A British police constable and his doctor wife, weary of the turmoil in contemporary London, decide to move and work in a quiet village where life is livelier than they anticipated.
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Henry Crabbe, an intelligent, sensible, mild-mannered man, desperately wants to retire from the police force and devote his time and energy to his beloved restaurant. However, Assistant ... See full summary »
Stars:
Richard Griffiths,
Maggie Steed,
Malcolm Sinclair
In order to make ends meet, and to stop a local teenage runaway from becoming a juvenile delinquent, Hetty Wainthropp, a sprightly and intelligent 60-year-old pensioner looking for a new ... See full summary »
Lovejoy is a loveable rogue and an antiques dealer with an amazing talent for spotting hidden treasures. When not looking for the odd collectible, Lovejoy spends most of his time using his ... See full summary »
The Saint is a modern day Robin Hood of sorts. He steals from rich criminals (gangsters and the like) and keeps the loot for himself. And he usually manages to get the rich criminals put ... See full summary »
A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid, and the security boss discovers the plot.
Director:
Terry Zwigoff
Stars:
Billy Bob Thornton,
Lauren Graham,
Bernie Mac
Constable Nick Rowan is a English Policeman in the 1960's who decides to be reassigned to the same small village where his wife was born. There, he patrols the countryside as a part of a small attachment in the area dealing with the various events and problems that come up while at same time keeping a eye on Claude Greengrass, the local rogue. Written by
Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>
In the earlier episodes, when George Ward (Stuart Golland) was in charge of the Aidensfield Arms, it was mentioned on several occasions that the fire in the bar had never been allowed to go out since the pub first opened. This was based on the real-life tradition at The Legendary Saltersgate Inn on the Whitby-Pickering road near the Hole of Horcum, a few miles from Goathland where the Aidensfield village scenes are filmed. It was said that the fire at the Saltersgate stayed lit for over 200 years, reputedly because an early publican had killed a customs officer and buried his body beneath the fireplace, and then lit a fire to avoid the hiding place being detected. See more »
Goofs
In the opening titles for Series 18, a shot of David's maroon lorry has been reversed: the lettering on the number-plate is a mirror image. See more »
Heartbeat began with former EastEnders star (and wooden as my front door) Nick Berry as a London police constable who relocated to the North Yorkshire Moors in the 1960s. Based on Nicholas Rhea's real experiences of police life during that era, it was a worthy and authentic series that set out to address some of the pertinent issues of the time. Nick Berry's severe limitations when it came to expressing anything were compensated by the fantastic character performances of Derek Fowlds as tyrannical Sergeant Blaketon, William Simons as lazy, ageing Constable Ventress and Bill Maynard as local rogue Greengrass.
Unfortunately, the show progressively suffered from a series of departures. The excellent Niamh Cusack, who played Berry's wife, left to be succeeded by a less capable actress as his love interest. After about five years in the series, Nick Berry left. Berry's replacement, Jason Durr, was a better actor, but the writing was deteriorating and the series appeared to have run out of ideas. Two of the best characters were also replaced with very over the top and irritating substitutes; Bill Maynard left, to be replaced by Geoffrey Hughes and Derek Fowlds was replaced as Sergeant by Philip Franks. Four long years later, Franks was gone. Somehow, Ventress remained a serving officer, when he clearly looked too old by this time. Jason Durr left in 2003, to be replaced by young actor James Carlton, who has only lasted in the show for a year. These frequent changes in the cast have not helped the series. And Ventress is still there! How old does he have to get before they pension him off?
Heartbeat was once a fine and relevant drama, but it is now just decorative fluff. I am told it still gets good viewing figures, but I can only assume that is due to the attractive countryside, smart police uniforms and classic cars. It can't be the scripts.
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Heartbeat began with former EastEnders star (and wooden as my front door) Nick Berry as a London police constable who relocated to the North Yorkshire Moors in the 1960s. Based on Nicholas Rhea's real experiences of police life during that era, it was a worthy and authentic series that set out to address some of the pertinent issues of the time. Nick Berry's severe limitations when it came to expressing anything were compensated by the fantastic character performances of Derek Fowlds as tyrannical Sergeant Blaketon, William Simons as lazy, ageing Constable Ventress and Bill Maynard as local rogue Greengrass.
Unfortunately, the show progressively suffered from a series of departures. The excellent Niamh Cusack, who played Berry's wife, left to be succeeded by a less capable actress as his love interest. After about five years in the series, Nick Berry left. Berry's replacement, Jason Durr, was a better actor, but the writing was deteriorating and the series appeared to have run out of ideas. Two of the best characters were also replaced with very over the top and irritating substitutes; Bill Maynard left, to be replaced by Geoffrey Hughes and Derek Fowlds was replaced as Sergeant by Philip Franks. Four long years later, Franks was gone. Somehow, Ventress remained a serving officer, when he clearly looked too old by this time. Jason Durr left in 2003, to be replaced by young actor James Carlton, who has only lasted in the show for a year. These frequent changes in the cast have not helped the series. And Ventress is still there! How old does he have to get before they pension him off?
Heartbeat was once a fine and relevant drama, but it is now just decorative fluff. I am told it still gets good viewing figures, but I can only assume that is due to the attractive countryside, smart police uniforms and classic cars. It can't be the scripts.