Work
Heartbeat is a British police procedural period drama series, based upon the Constable series of novels written by Nicholas Rhea, and produced by Yorkshire Television until it was…
Read and enrich the people, organizations and context referenced in case files.
Explore the cases that include this wiki entry.
No case files include this entry yet.
Investigate this subjectBe the first to comment.
Heartbeat is a British police procedural period drama series, based upon the Constable series of novels written by Nicholas Rhea, and produced by Yorkshire Television until it was merged with ITV, then by ITV Studios, from 1992 until 2010. The series is set in the North Riding of Yorkshire during the 1960s, with plots centred on the fictional locations of Aidensfield and Ashfordly.
Heartbeat is a British police procedural period drama series, based upon the Constable series of novels written by Nicholas Rhea, and produced by Yorkshire Television until it was merged with ITV, then by ITV Studios, from 1992 until 2010. The series is set in the North Riding of Yorkshire during the 1960s, with plots centred on the fictional locations of Aidensfield and Ashfordly.
The programme initially starred Nick Berry, Niamh Cusack, Derek Fowlds, William Simons, Mark Jordon and Bill Maynard, but as more main characters were added to the series, additional actors included David Lonsdale, Jason Durr, Jonathan Kerrigan, Philip Franks, Duncan Bell, Clare Wille, Lisa Kay, Tricia Penrose, Geoffrey Hughes, Peter Benson and Gwen Taylor. Fowlds as Oscar Blaketon and Simons as Alf Ventress were the only actors to be in the programme for its entire 18 series run. Production of episodes involved filming of outdoor and exterior scenes around the North Riding, including in and around Whitby and Goathland, with interior scenes filmed at The Leeds Studios.
Heartbeat proved popular from the beginning, when early series consistently drew over 10 million viewers, achieving a peak audience of 13.82 million in 2001, and 12.8 million viewers in 2003. Its success eventually led to a spin-off series, titled The Royal, as well as a special episode, and three documentaries. In June 2010, ITV announced the cancellation of Heartbeat after its eighteenth series, following discussions on its future.
Heartbeat is a period drama set within the North Riding of Yorkshire during the 1960s. Plots for each episode are centred around the fictional locations of Aidensfield and Ashfordly, occasionally including the real town of Whitby. Some episodes featured references to the counterculture movement of the 1960s.
The programme's title was chosen by writers to represent the series' key characters who worked as police officers and medical staff – "heart" for the medical themes featured regularly in the programme, and "beat" for a policeman's "beat" or area that he patrols. Each episode's set of storylines were inspired by those of the Constable series of books, written by Nicholas Rhea (the pen-name of former policeman Peter Walker), which were focused on a police constable in the 1960s who came to Aidensfield. Many of the characters and locations in the Constable series were used for creating the setting and plots in Heartbeat, under guidance from Rhea.
The series was originally intended as a launch platform for actor Nick Berry, following his involvement on the BBC's soap opera EastEnders. Berry and actress Niamh Cusack were the prominent main actors of the programme for its first two series. Storylines mainly focused around both their characters, as they offered aid to those around the village and beyond, though the tone of plots was portrayed with grittiness and social realism. From the third series onwards, the role of the village policeman continued to be central to the storyline, but supporting actors were redefined as the programme's main cast, with their characters elevated in presence, effectively developing Heartbeat into an ensemble drama that was themed as more cosy and comfortable compared to more modern TV police dramas. The changes were more notable by how supporting actors gained more prominence in the opening titles after being elevated into the series' main cast – up until the fifth series, both Berry and Cusack were prominently featured in the opening credits, but this changed in later series so that by the beginning of the seventh series, all actors in the main cast were given credit for their involvement.
After the fifth series, storylines became less centralized around the village constable, focusing on separate storylines that retained a set structure within episodes: one focusing on a crime solved by the village constable and his colleagues at Ashfordly police; one focused on a medical issue that the village doctor and/or nurse would treat; and a side story focused on the programme's "lovable rogue" character which mainly was designed as comic relief, but sometimes featured light-hearted plots. In addition, over-arching storylines covering several episodes or even series, provided sub-plots between main characters, allowing for character and relationship development between them, with additional characters added in over time. In time, Heartbeat saw the cast being changed throughout its broadcast history, as new characters were introduced to replace those who left the show.
Source: Heartbeat (British TV series) (CC BY-SA)
We label verified structured information, user opinions, and AI-discovered relationships separately.
Sixties pop music features prominently in episodes, notably from the Beatles and Chuck Berry, forming the backbone of Heartbeat's soundtrack, although music from other decades sometimes is played in episodes.
Some 1970s records appear anachronistically, such as the Hollies' 1974 song "The Air That I Breathe", Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" (1971), Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" (1974) or Pink Floyd's 1971 instrumental "One of These Days". The end scene of the series 17 episode "You Never Can Tell" is accompanied by the Flying Pickets' 1983 song "Only You", an episode which featured a guest appearance by the band's lead singer Brian Hibbard.
Although Heartbeat was broadcast over 18 years from 1992 to 2010, the show remained set in the 1960s throughout its entire run. Series 1, which broadcast in 1992, was set in 1965, with PC Rowan referring to, in the first episode, the Clacton riots of 1964 being "last year" whilst attempting to dissuade a young rocker from taking part in a potential 'Mods and Rockers' conflict in the village. By roughly Series 8, Heartbeat had reached 1969, and yet the show seemingly remained set in 1969 until the end of Series 18's broadcast in 2010, never moving into the 1970s. The episode titled "One Small Step", which was the 21st episode of Series 16, took place at the time of the July 1969 Apollo 11 moon landings.
Heartbeat had five main stars over the course of its 18 series run, i.e. Nick Berry as Nick Row
