About Heartbeat

Heartbeat is a Yorkshire TV (ITV) production. The first series was produced in 1990. Featuring the gorgeous scenery of the North Yorkshire Moors, it is set in the 1960s, in the fictional Yorkshire town of Aidensfield. The first seasons focus on the lives of London policeman Nick Rowan (Nick Berry), who moves to the village with his doctor wife Kate (Niamh Cusack).

The series name relects the early focus on both medical matters (Heart) and country policing (the Beat). Later series lose the medical focus, with the "Heart" coming from community issues. Some medical stories focus on District Nurse Maggie Bolton (Kazia Pelka), who becomes a good friend of Nick and Kate Rowan, and later of schoolteacher Jo Weston

Nick's police colleagues feature in the series, under the leadership of the crusty but kindhearted Sergeant Blaketon (Derek Fowlds). Blaketon's nemesis is Claude Jeremiah Greengrass (Bill Maynard), poacher and occasional small-time fence. Greengrass is a regular patron of the Aidensfield Arms hotel, run by George Ward and his pretty niece Gina. It's here at the pub that we see much of the day-to-day social interaction in the series.

In later series, the focus is more on the ensemble cast, including PC Mike Bradley

Heartbeat is based on the Constable books by "Nicholas Rhea", the pen-name of country policeman Peter N. Walker. I have read several of these, but can't get into them. I find them very dry. The books of the TV series, on the other hand, capture some of the charm of the show, while remaining very much light reading. (Before I put you off, let me add that My Aunt The Librarian tells me Rhea's books are extremely popular. I think I have difficulty adjusting from the series to the books, and suspect it would be easier the other way around!)
More detail about Rhea's books is available on the Heartbeat Products page.