Heartbeat - Constable On The Hill: Nicholas Rhea

Officer Rhea's autobiographical volume is the origin of the TV series Heartbeat. Policeman Nick Rhea has been posted to the country with his wife Mary and their three small children. They move into the police house, high on a ridge overlooking the moors. It sits on the edge of the village of Aidensfield. In the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside of the 1960s, Constable Nick's roles are as varied as the eccentric villagers. He handles every encounter with his characteristic humour, humanity and professionalism. His investigations include the case of a clever pony who keeps escaping, a woman running through town naked and a pack of Canadian timber wolves hanging out in a bus shelter. He soon gets to know all the characters on his beat, from his superior officer Sergeant Blaketon to the ever-resourceful Claude Jeremiah Greengrass and his lurcher Alfred; Aud George, who informs the village of local deaths by using his own coded system; the Annual Coursing Meeting and village greyhound racing. There are mischevious mutts: Rufus, who loves dustbins and Emperor the Alsatian whose favourite lavatory is Stumpy Syke's flower beds. There is local femme fatale Mrs Dulcimer, who likes policemen to inspect her credentials, the dotty Mrs Fraser and the lady who complains when the policeman parks his car outside other ladies' houses. A fascinating and hilarious real life story of police work in a small English village.