Goodbye Heartbeat

ITV’s 1960s based police drama Heartbeat ends on Sunday after 18 seasons on-air. To mark the passing of the popular Sunday evening drama we take a look back at the series over the years as fans prepare to say Goodbye to Heartbeat.

For some Heartbeat has gone on for far too long and ITV did the right thing in cancelling it. TO others it’ll be a much missed Sunday evening treat that has been cruelly axed by a callous network.

Whatever your feelings regarding Heartbeat may be there is no denying it has dominated the Sunday evening slot since its launch way back in 1992 when Nick Berry, fresh from EastEnders, starred in the series. Fastforward 18 seasons and Heartbeat is still stuck in the 1960s which is rather impressive given a decade only lasts 10 years! When Heartbeat launched the first season was set in 1964, so midway through the 1960s, so by now the police drama should be well into the 1980s! Its for this fact that Heartbeat is often lampooned – just how many Christmas’ were there in the 1960s?

In Yorkshire during the 60s there seems to have been quite a few if Heartbeat is anything to go by – but fans of the series love it despite its faults. As stated above Heartbeat launched in 1992 on ITV when it was produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV – since then, more recently, the regional names were abandoned by ITV in favour of the bland ITV Studios name. The original premise of Heartbeat was following the lives of PC Nick Rowan (Nick Berry, known at the time for his stint in EastEnders as Simon Wicks) and Doctor Kate Rowan (Niamh Cusack) who had moved to Yorkshire from London. The drama was based on the series of Constable novels by Peter Walker under the pen-name Nicholas Rhea. The theme tune to the series was sung by Nick Berry, who had success in the charts during his time at EastEnders, and was a cover version of the Buddy Holly song.

While the series originally revolved around PC Nick Roawn and Doctor Kate Rowan the series did feature other characters who were often important to the weekly plots such as PC Phil Bellamy (Mark Jordon), PC Alf Ventress (William Simons), Oscar Blake ton (Derek Fowlds), wheeling-and-dealing Claude Green grass (Bill Maynard) and from the second season barmaid Gina Ward (Tricia Penrose). Gradually Heartbeat moved away from the novels it was based on and although Nick Berry’s character remained central to the show the series became more of an ensemble drama with the other characters featuring heavily in the plots. While some storylines such as the romance between Phil and Gina spanned the years most storylines were off a weekly nature and barely referred to – if ever again. Indeed it seems as though the village of Aidensfield had a revolving door of new neighbours to be murdered, robbed or blackmailed with alarming regularity – after Midsomer Murders and Emmerdale the village must be one of the worst places crime wise to life!

As with any other long-running drama over the years actors come and ago as they decide to move onto new projects. In 1996 actress Niamh Cusack was written out of the series and two years later in 1998 Nick Berry left the drama too – appearing in a special one-off episode afterwards which saw his character move to Canada. Replacing Nick Berry as the central “bobby on the bike” character was actor Jason Durr who played PC Mike Bradley from 1997 until 2003. Actor James Carlton, who had played Jason Kirk in Emmerdale, joined the cast but remained with the drama for just two years. Former Mersey Beat and Casualty actor Jonathan Kerrigan was recruited leading to some criticisms in the press over Heartbeat using former soap stars – perhaps they had forgotten all about Nick Berry? When Kerrigan left in 2007 he was replaced by actor Joseph McFadden as PC Joe Mason – the current and last “bobby on the bike” character.

Other important characters to feature in Heartbeat down the years include Darling Buds of May actor Phillip Franks as Sergeant Craddock between 1998 and 2002, Kazia Pelka as Maggie Bolton between 1995 and 2001, Keeping Up Appearances actor Geoffrey Hughes as Vernon Scripps, Rupert Vanisttart as Lord Ashfordly, David Lonsdale as David and Peter Benson as Bernie Scripps. Guest-stars over the years have included Charlotte Church, Jack Deam, Todd Carty, Sue Holderness, Russell Boulter, Melanie Kilburn, Jenny Agutter, Diane Langton, William Ash, Kenneth Cranham, Wanda Ventham, Susan Jameson, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Lulu, Richard Todd, David Essex, Roy Dotrice, John Simm and David Dickinson. In 2003 ITV launched a spin-off from Heartbeat, also set in the 1960s, in the form of medical-drama The Royal. The series proved as equally popular with audiences as its parent show and the drama was quickly re-commissioned for further episodes. The character of Claude Greengrass (Bill Maynard) appeared as a regular in the first series of The Royal while other characters from Heartbeat made occasionally appearances in the series. However, over time these guest appearances/crossover plots became less frequent as both shows headed in their own directions.

In all there has been 18 seasons of Heartbeat with over 370 episodes produced since it launched in 1992. The cast of the final season included original actors William Simons and Derek Fowlds with other long serving cast members such as Tricia Penrose, David Lonsdale and Peter Benson.

Steven Blakely, John Duttine, Gwen Taylor, Joe McFadden, Lisa Kay and Nikki Sanderson also made up the cast. The demise of Heartbeat comes at the same time as another long-running ITV drama, The Bill, also finishes its run on the broadcaster. The downfall of two such long-running dramas in such a short space of time says a lot about the current television market; viewers shouldn’t expect to see shows run for so long in the future. The days of the long-running dramas are dying to be replaced by shows axed before they are given time to establish themselves because foolish commissioners want instant ratings – something few dramas achieve. But then who are we, the mere viewers, to tell these idiots how to do their job. Whether you liked Heartbeat or not its axing is symbol of a wider issue within the television industry – longevity is seen as a bad thing.