Heartbeat- Gone Tomorrow

 

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, á la Roswell. He warns his constable not to talk to anybody and later tries to discredit him by referring him to a psychologist. Rowan, who is by far the most open-minded character in Aidensfield, then secretly takes Ventress for a hypnotic regression. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8m8QMyGIoU.

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!