The BEST episodes of Heartbeat season 8

Every episode of Heartbeat season 8, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Heartbeat season 8!

Heartbeat is based on the Constable books by Nicholas Rhea, set in the fictional 1960s Yorkshire town of Aidensfield. The first seasons focus on the lives of London policeman Nick Rowan, who moves to the village with his doctor wife Kate. Nick's police colleagues feature in the series, under the leadership of the crusty but kindhearted Sergeant Blaketon. Blaketon's nemesis is Claude Jeremiah Greengrass, poacher and occasional small-time fence. Greengrass is a regular patron of the Aidensfield Arms hotel, run by George Ward and his pretty niece Gina. It's here at the pub that we see much of the day-to-day social interaction in the series.

Last Updated: 4/5/2024Network: ITV1Status: Ended
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Shadows and Substances
star
9.20
5 votes

#1 - Shadows and Substances

Season 8 - Episode 12 - Aired 11/22/1998

Blaketon is appointed Warning Point Officer - in case of nuclear attack, but soon Greengrass grabs the initiative to make money on the security issue. A pupil smashes a front window of the teacher's car. Later another pupil drinks poisoned water in the woods and Bellamy's Granny leads a protest against noisy lorries.

Directors: Terence Daw
Writer: Brian Finch
Watch Now:Amazon
For Better or Worse
star
9.00
3 votes

#2 - For Better or Worse

Season 8 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/20/1998

Just after buying a car young Brian Rider has a serious solo accident and his mother blames the owner of the Motor Company. Greengrass takes over a couple of racing pigeons after the owner's funeral.

Directors: Brian Farnham
Writer: Peter Gibbs
Watch Now:Amazon
Past Crimes
star
8.80
5 votes

#3 - Past Crimes

Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/27/1998

A respectable bank manager finds his past coming back to haunt him. Greengrass fixes the outcome of a local golf tournament - much to Blaketon's annoyance.

Directors: Brian Farnham
Watch Now:Amazon
Friends Like You
star
8.80
5 votes

#4 - Friends Like You

Season 8 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/7/1999

David wins £100 and buys some fine clothes, but the shopkeeper wants to sell more to him. Gina substitutes as singer in a new club in Whitby, but it turns into a nightmare as the police finds drugs in her handbag.

Directors: Frank W Smith
Writer: Brian Finch
Watch Now:Amazon
Give a Dog a Bad Name
star
8.67
3 votes

#5 - Give a Dog a Bad Name

Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/18/1998

At a roadside 'shop' David sells some sheepskin rugs for Greengrass very cheaply. Craddock and the local veterinarian have grave disputes on drunk driving, and a fleas' epidemic gives a dog a bad name.

Directors: Brian Farnham
Writer: Peter Gibbs
Watch Now:Amazon
Hot Rocks
star
8.67
6 votes

#6 - Hot Rocks

Season 8 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/15/1998

Bellamy convinces Bradley to have a party at the Aidensfield Police Station. Lord Ashfordly's sister visits to introduce her new love, but he's very interested in Gina, and Greengrass has campers who modernize people's homes.

Directors: Gerry Mill
All in the Mind
star
8.67
6 votes

#7 - All in the Mind

Season 8 - Episode 20 - Aired 1/31/1999

Blaketon loses focus on Greengrass because an even worse crook enters the area with some racing ferrets. Jackie Lambert visits Maggie Bolton to finish the paperwork on Dr. Bolton's death. An old woman witnesses a kidnapping. A young man annoys ordinary citizens intensely while presenting himself as PC Ventress.

Directors: Brian Farnham
Writer: Johnny Byrne
Spellbound
star
8.60
5 votes

#8 - Spellbound

Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/4/1998

Blaketon notices some strange activity at a graveyard at night but as he wants to investigate, he's knocked down. Greengrass tries his luck in the beauty business.

Writer: Phil Ford
Easy Rider
star
8.50
6 votes

#9 - Easy Rider

Season 8 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/8/1998

An apparent UFO mystery intermingles with the death of an Italian racing cyclist. Greengrass recieves 200 gbomes from China, but they turn out to be models of Chairman Mao.

Directors: Garth Tucker
Testament
star
8.50
6 votes

#10 - Testament

Season 8 - Episode 24 - Aired 2/28/1999

Pat-a-Cake
star
8.17
6 votes

#11 - Pat-a-Cake

Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/1/1998

Mel Drinkwater disappears on the way to her secret wedding and a former boyfriend, Michael, is suspected of making her diaappear. Greengrass' cat allergy is ruining his joy of a new business project. A burglar steals some medicine from Dr. Bolton's clinic.

