: "Lots of us have received letters offering chances of winning wonderful competitions, but suppose first prize was your own murder! When Detective Inspector Montague Pluke receives such a letter, he needs all his luck if he is to survive." And Prize Murder is now available in audiobook and large print formats, too.
More about Murder under the Midnight Sun and all the Pemberton books »
More about the Montague Pluke books »
More about all Nicholas Rhea's books »
Links
If you don't find what you are looking for on this site, try these links to other sites »
