A new podcast celebrating the renowned TV series Heartbeat has been launched for fans and supporters.
The podcast discusses all things Heartbeat and features members of the cast, crew and other special guests. The first episode was an interview with Tricia Penrose, who played Aidensfield Arms barmaid Gina Ward. Tricia appeared in 338 episodes, more than any other female actor.
New episodes will be released every Sunday on Lee Jones' Youtube channel, TVHeartbeat. The series was recorded in the North Yorkshire village of Goathland and other local areas.
Lee already runs successful Heartbeat fan pages on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, with more than 11,000 followers. He said: "I listen to a lot of podcasts and love how they can go in depth into a subject. Being a Heartbeat fan, I loved the idea of being able to interview the people associated with the show such as the cast, crew and writers. Heartbeat is still so popular, and with all the followers on my social media pages, a podcast seemed to be the logical next step.”
The TV series is based on the Constable series of books written by North Yorkshire author and D&S Times' Countryman’s Diary columnist Nicholas Rhea, also known as Peter N. Walker.
The first episode was aired on April 10, 1992 and at its peak attracted audiences of around 18 million. It ran for 372 episodes over 18 series for 18 years until it came to an end in 2010, although it is still repeated twice daily on ITV3.
The programme has inspired a huge surge in visitors to the North York Moors area. Lee recently organised the Heartbeat Vehicle Rally in the village, celebrating the classic and vintage cars used in the TV show attracting thousands of visitors and fans.
Lee’s next episode features an interview with Nicholas Rhea’s wife Rhoda, and his daughter Sarah, who took over her late father’s columns, writing as The Countryman’s Daughter in the Darlington and Stockton Times.
Lee has so far recorded eight episodes for series one, but is already planning series two. "It is available on my YouTube channel @TVHeartbeat but I’m hoping it will soon be available on other platforms like Spotify. They will be released every Sunday for eight weeks.”
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