Heartbeat - the TV series

What is Heartbeat?

Heartbeat is a long-running and highly popular TV series produced by Yorkshire Television in the UK: since its first screening on Friday 10th April 1992, the show has run to over 350 hour-long episodes. And it all began with Nicholas Rhea's books.

Heartbeat's setting, some of the early storylines, and many of the characters, were taken from the Constable novels by Nicholas Rhea. The stories feature an English policeman in a rural village in North Yorkshire during the 1960's, although cast changes and story developments have resulted in group of village characters sharing the attention with the local village bobby. The Heartbeat title refers to an English bobby 'on the beat', the medical stories that are woven into each episode, and the way each programme puts a finger on the pulse of the rural community of Aidensfield.

Latest news

The current situation does not look bright for Heartbeat?. You can read the latest news on the front page, in an exclusive report from the 'end of series' party from Rhoda Walker, Mrs Nicholas Rhea herself. Below, you can still read Peter Walker (Nicholas Rhea)'s account of his last visit to the Heartbeat? set:

"On Friday 6 March 2009, I took two of my grand-daughters, Eleanor and Anna, and their Mum, Janet, to the Heartbeat Studio to watch the shooting of several scenes for Episode 20. Eleanor, 15, has been a fan, since she first visited the set in Goathland in her baby buggy.

It was an especially poignant visit as we had just been given the news that Heartbeat will probably not continue after the current series. The cast and crew were very concerned, as many have been with the series right from the start. They work so well together, like one big happy family.

However, we were warmly welcomed on set and felt most privileged to see what goes on behind the scenes. We were invited to sit in front of monitors as the make-up team checked every fine detail as it would appear when finally screened - not a hair was allowed to be out of place. We watched the costume department at work, ensuring the cast never lost their continuity and the sound engineer explained how he coped with unwanted background noise.

Later, during breaks from filming, the actors came over to chat to us - the ones who joined recently, like Joe McFadden (Joe), Rupert Ward-Lewis (PC Don Wetherby), Lisa Kay ((Carol), Nikki Sanderson (Dawn) Gwen Taylor (Aunt Peggy), and those who have been there since the first episodes like Tricia Penrose (Gina), Derek Fowlds (Oscar), Bill Simons (Ventress), Peter Benson (Bernie) and David Lonsdale (David). In fact we met the whole cast who were working that day.

Recently there have been reports of the demise of Heartbeat and on Wednesday 11 March, ITV's chief operating officer, John Cresswell, called the cast and crew to a private meeting in Whitby. He spoke to the Whitby Gazette and confirmed that ITV is "standing down the production of the show", but would not say if or when it will be back. Brian Taylor of Goathland Post Office, who started a petition to save Heartbeat, presented a letter to Mr Cresswell on behalf of the 15,000 people who have signed the petition so far. Brian has vowed to continue the fight and you can read the Whitby Gazette report, and watch a video recording of scenes outside the meeting.

Series 19 of Heartbeat will be back on screen in April, and we can look forward to seeing 18 episodes. So keep watching, enjoy the repeats, sign the petition and, fingers crossed, Heartbeat could be revived...."

Britain's Best Drives

Heartbeat fans all know that the period motor cars which appear in the series are a major part of its charm; so naturally Peter Walker (Nicholas Rhea) was invited to participate in a TV documentary series in which Richard Wilson (Victor Meldrew of One foot in the Grave) retraced the routes of motorcar rides from a guide book published in the 1950's. In the course of the series, Wilson was seen driving several different models of 1950s cars through Snowdonia, the Lake District, Scarborough, Whitby, the Trossachs and Loch Lomond - in Scotland, for example, drives a Bentley.

Rhoda Walker told us:"I think the idea is to contrast pleasure driving in the 50's with driving today. Richard Wilson talked to Peter about policing in the 50's. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of him in the Morris Traveller as they had taken it off on a low loader before we got there!" The first - Yorksire - episode of Britain's Best Drives was shown on Thursday 19th February on BBC4; you can read more about it on the BBC web site.