Writer: Helen Slavin
The Angry Brigade
star
8.00
7 votes

#12 - The Angry Brigade

Season 8 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/17/1999

Barry Dixon is released from prison but is followed closely by an insurance detective. Lord Ashfordly has closed a pathway to a waterfall, but that decision meets strong opposition when a couple of tourists, Mr and Mrs Tidy, is stopped somewhat brutally. Bradley and Jackie Lambert, an attractive lawyer, develop common ground.

Directors: Gerry Poulson
Writer: Peter Gibbs
Old Ties
star
7.86
7 votes

#13 - Old Ties

Season 8 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/14/1999

An old friend visits Gina, and Aunt Mary fears trouble. Two brothers open a restaurant, and they are surprised by more than a brick through the window. An archaeologist inspires Greengrass to dig for a treasure.

Directors: Gerry Poulson
Where There's a Will
star
7.83
6 votes

#14 - Where There's a Will

Season 8 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/6/1998

Eric Tatton and his wife are dead and his sister, Peggy, has to move out of their house. At the last moment she however decides to fight to stay. Bellamy seeks a flat and gets 'assistance' from Grengrass.

Directors: Gerry Poulson
Writer: Peter Gibbs
Twist of Fate
star
7.71
7 votes

#15 - Twist of Fate

Season 8 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/10/1999

Mildred Crosby dies unexpectedly suddenly and Maggie Bolton is accused. An anonymous night rider 'borrows' frequently a horse and leaves it in an uneasy state. Two Japanese vases are stolen, and Greengrass obtains hot horse racing tips from a road bum.

Directors: Paul Walker
Writer: Eric Wendell
Taking Sides
star
7.67
6 votes

#16 - Taking Sides

Season 8 - Episode 15 - Aired 12/13/1998

A road sign thief causes some disarray, and a Miss Aubrey charges Dr. Bolton with sexual harassment. Greengrass arranges local history theater in the open air, but doesn't it take two armies to make a battle?

Directors: Garth Tucker
David Stockwell's Ghost
star
7.67
6 votes

#17 - David Stockwell's Ghost

Season 8 - Episode 23 - Aired 2/21/1999

A troubled family has moved into Aidensfield from Zambia. At the auction David happens to buy pigs instead of lambs, and Mrs. Ventress is hospitalized.

Echoes of the Past
star
7.43
7 votes

#18 - Echoes of the Past

Season 8 - Episode 16 - Aired 12/24/1998

Jane Hayes is nervous of her pregnancy and some mysterious incidents related to the past make her fear she's haunted. A Christmas Charity Dance is arranged in Aidensfield, and Greengrass gets the responsibility for a trophy at the event.

Directors: Brian Farnham
Writer: Neil McKay
Baby Love
star
7.33
6 votes

#19 - Baby Love

Season 8 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/11/1998

A young man sneaks around inside Moorside Lodge, a mothers' and babies' home, and Greengrass grabs an order to make a concrete driveway but as David refuses to work that very day, Greengrass has to make the unknown Gary do the job. Later an adopted baby is kidnapped.

Directors: Gerry Mill
Writer: Anthony Read
Forbidden Fruit
star
7.33
6 votes

#20 - Forbidden Fruit

Season 8 - Episode 13 - Aired 11/29/1998

While David Fuller apparently is very busy at an auction his wife, Marianne, is brought to hospital in a critical condition. Bradley stumbles into a short flirt with her sister, Rachel, and Gina dreams about a trip to Paris.

Directors: Gerry Poulson
Writer: Neil McKay
Fire and Ashes
star
7.33
6 votes

#21 - Fire and Ashes

Season 8 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/24/1999

Maggie Bolton tells Neil that they are going to have a baby, but she's quite troubled about it and takes a small trip with Gina. Small fires in the area worry the police, and Greengrass has a railway carriage for holiday guests, but that makes Blaketon angry.

Directors: Gerry Mill
Writer: Rob Heyland
Hello, Goodbye
star
7.17
6 votes

#22 - Hello, Goodbye

Season 8 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/25/1998

Greengrass wants to make a fortune as mobile shop keeper. An Indian doctor from Kenya stirs up ugly racist prejudices, and an illegal hunt for live badgers disturb the forest.

Directors: Garth Tucker
Snake in the Grass
star
7.00
8 votes

#23 - Snake in the Grass

Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/6/1998

Gina returns home from her uncle George's funeral and Blaketon tries to mediate some neighbors but his efforts are disturbed by acute food poisoning. A night club owner goes broke and Greengrass takes some belongings into possession to cover a debt of 75 pounds. The stripper's snake contained in a box happens to be among them.

Directors: Gerry Mill
Fall Out
star
6.60
5 votes

#24 - Fall Out

Season 8 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/13/1998

A radioactive isotope contained in copper is in a car that is stolen when parked at The Aidensfeld Arms. At the same time Greengrass tells two school boys that in another episode 'found' golf balls to him that he could use some copper. Greengrass' little brother makes him have a racing dog in custody.

Directors: Gerry Poulson
Writer: Brian Finch