Heartbeat (television)

Heartbeat is a British television series which began in 1992 on Yorkshire Television. Now in its 15th series, it has clocked up over 250 episodes. The show is set in the 1960s and revolves around the work of a group of police officers in the fictional North Yorkshire town of Ashfordly, 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 mostly filmed. Each episode is an hour long, including commercial breaks.

Related Topics:
British - Television series - 1992 - Yorkshire Television - 1960s - Police officer - North Yorkshire - Goathland - North York Moors

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The series is loosely based on the Constable books by Nicholas Rhea. The show was originally a starring vehicle for ex-EastEnders actor Nick Berry but over time it has evolved into an ensemble drama. By the end of the 2003-2004 series no fewer than eleven regular actors had their names and faces included in the opening credits (in alphabetical order), an all-time record for any British series. (However, the central character, as far as there is one, remains the Aidensfield village policeman.)

Related Topics:
Nicholas Rhea - EastEnders - Nick Berry - Ensemble drama - 2003 - 2004

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Like its real-life counterpart, Aidensfield's most distinctive local landmark is the RAF Fylingdales Early Warning Station, the exterior of which featured in numerous episodes of earlier series. When the action moves further afield (for example, due to a criminal attempting a getaway by sea), the town of Whitby is normally used. (Scarborough is occasionally featured instead for variety.) Other real-life towns and cities ? such as Leeds, York, Sheffield, Middlesbrough, Northallerton and Saltburn ? are also sometimes mentioned.

Related Topics:
RAF Fylingdales Early Warning Station - Whitby - Scarborough - Leeds - York - Sheffield - Middlesbrough - Northallerton - Saltburn

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Although the show is often criticised for seeing the 1960s through rose tinted spectacles, in reality the series 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, and the notion that people were friendlier and the world was safer in the 1960s is given short shrift. The local people (aside from the regular characters) are portrayed as insular and suspicious of strangers, and the area's high crime rate speaks for itself.

Related Topics:
1960s - Rose tinted spectacles

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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, though sometimes the choice of music seems incongruous (such as an upbeat "swinging sixties" track accompanying a shot of a dour middle-aged rustic Yorkshireman).

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When the programme began, it was set in 1965. 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 several 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.

Related Topics:
1965 - 1969 - Christmas

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