List of Heartbeat Characters - Police - Aidensfield Village "bobbies"

Aidensfield Village "bobbies"

• Nick Berry as Police Constable (PC) Nicholas "Nick" Rowan, later Sgt (1992–1997). Newly arrived from London to become Police Constable for Aidensfield, Nick was good-natured and, after some initial hostility, became popular with the people of Aidensfield. Nick was very happily married to Dr Kate Rowan, and they had a daughter Katie, but by the time Kate gave birth she was ill with leukaemia which eventually claimed her life. About two years later, after veiled suggestions that he might be paired off with nurse Maggie Bolton, Nick met school teacher Jo Weston, and they started courting and later married. He was promoted to sergeant and took over from Oscar Blaketon when the latter was invalided out of the force. He was not happy in his new job, however, and several months after his wedding with Jo, he accepted an offer to join the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and left Aidensfield, with Jo and Katie, to go to Canada. (This storyline was the basis of a one-off special episode called "Heartbeat: Changing Places".) Nick was brought up in Hackney, in London's East End, by his mother Ruby. His father, a merchant seaman, had died in the war.

• Jason Durr as PC Michael Dunstan "Mike" Bradley, later acting DC (1997–2003). An upstanding if somewhat wooden character, sometimes transforming into a square-jawed action hero, to be found grappling with armed villains, dragging survivors from collapsing quarry workings, jumping onto the roofs of moving trains etc. Like Nick Rowan he had previously worked for the Metropolitan Police in London; he arrived with a pony-tail and supercilious attitude, both of which were quickly dispensed with. After a brief relationship with Gina Ward, in rivalry with PC Phil Bellamy, he dated and then married solicitor Jackie Lambert, but the pair later divorced as a result of her infidelity. Bradley then started dating Dr Tricia Summerbee, and they were on the point of becoming engaged when she died in a horse riding accident. Dr Summerbee's death hit him very hard. Subsequently he was transferred to CID, and moved away from Aidensfield after promotion.

• James Carlton as PC Stephen "Steve" Crane (2003–2004). Arrived from Manchester, fresh-faced and keen, to take over as Aidensfield constable after Bradley's promotion to CID. During an investigation into the disappearance of a six-year-old girl, Steve found himself alone on a bridge with the girl and her father (who had arranged for his daughter's kidnapping). During the ensuing struggle between Steve and the father, Steve fell off the bridge (presumably pushed), and, in spite of all the efforts to save him, he plummeted to his death.

• Jonathan Kerrigan as PC Robert "Rob" Walker, later Sgt (2004–2007). Rob was almost identical in character to his predecessor Mike Bradley. Originally local to Aidensfield, he had a tough upbringing (his father was in prison for theft), but his personality did not particularly reflect this. He began an affair with Dr Helen Trent after she separated from her husband. Subsequently Helen's divorce was finalised, and the two married in an episode first broadcast in June 2006. Helen died just weeks later, at the end of the 15th series. In series 16, Walker began a relationship with district nurse Carol Cassidy. When Walker passed his sergeant's exams he was offered a place on a fast-track training course in another part of the country, he was reluctant to leave Carol and asked her to accompany him. Carol refused, saying that their relationship could not work while he was still grieving for Helen. The two made a tearful farewell, and Walker rode off into the sunset at the end of Series 16.

• Joseph McFadden as PC Joe Mason (2007–2010). Joe is described as a policeman "who sets his own rules, tackling crime in an idiosyncratic way that doesn't always sit well with those around him". He took over from PC Rob Walker in series 17. PC Mason came to Aidensfield on a temporary posting of a few weeks, pending the appointment of a permanent replacement for Walker and his own transfer to the Metropolitan Police. He had previously worked with Sergeant Miller in the York police force, where his insubordination, impetuosity and readiness to wade in with physical force earned him a reputation as a maverick. His cocky attitude initially alienated some of the Aidensfield locals, but his success in controlling local troublemakers and capturing a gang of armed robbers had won over most of the villagers by the end of his first episode. Finding Aidensfield to his liking, and feeling a growing attraction to Nurse Cassidy, he applied to stay on at the end of his posting, abandoning his plans to join the Met. His application was accepted and he was appointed permanent Aidensfield village bobby. His planned replacement, Don Wetherby, took the post of the recently deceased Phil Bellamy. Mason's supposed maverick tendencies and idiosyncratic approach to the job have been played down (or forgotten) in later episodes. His relationship with Nurse Cassidy flourished, but the two later argued and split up, and Joe rebounded into the arms of DS Dawson, his work superior, then also split up with her, and attempted another shot with Carol.