As Times Goes By
(1992-2005)

Judi Dench, Geoffrey Palmer, Moira Brooker, Jenny Funnell, Phillip Bretherton

Jean Pargetter and Lionel Hardcastle are former lovers whose lives intersect again 40 years after they lost touch with each other. Lionel is now divorced, and Jean is a widow with an adult daughter, Judith, who works in Jean’s secretarial office. As Lionel works on a memoir with a cheerful but brash agent, Alistair, he begins to rekindle the tender romance with the woman who got away all those years ago. Cheering them on is Sandy, Judith’s best friend and co-worker.

Jean’s flat is at 21 St James Gardens, Holland Park, London. It iss very close to the Holland Park tube station on the Central Line. Lionel’s flat is at 16 Holland Park Gardens, Holland Park, London. Lionel has a signing for his book “My Life in Kenya” in season 2 at Waterstones on High Street, Kensington, London.

Stephen and Penny’s anniversary party (Season 4, episode 6) is held at Monkey Island Hotel, Bray, Berkshire. Lionel and Jean go for a walk in a park (episode 5, Season 4) which is nearby the hotel on Monkey Island, Bray, Berkshire. Here they hide behind a tree when Lionel spots Alastair. When Lionel and Jean keep missing each other as they go round the swivel door at Lionel’s hotel (episode 1, Season 1), the hotel is The Kensington Hilton, near Shepherd’s Bush, London. Lionel and Jean meet Mike Barbosa on the Queen Mary moored here in episode 7, Season 3. They have lunch inside and tell Mike their story for the mini-series. It is a retired Clyde steamer launched in 1933 and now being preserved as a museum ship.

In episode 3, Season 2, Lionel and Jean go rowing on the lake in Battersea Bark, London. Lionel follows the girls to the Shepherds Bush Market in episode 1, Season 6. In episode 1, Season 2, Lionel has his photo taken at a booth in Hammersmith Met Station, London. Lionel and Jean meet Mike Barbosa on a boat moored (episode 7, Season 3) at The Embarkment, London. The Police Station seen in Season 3, episode 3 is Fulham Broadway, London. Sandy watches Harry play Rugby (episode 1, season 7) at the Sports Ground opposite Teddington Studios in Teddington, Middlesex. When Lionel and Jean arrive at the registry office in episode 8, Season 4, it is actually Chiswick Town Hall. The church on Turnham Green is seen in the background whilst Lionel and Jean are sitting in the car.

Rocky and Madge’s country house is Glebe House, Church Lane, Aldenham, Hertfordshire, England. Rocky and Madge get married at St John the Baptist church, Aldenham, Hertfordshire, England. Lional and Jean take a stroll down Back Lane, Letchmore Heath befgre bumping into Alan and Glenys outside the Three Horshoes pub in Letchmore Heath. Penny and Stephen’s house is also in Letchmore Heath. Village scnes were shot at the The Stag & Huntsman and around Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, England.

Last of The Summer Wine
(1982-2010)

Brian Wilde, Frank Thornton, Michael Aldridge

Last of the Summer Wine is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke that was originally broadcast on the BBC. It premiered as an episode of Comedy Playhouse on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes followed on 12 November 1973. Last of the Summer Wine is the longest-running comedy programme in Britain and the longest-running sitcom in the world, running from 1983 to 2010.

Last of the Summer Wine was set and filmed in and around Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England, and centred on a trio of old men and their youthful misadventures; the membership of the trio changed several times over the years. The original trio consisted of Bill Owen as the mischievous and impulsive Compo Simmonite, Peter Sallis as easy-going everyman Norman Clegg, and Michael Bates as uptight and arrogant Cyril Blamire. When Bates dropped out due to illness in 1976 after two series, the role of the third man of the trio was filled in various years up to the 30th series by the quirky war veteran Walter “Foggy” Dewhurst (Brian Wilde), who had two lengthy stints in the series, the eccentric inventor Seymour Utterthwaite (Michael Aldridge), and former police officer Herbert “Truly of The Yard” Truelove (Frank Thornton). The men never seem to grow up, and they develop a unique perspective on their equally eccentric fellow townspeople through their stunts. Although in its early years the series generally revolved around the exploits of the main trio, with occasional interaction with a few recurring characters, over time the cast grew to include a variety of supporting characters and by later years the series was very much an ensemble piece. Each of these recurring characters contributed their own running jokes and subplots to the show and often becoming reluctantly involved in the schemes of the trio, or on occasion having their own, separate storylines.

