Where the Heart Is (UK TV series)



Where the Heart Is is a British television family drama series set in the Yorkshire town of Skelthwaite. First shown in 1997, it was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone and focuses on the professional and personal lives of the district nurses who work in the town. The original leads were Sarah Lancashire and Pam Ferris, who played sisters-in-law and colleagues at the Skelthwaite Health Centre. Both actresses had left the series by 2000, but the format of at least two female leads continued with various actresses until the show's end. A typical episode would focus on one or two medical storylines interwoven with personal stories featuring one or both nurses.

One of ITV's longest-running shows, Where the Heart Is was known for being what has been described as a haven for former soap stars, including Lancashire, Philip Middlemiss, Samantha Giles, Kerrie Taylor, Brian Capron and Shobna Gulati. In October 2006, the series was cancelled after nine years, despite viewing figures of well over 7 million.

The theme song "Where the Heart is" was performed by Prefab Sprout (written and sung by Paddy McAloon). It was released as a single and appears on the band's 38 Carat Collection.

The series is currently being repeated on ITV3.

Synopsis
The show follows the lives of the people of Skelthwaite, a fictional small Yorkshire town; particularly the work of the district nurses at the town's health centre. It originally focuses on the extended Snow and Goddard family — sisters-in-law and close friends Peggy Snow (Ferris) and Ruth Goddard (Lancashire) who work together as district nurses, while Ruth's husband and Peggy's younger brother Simon (Thomas Craig) is the town's main employer through his paper products factory. Peggy's husband Vic (Tony Haygarth) and her children Stephen and Lucy provide family-focused storylines which sit alongside the medical-based plots.

The programme underwent major changes at the end of series three and the beginning of series four, with first Lancashire and then Ferris departing. Ruth and Simon split, with Ruth moving to Australia, and Peggy tragically dies following a road accident involving a horse which also left her daughter Lucy fighting for her life. Storylines continued to focus on the rest of the family, with Simon and Vic adjusting to life as single men and for Vic, as a single father, whilst old friends Anna Kirkwall (Lesley Dunlop) and Karen Buckley (Leslie Ash) take over at the health centre. Anna begins a romance with Simon, but rejects him just before their wedding day, knowing that he wants to be with Ruth and Alfie in Australia. Karen's marriage to her husband David (Philip Middlemiss) crumbles when she chooses to focus on helping her long-lost son recover from his drug addiction, leading to Ash's departure from the series in 2003. Anna and David later become a couple, marry and remain the show's lead characters for the rest of its run.

Several other nurses work alongside Anna during this time, most notably Sally Boothe (Samantha Giles), whose family becomes the focus of many of the non-medical storylines after the remaining members of the Snow family departed in 2002. In an echo of the Snow family's development, Sally is also killed off, with later storylines focusing on her family's attempts to cope without her.

Over the years the cast was expanded and the show became more of an ensemble drama, with typically three major nurse characters at any one time alongside other townsfolk, usually workers at Goddard's Paper Products and their families.

Production
The series was filmed in the Colne and Holme valleys of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire using the real life villages of Marsden, Golcar, Slaithwaite and Meltham for many of the external shots. The first series was mostly filmed in Slaithwaite, with some exterior shots filmed in the village of Baildon, but from series 2 onwards, Marsden was used as the principal filming location.

Final cast

 * Lesley Dunlop as Anna Kirkwall/Buckley
 * Jessica Childs-Cavill as Amy Kirkwall
 * Molly Martin & Millie Martin as Rachel Kirkwall/Boothe
 * Christian Cooke as Luke Kirkwall
 * Philip Middlemiss as David Buckley
 * Brian Capron as Ozias Harding
 * Andrew Paul as Billy Boothe
 * Holly Lucas as Megan Boothe/Kirkwall
 * Adam Paul Harvey as Nathan Boothe
 * Shobna Gulati as Nisha Clayton
 * Ian Kelsey as Jack Clayton
 * Fiona Wade as Rowan Clayton
 * Richard Mylan as Danny Flint
 * Taylor Bourke as Cady Flint
 * Andrea Lowe as Zoë Phelps
 * Joanna Riding as Terri Gough
 * Wesley Nelson as Alfie Gough
 * Tom Chadbon as Dr. Kenworthy

