Review: HEARTBEAT, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, June 27 2016

Heartbeat was a popular ITV police series set in the 1960's which ran for 18 years. The drama has been given a new lease of life and a fresh script for this touring production featuring original cast members.

Heartbeat gets off to a slow start - painfully slow in fact, as nothing seems to happen at all for the first forty minutes. The writers seem to be relying on nostalgia rather than a decent script to drive most of the first act. I only vaguely remember the TV series so many of the characters and references were lost on me. It was clear that even for dedicated fans, the jokes fell flat and the biggest laugh of the evening went to a stuffed dog.

Aidensfield is a small village in Yorkshire where not much happens. So much so, new policeman Joe Malton has gone six months on the job without any incidents. Things begin to liven up slightly when Aidan McGuire arrives looking for somewhere to stay for a few nights and exhibiting some suspicious behaviour. The play then tries to turn to suspense but not very successfully. McGuire has fled the troubles in Southern Ireland but his accent fluctuates between Irish, Welsh, Geordie and something else I can't quite put my finger on - making it hard to take his monologue seriously.

The cast do the best they can with a lacklustre script, especially Carly Cook as landlady Gina Bellamy. David Lonsdale and Steven Blakeley are the two original television cast members and they get applause when they step onstage, but sadly are given nothing to work with throughout the show.

Heartbeat has some interesting ideas which have been poorly executed. It seems the writers are relying on nostalgia to get the audience in and this comes across as a very lazy production.

Heartbeat is at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow until Saturday 2nd July.

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