After the death of Owen in 1999, Compo was replaced at various times by his real-life son, Tom Owen, as equally unhygienic Tom Simmonite, Keith Clifford as Billy Hardcastle, a man who thought of himself as a descendant of Robin Hood, and Brian Murphy as the cheeky-chappy Alvin Smedley. Due to the age of the main cast, a new trio was formed during the 30th series featuring somewhat younger actors, and this format was used for the final two instalments of the show. This group consisted of Russ Abbot as a former milkman who fancied himself a secret agent, Luther “Hobbo” Hobdyke, Burt Kwouk as the electrical repairman, “Electrical” Entwistle, and Murphy as Alvin Smedley. Sallis and Thornton, both past members of the trio, continued in supporting roles alongside the new actors.

Though the exterior shots were always filmed on location in Holmfirth and the surrounding countryside, the interior shots were, until the early 1990s, filmed in front of a live studio audience at BBC Television Centre in London. The amount of location work increased, however, as studio work became a drain on time and money. Under Alan J. W. Bell, Last of the Summer Wine became the first comedy series to do away with the live studio audience, moving all of the filming to Holmfirth. The episodes were filmed and then shown to preview audiences, whose laughter was recorded and then mixed into each episode’s soundtrack to provide a laugh track and avoid the use of canned laughter.

Heartbeat
(1991-2009)

Derek Fowlds, William Simons, Rupert Vansittart, Tricia Penrose

The 1960s period police drama Heartbeat was filmed from 1991 until May 2009 a grand total of 18 years, the longest decade yet. During this time 18 series and 372 episodes were filmed.

The village of Goathland was the setting of the fictional village of Aidensfield in the television series. Many landmarks from the series are recognisable, including the stores, garage/funeral directors, the public house and the railway station. The pub is called the Goathland Hotel, but in the series is the Aidensfield Arms. After filming for some years a replica was built in the studio. Props in view were changed in accordance with the 1960’s era. Police would hold traffic for every take at each location but otherwise everything carried on as normal.

The shops on the green at Goathland, often seen in ITV’s Heartbeat. The police house can be found approximately 112 km away from Goathland, in the small picturesque village of Askwith alongside the river Wharf near Ilkley, West Yorkshire. It is actually situated opposite a pub called The Black Horse. However the camera work in Heartbeat makes it look as if its overlooking the moors in Aidensfield, and unless you knew otherwise you’d never guess that the house is filmed at a separate location. The site of the police station is not far from Ilkey, in the town of Otley. It actually was a real police station in past years. Again the interior shots were eventually filmed in reconstructed studios but during the early series the actual site was used. In the court yard outside the station, on screen you now see the small porch filled in with white board. This isn’t the case in very early episodes.


A 1960s Ford Anglia police car unsed in the Heartbeat TV series, seen regularly on the streets of Goathland.

The pub that plays the Aidensfield Arms is the Goathland Hotel. It can be found just up from the station on the left if you enter the village from the station end, or on the right hand side near the end of the village if you approach from the Pickering direction into Goathland. It is situated opposite the Aidensfield garage. Signed pictures of the cast are displayed in the snug and Heartbeat postcards can be purchased here. It is a cosy comfortable pub, especially as a log fire is very often ablaze giving a very warm welcome in winter.

The church used in the series can be found opposite the Mallyan Spout Hotel (where the cast sometimes stayed) on the way into Goathland if you approach from the Pickering. This is the site of many poignant moments in Heartbeat, particularly Kate’s funeral and Nick and Jo’s wedding which attracted Heartbeat’s highest audience. Grosmont Station was sometimes used as if it was Aidensfield Station, although Goathland Station is the usual choice. Grosmont Station has the added extra of a level crossing which is sometimes featured in the series.