Heartbeat is a TV
programme that was an early herald in the growing 21st century genre of nostalgia
shows. It is set in a remote part of North Yorkshire
during the 1960's and skilfully captures the attitudes and culture of the
times. The plots are centred on the local police force, although there are
numerous subplots involving local civilians that considerably developed as the
programme grew in popularity; to the point where it went beyond the usual
police procedural milieu. I was never an avid fan of it, I have to admit, but I
did enjoy it. (I am far fonder of its spin-off, The Royal, for reasons that will be obvious to all readers of the
HPWA and all listeners of The Gas Spanner.) Heartbeat
was first broadcast in the 1990's and it really blew up during the 2000's. At the time I was in a difficult personal situation. I was living in a house as a
single parent with my ex-partner and daughter's mother; and my daughter who was
a teenager at the time. They both loved the series and watched it whenever it
was on. My ex still watches it over and over again to this day; it is broadcast
regularly on the "gold" channels. Seeing as I was in a family
communal situation I passively absorbed it, as I felt obliged to. What's
interesting about Heartbeat is that
there is a single episode that includes an alien abduction. The episode is
titled "Gone Tomorrow" and in it there is a massive thunderstorm over
Aidensfield, the fictional village in which the series is set. Everybody's
electricity is cut off. Some villagers see lights in the sky that are not
lightening. One of the characters, PC Alf Ventress, is driving along a country road
when his car engine stops; then he sees a strange craft hovering above him. He
is at first reluctant to speak out and tells his beat partner, PC Nick Rowan,
that he was dazzled by the lightning. Later he sees a doctor and it seems he
has a "sunburn" on his face, like the Roy Neary character in Close Encounter of the Third Kind. Several
times in the soundtrack they play the "five tones" from that film. Oddly
enough the landlord in the village pub thinks the incident might be weather modification
experiments at RAF Fylingdales. This is rather anachronistic seeing as the base
was not used for anything "tinfoil hatty" until the late 1980's. The
station commander, Sergeant Blaketon, is very skeptical and afraid of the negative
publicity the UFO stories might generate, but Ventress' colleague, PC Rowan, remains
supportive towards his fellow constable. Ventress eventually confides in Rowan
and Rowan's wife, who is the community doctor. Later on Blaketon reveals that
he has to "keep a lid on this!" and in under instructions from "headquarters"
whatever that means. He adds: "It's my head on the block!" He then
orders Ventress home on sick leave. It's more likely Blaketon is concerned
about the reputation and scandal involved than any suggestion that he is being
briefed in on any kind of cover-up, รก la
Roswell
This episode was written by somebody called Freda Kelsall
along with another author called Nicholas Rhea who penned the books on which the
Heartbeat TV programme is based. The
plot is obviously inspired by the annals of PC Alan Godfrey, a policeman from
east Lancashire who reported just such an experience as the
fictional Alf Ventress in 1980, see: https://www.alangodfreyufo.com.
I have a signed copy of his book. Heartbeat
episodes have the ambiance of a soap opera and different main plots are often
combined with equal significance in a single show, but "Gone
Tomorrow", season 5 episode 8, is worth watching for anybody interested in
UFO's. Just scroll forward though the irrelevant scenes if you prefer. I don't
understand the choice of title. The final scene of the episode is very good. It
shows PC Ventress courageously standing by his story and his fellow officer PC
Rowan backing him up. He presents the police psychologist with the tape
recording of his hypnotic regression session. The pshrink asks the usual patronizing
questions; like whether Ventress had taken any "substance likely to cause
hallucinations", implying he is on LSD. As a fifty-something rural Yorkshire
copper that would be out of character, even in the '60's. Rowan bravely
challenges the doctor and defends his fellow officer. The doctor then threatens
both officers with "career deficiency!". You could say this TV show
is just fiction, which it literally it; but Alan reports in his book how he
himself was subjected to harassment, including a threat to frame him for narcotics
offences. I have heard so many other real life equivalents of this kind of
abuse from the authorities; yet the skeppers keep insisting: "If UFO's
were real, more witnesses would speak out!" Skeptics, cast aside your own
fiction and get real!
