Good riddance to Ashfordly – where it’s been the 1960s for 18 years
The end of an error is upon us. One of Britain’s cosiest Sunday night habits has, as they say, been “axed”. This coming Sunday sees the beginning of the final series of Heartbeat, a programme described variously as a ‘1960s rural police drama’, a ‘nostalgic drama’ and, most damning of all, a ‘cosy drama’. Of course, it traditionally contained very little drama, being more of a whimsical period soap opera, but that didn’t stop millions of saps tuning in of a Sunday evening to have their brains turned to sloppy meringue at cocoa time, just in time for the working week to begin. At last, Britain’s woolliest police force have gone into cardiac arrest after nearly two decades in a coma.
Officially, ITV has cancelled it because it wants to concentrate on “new and varied drama commissions”, a laudable enough aspiration, and good luck to them, especially if they’ve realised that chasing an intelligent, discerning audience can be profitable too. But, really, Heartbeat‘s continued, mirthless existence exposed two decades of ITV’s gutless commissioning and scheduling. It had to go, it’s been hobbling on its useless, nostalgic limbs for a staggering 18 years, as dull and starchy as old, zombified offerings like Peak Practice and London’s Burning. Continue reading →