Notable ex-cast members

 * Denise van Outen as Kim Blakeney
 * Geraldine Newman as Mrs Murfin
 * Katie Riddoch as Molly Beresford
 * Pam Ferris as Peggy Snow
 * Tony Haygarth as Vic Snow
 * Leslie Ash as Karen Buckley
 * Keith Barron as Alan Boothe
 * Georgia Moffett as Alice Harding
 * Kelly Wenham as Jess Buckley
 * Julian Lewis Jones as Tom Beresford
 * Samantha Giles as Sally Boothe
 * Thomas Craig as Simon Goddard
 * Sarah Lancashire as Ruth Goddard
 * Andrew Knott as Henry Green
 * William Ash as Stephen Snow
 * Jason Done as Stephen Snow
 * Jessica Baglow as Lucy Snow
 * Danny Seward as Joe Beresford
 * Kerrie Taylor as Beth Enright/Beresford
 * Holly Grainger as Megan Boothe (first)
 * Marsha Thomason as Jacqui Richards/Snow
 * Paulette Williams as Jacqui Richards/Snow
 * Matthew Lewis as Billy Bevan
 * Vincenzo Pellegrino as Chris Eckersley
 * William Travis as Dick Lampard
 * Kathryn Hunt as Cheryl Lampard
 * Phillippa Wilson as Cheryl Lampard
 * Neil McCaul as Keith Harrison
 * Melanie Kilburn as Sandra Harrison
 * Alex Carter as Craig Harrison

Series One (1997)

 * 1) "Skelthwaite" (6 April 1997)
 * 2) "Things Fall Apart" (13 April 1997)
 * 3) "Summoned by Bells" (20 April 1997)
 * 4) "A Place in the World" (27 April 1997)
 * 5) "King Walter" (4 May 1997)
 * 6) "Dream" (11 May 1997)

Series Two (1998)

 * 1) "The Final Curtain" (19 April 1998)
 * 2) "The Healing Game" (26 April 1998)
 * 3) "Fresh" (3 May 1998)
 * 4) "Gone Fishing" (10 May 1998)
 * 5) "Darkness Follows" (17 May 1998)
 * 6) "Family Matters" (24 May 1998)
 * 7) "Ice Pops" (31 May 1998)
 * 8) "No Place Like Home" (7 June 1998)
 * 9) "She Goes On" (21 June 1998)
 * 10) "Love" (5 July 1998)

Series Three (1999)

 * 1) "Expansions" (18 April 1999)
 * 2) "Learning the Game" (25 April 1999)
 * 3) "Flesh and Blood" (2 May 1999)
 * 4) "Letting Go" (9 May 1999)
 * 5) "Moving On" (16 May 1999)
 * 6) "Home" (23 May 1999)
 * 7) "Reach for the Stars" (30 May 1999)
 * 8) "New Moon Arising" (6 June 1999)
 * 9) "Not My Brother" (20 June 1999)
 * 10) "A Special Language" (27 June 1999)
 * 11) "A Higher Duty" (4 July 1999)
 * 12) "Runaway" (11 July 1999)
 * 13) "Union" (18 July 1999)
 * 14) "The Letter" (25 July 1999)

Series Four (2000)

 * 1) "Breaking the Ice" (30 April 2000)
 * 2) "No Regrets" (7 May 2000)
 * 3) "The Dead Zone" (14 May 2000)
 * 4) "Shifting Sands" (21 May 2000)
 * 5) "Visiting Rights" (28 May 2000)
 * 6) "The Leaving Party" (4 June 2000)
 * 7) "A Foreign Field" (11 June 2000)
 * 8) "Unforgettable" (9 July 2000)
 * 9) "A Good Day" (16 July 2000)
 * 10) "Friends in Need" (23 July 2000)
 * 11) "Idle Hands" (30 July 2000)
 * 12) "Over the Rainbow" (6 August 2000)
 * 13) "Modern Love" (13 August 2000)
 * 14) "Legacy" (20 August 2000)
 * 15) "Getting Better" (27 August 2000)
 * 16) "The Field" (3 September 2000)