More about the the cars of Heartbeat  »

A national treasure

Whatever happens, nothing can change the place of Heartbeat in the affections of viewers in the UK and around the world; Nicholas Rhea was delighted to receive this cutting from Woman magazine from a fan, and was tickled to see the series described as "a national treasure"! We constantly receive enquiries about whether the series is available on DVD. Nicholas Rhea points out that this up to ITV, not him! But he explains that among the things which make Heartbeat so special are the use of original sixties records, and the frequent appearances of guest stars. Both of these factors would involve ITV in obtaining clearances before they could authorise DVDs of the series - something that could not have been foreseen when the original contracts were drawn up, long before DVDs were invented.

If you want to see Heartbeat issued on DVD, the best we can suggest is that you write to ITV and tell them so. Perhaps they can be persuaded that there will be enough sales to justify the effort!

You may also be interested to know that this subject is discussed in a forum on TV.com, and that there is also a petition to persuade ITV to release Heartbeat on DVD. (Please note that Nicholas Rhea has no direct contact with, or responsibility for, either of these sites).

Behind the scenes of Heartbeat

However, Nicholas Rhea has written a book, lavishly illustrated and with input from the makers and stars of the show, as well as his own unique inside information about the making of Heartbeat. The Yorkshire Post secured a web exclusive, interviewing Nicholas Rhea on the Heartbeat set about the book, and the show in general: watch a short video of the interview on the Yorkshire Post web site. Or visit the book's dedicated web site, where you can see some of its many pictures, read extracts from the text and order a copy direct from the publishers, Mortons of Horncastle.

Heartbeat - The Story behind the Series was launched with a Sixties-themed party in York. Tricia Penrose was there, and so was Nicholas Rhea, who sent us this personal report of the day:

'"I enjoyed a wonderful day at WH Smiths bookshop in York to launch Heartbeat - The Story behind the Series. Coney Street was packed with fans as The Summits, a local band, performed 1960s hits. Tricia Penrose, who plays Gina, the genial barmaid in the Aidensfield Arms, attracted a huge crowd as she posed with a classic police motorcycle. The queue of fans waiting to have their books signed stretched right out into street. Several young people from Mortons, the publishers, looked very 'with it' in their mini skirts, whilst the bookshop staff also got into the mood in their 60's gear and Beatles haircuts.

Tricia's fans were much in evidence and I was delighted to see that lots of my own readers there, too. We both signed about 150 books and the atmosphere was great. I'd like to say a big 'thank you' to everyone who made it such a memorable occasion."

Heartbeat International

The fame of the little village of Aidensfield spreads way beyond Yorkshire, all round the world. We receive enquiries from fans in Canada and Australia; and we have recently heard that the show is a favourite with the police force of the Pacific island of Vanuatu. Heartbeat is popular throughout Scandinavia: we receive messages from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland (and even Estonia, where they watch it on Finnish television!).

A new page on this site tracks Heartbeat's progress worldwide; it lists the countries in which the series has been shown, and passes on messages with an international flavour!

Read more about Heartbeat round the world »

Heartbeat in Bloom

Heartbeat was really winning bouquets in 2005: Scarborough Borough Council chose "Heartbeat" as the theme of their entry to the RHS National Flower Bed Competition (between 20^th and 24^th July). The design, entitled Only a Heartbeat Away depicts the wild beauty of the Yorkshire Moors and the fact that they are only a step away from the superb Yorkshire coastline. The flower bed shows typical features of the Yorkshire countryside, with a stile, carpet bedded stonewalling and carpet bedded figures, leading down towards the Yorkshire coastline's golden sands.

"I was impressed by the realistic portrayal of aspects of Heartbeat Country, in particular the sheep, authentic dry stone walling, smout-hole, and stile. Scarborough Borough Council is to be congratulated and the gold medal is thoroughly deserved."

The characters of Heartbeat

Nicholas Rhea dreamed up most of the original Heartbeat characters in his Constable books. The series introduced a number of new characters, and adapted some of the books' stories and characters for the benefit of screen serialisation.

More about the key characters in Heartbeat with comments from Rhea and the actors »

Interview with Carol Williams

Ever wondered how it all started, and why Yorkshire Television thought a series about a Yorkshire bobby could be a success?  How do they keep up with the enormous success, and will Greengrass continue to be the local rogue? Carol Williams was been part of the production team from the beginning. Susie Holland interviewed her exclusively for this website.