Set during the 1960s in the fictional north yorkshire village of aidensfield and initially starring former eastender nick berry as pc nick rowan, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines, with a host of colourful characters that viewers took to their hearts and a wonderfully nostalgic soundtrack. Running for two successful decades and becoming staple sunday night viewing, heartbeat won several prestigious tv awards including best performing peak time drama in 1999 beating coronation street, and a number of itv programme of the year awards. The series attracted a peak audience of 14 million, spawned a highly successful spin off, the royal, and a top ten hit single, and has garnered a devoted following, remaining prime time viewing world wide. In this complete fifth series the love story between nick and kate ends in tragedy and a dark cloud of shock and grief gathers over nick as he is forced to move into a new and traumatising chapter in his life.