Series Five (2001)

 * 1) "Happiness" (22 April 2001)
 * 2) "Runaways" (29 April 2001)
 * 3) "Sanctuary" (6 May 2001)
 * 4) "Choices" (13 May 2001)
 * 5) "The Ties That Bind" (20 May 2001)
 * 6) "Home to Roost" (27 May 2001)
 * 7) "Faith" (3 June 2001)
 * 8) "Pound of Flesh" (17 June 2001)
 * 9) "Damage" (24 June 2001)
 * 10) "Too Much Too Young" (1 July 2001)
 * 11) "Temptation" (8 July 2001)
 * 12) "As Time Goes By" (15 July 2001)
 * 13) "Declaration" (22 July 2001)
 * 14) "Sticks and Stones" (29 July 2001)
 * 15) "Cats and Dogs" (5 August 2001)
 * 16) "The Team" (12 August 2001)

Series Six (2002)

 * 1) "No Turning Back" (21 April 2002)
 * 2) "Relative Strangers" (28 April 2002)
 * 3) "Happy Returns" (5 May 2002)
 * 4) "Trust" (12 May 2002)
 * 5) "In Your Dreams" (19 May 2002)
 * 6) "United We Stand" (26 May 2002)
 * 7) "Hold My Hand" (2 June 2002)
 * 8) "Don't Let Go" (9 June 2002)
 * 9) "Never Alone" (16 June 2002)
 * 10) "Flesh and Blood" (23 June 2002)
 * 11) "Count on Me" (30 June 2002)
 * 12) "Extra Time" (7 July 2002)

Series Seven (2003)

 * 1) "My Way" (6 July 2003)
 * 2) "The Games We Play" (13 July 2003)
 * 3) "The Need Of You" (20 July 2003)
 * 4) "Love Hurts" (27 July 2003)
 * 5) "Not Waving But Drowning" (3 August 2003)
 * 6) "A Time To Dance" (10 August 2003)
 * 7) "Coming Home" (17 August 2003)
 * 8) "Mister And Missus" (24 August 2003)
 * 9) "Archangel" (23 December 2003)

Series Eight (2004)

 * 1) "Bowl Of Cherries" (11 July 2004)
 * 2) "Stormy Weather" (18 July 2004)
 * 3) "Moon River" (25 July 2004)
 * 4) "The Games We Play" (1 August 2004)
 * 5) "Little Boy Blue" (8 August 2004)
 * 6) "Skin Deep" (15 August 2004)
 * 7) "Body And Soul" (22 August 2004)
 * 8) "Never Can Say Goodbye" (29 August 2004)

Series Nine (2005)

 * 1) "Care" (26 June 2005)
 * 2) "When All This Is Over" (3 July 2005)
 * 3) "Stamp Of Approval" (10 July 2005)
 * 4) "Sisters Under The Skin" (17 July 2005)
 * 5) "Together" (24 July 2005)
 * 6) "Legacy" (31 July 2005)
 * 7) "Brief Encounters" (7 August 2005)
 * 8) "Peaches And Cream" (14 August 2005)
 * 9) "So Long" (21 August 2005)
 * 10) "In A Perfect World" (28 August 2005)

Series Ten (2006)

 * 1) "RSVP" (16 July 2006)
 * 2) "Greater Love" (23 July 2006)
 * 3) "Home Grown" (30 July 2006)
 * 4) "Walk Of Faith" (6 August 2006)
 * 5) "Closure" (13 August 2006)
 * 6) "Finding Heaven" (20 August 2006)
 * 7) "Don't Look Back In Anger" (27 August 2006)
 * 8) "Flesh And Blood" (3 September 2006)
 * 9) "And On The Way I Dropped It" (10 September 2006)

DVD release
DVDs of the series in the UK are listed below, released by Network DVD. So far Series 1, 2, 3 and 4 have been released.