List of Heartbeat Characters - Other Regular Characters

Other Regular Characters

• Alice Jones as Katie Rowan (1995–1998). Daughter of PC Nick Rowan and the late Dr Kate Rowan. She was named Sarah at birth but Nick later named her Katie in her mother's memory (her full name at baptism was Katherine Sarah Rowan). When Katie was a pre-schooler, she was taken, by her father, Sgt. Nick Rowan, and her stepmother, Jo, to Canada with them, when her father joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

• Anne Stallybrass as Eileen Reynolds (one-off appearance 1993; regular 1995–1998). Kate Rowan's aunt, a motherly middle-aged lady. She first appeared when she visited Nick and Kate Rowan in order to give Kate a legacy from her uncle (Eileen's late husband). Eileen attended Kate's funeral in episode 5.3, and she took Kate's death very hard. She later returned to Aidensfield to assist Nick Rowan in the rearing of Katie (Nick's and Kate's daughter), taking over that role from Nick's mother Ruby. Eileen then stayed on after the marriage of Nick and Jo Weston to continue to assist with Katie. She briefly "dated" Oscar Blaketon, though their relationship was more one of friendship than romance. She left Aidensfield after rekindling a Second World War romance with a Frenchman (Antonin Clarion, played by Robert Langdon Lloyd).

• Juliette Gruber as Joanna "Jo" Rowan (née Weston) (1995–1997). Teacher at Aidensfield Primary School. Nick Rowan met her a while after the death of his wife Kate. Although he was still recovering from the sudden loss of Kate, the pair struck up a friendship which led to romance. They eventually got married, and shortly afterwards left the series to go to Canada where she continued her career as a teacher.

• Fiona Dolman as Jacqueline "Jackie" Rosemary Bradley (née Lambert) (1998–2001). Smart, hard-working and successful solicitor, often acting on behalf of individuals under arrest. She met PC Mike Bradley through her work, and they married, rather in haste. Jackie always seemed slightly ambiguous about the relationship, and she felt "suffocated" in the isolated rural community. Conflicts of interest also arose from her position defending criminals arrested by her husband. She later started an affair with one of her clients, whom she had known only a matter of weeks. Following this, she and Mike Bradley divorced and she left the series.

• Martin Ledwith as Andy Ryan (1999–2000). Hunky smooth-talking itinerant Irish professional diver who worked on an oil rig and became romantically involved with Gina Ward. Andy was initially suspected of the rape of a local teenager which caused a rift with Gina till he was found innocent. Gina refused to talk to Andy after she suspected him of cheating on her but relented when Andy heroically dived off of a pier, into the wintry sea, to rescue a local doctor who was attempting suicide. Andy was the best friend of a character played by Gary Barlow. Gina finally ended the relationship when it transpired that he was also keeping a wife and family.

• Murray Head as Jack Hollins (2005–2006, 2007). A liberal and somewhat intellectual artist and art teacher. After meeting Gina Ward in the Aidensfield Arms, Jack persuaded her to attend his art classes. Claiming to have recognised some talent, he continued to encourage her artistic aspirations and the two eventually became romantically involved – despite Jack being some years her senior. They fell out after he attempted to exhibit a nude portrait of her against her wishes (the painting was eventually burned by Gina and Rosie). He then left the series, but made a brief reappearance with his new fiancée in Series 16 ("The Dreams That You Dream", 24 June 2007) when he attended Gina's wedding to wish her well.

• Josefina Gabrielle as Debbie Black, also known as Debbie Bellamy (2005–2006). Former "wife" of PC Phil Bellamy, and mother of Jane, Susan and PJ Black. Her marriage to Phil eventually proved to be bigamous and therefore invalid. Barry Black, her previous husband and father of her children, had moved to South Africa to escape debt, and not died in a motorcycle accident as she had claimed. At the end of the 15th series, Barry turned up in Aidensfield to take Debbie and her children with him to start a new life in South Africa. Debbie suffered from incipient alcoholism, but she left the series before this storyline could be fully developed.