Where the Heart Is is a British drama television series created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone, set in the fictional Yorkshire town of Skelthwaite. The series, which first aired on ITV in the United Kingdom on 6 April 1997, focuses on the lives of a group of district nurses and their families who reside in the town. The show was created after Featherstone visited the Yorkshire town of Meltham and was intrigued by the tight-knit community, particularly those connected to the local district nursing office. She approached Pharoah with her ideas, and they pitched the show to ITV; after the network ordered production of the first series, they – along with producer Kate Anthony – began creating the show. The series was filmed in the Colne and Holme valleys of West Yorkshire, mainly in the villages of Marsden, Slaithwaite and the town of Meltham.
Where the Heart Is focuses on the stories that occur in small communities without being sentimental. Pharoah wanted to explore the hidden conflicts that occur within the families and friends. Margaret Tiffany, a real-life Meltham district nurse, provided Featherstone with the premise of the show. She was employed as a script advisor and coached the cast and helped the production create an authentic representation of life in the Colne, and Holme Valley communities. Where the Heart Is initially focuses on five main characters from the Snow and Goddard family. In later series it expanded its focus to additional characters using an ensemble cast format. On 12 October 2006, ITV announced that the tenth series was the last as they decided to focus on creating other shows. The final episode was broadcast on 10 September 2006.
Contents
Plot overview
Where the Heart Is focuses on the personal lives of two district nurses in the small Yorkshire town of Skelthwaite. The official ITV website described the series as "an engaging story of life, love, family and people’s ever-changing fortunes in rural England. Set against the rugged landscape of Yorkshire, it follows the busy professional and family lives of District Nurses, as they bring nursing and emotional care to young and old alike." Initially, it mainly concentrated on the lives of two of the district health nurses, Peggy Snow (Pam Ferris) and Ruth Goddard (Sarah Lancashire). The story expands to focus on the lives of more Skelthwhaite residents, particularly those related to the nurses as well as those working in a local toilet paper factory.
Production
Where the Heart Is was created by Ashley Pharoah and Vicky Featherstone. The show is a drama series and was made for ITV's "prime time" television slot. The series was filmed in the Colne valley of West Yorkshire, mainly in the villages of Marsden and Slaithwaite, and the town of Meltham. The production team would also use Huddersfield Town Hall as an occasional filming location. The show's theme song, also titled "Where the Heart Is", was performed by the band Prefab Sprout.
Featherstone's inspiration for the series came from a visit to the Colne Valley, where she attended a wedding. Featherstone was intrigued by a close-knit community based in Meltham, particularly the district nurses working in the town. Featherstone had previously worked with Pharoah writing for the BBC television drama Silent Witness. She recalled that he was keen to create a story about a teenager who wanted to break away from a tight-knit community, and thought that the two stories could be combined. When Featherstone approached Pharoah with her idea, he was uninterested in the concept because he believed it "sounded soft and sentimental". She convinced Pharoah to accompany her to Meltham where they visited a small district nursing office. After conversing with the staff, Pharoah realised they had valid stories which had the potential to be explored fully on a television series. After two days in Meltham, Pharoah was determined to create the show. He had even envisioned all the characters based on the people he had met and thought of storylines.
Pharoah was soon hired by United Productions, where Featherstone was already employed, to write a script. The pair knew the show would need to be suitable for a pre-watershed time slot and were mindful to exclude profanity and nudity. Pharoah was adamant that Where the Heart Is would not be sentimental and would include conflict. The decision to make the two main characters female was made to give the show a "maternal heart". Pharoah decided to make certain characters related to add to the conflict that arises from family disagreements. Pharoah observed a toilet paper factory in Meltham and decided to incorporate it into the scripts because it dominated the town's employment. He told Deborah and Anthony Hayward, in their book Where the Heart Is, that "I thought it would be good to have that sense of industry. It gave us a workplace for the men that added a completely different angle from the women's nursing storylines." The show also features a local rugby team, with their story providing the more comedic elements of the series; Pharoah was a keen rugby fan and thought it added good balance to some of the show's "dark storylines". The story which set the tone for the show was the issue of euthanasia. In the opening episode the lead characters help their patient to die. Originally ITV was not keen on exploring the issue, but changed their stance after reading Pharoah's scripts. The network was also concerned about the show's structure in regards to its equal focus on all of the characters. They believed the programme better suited a "pyramid structure", in which the matriarchal character of Peggy was at the top.
Cast and characters
The series initially focused on the Snow and Goddard family, which was headed by matriarch Peggy Snow. The character was based on Pharoah's mother Maureen, sharing her "decency, warmth and down-to-earth humanity." Peggy's role in the series was to drive the stories featured in each episode by being an investigator. Anthony told Hayward that Peggy's characterisation could be interpreted as nosiness but her "caring and inquisitive" nature allowed her to "wheedle out the stories". Anthony wanted to find an actress who could portray Peggy's "tremendous strength and resolve" alongside her "warmth and humour". The casting team decided to approach actress Pam Ferris for the part. Ferris had previously played matriarch Ma Larkin in The Darling Buds of May. She had previously refused other similar roles but liked the scripts for Where the Heart Is. She explained that the show was "daring" for portraying euthanasia and which made her want the role.
The role of Peggy's sister-in-law Ruth Goddard was given to Sarah Lancashire. She had been approached with the role while she was still appearing in the soap opera Coronation Street as Raquel Watts. Ferris and Lancashire being so well known for other roles worried Pharoah but having watched them perform and learning of their commitment to their new roles, he accepted them. Pharoah scripted Ruth very differently to Peggy; he stated that he wanted "someone who was lively, younger, less experienced and a little disrespectful." Pharoah was inspired to do so having met a nurse with similar characteristics. He decided that they should be best friends and sisters-in-law in order to create tension and conflict in their friendship via family disagreements.
Auditions for the male leads proved difficult for casting directors, who were determined to find actors that matched the strength that Ferris and Lancashire offered their respective role. Anthony auditioned countless actors and was fearful that casting the wrong person as Peggy's husband Vic Snow would ruin the relationship dynamic they envisioned. Tony Haygarth auditioned and was cast as Vic; according to Anthony he stood out because "he had all the qualities of strength and humour – as well as the potential to be a bit grumpy." Vic was scripted as a well loved family man but has never amounted to great success materially. Thomas Craig was selected to play Simon Goddard, Ruth's husband and Peggy's younger brother. Simon was one of the final original characters to be cast, with Thomas receiving the offer weeks prior to filming. He had auditioned for another role and during his audition he tried to sell some cheap fireworks. This caused Anthony to offer him the role of Simon because she thought his behaviour better suited Simon. The character of Simon was pivotal to the show, not only as Peggy's sibling but the owner of the local toilet paper factory. He was characterised as a Thatcherite but also liked being a part of his community. He was portrayed as "ruthless and ambitious" but his role of an employer made him one of Skelwhaite's main providers. William Ash was hired to play Peggy and Vic's son, Stephen Snow. He was transformed into the character that Pharoah had always wanted to create; the teenager keen to move away from a tight-knit community. This characterisation was what initially prompted Featherstone approach Pharoah to create the series. Stephen was portrayed as loath to end up like his father Vic, who had settled for a life time lived in a small community. Jessica Baglow completed the Snow family, playing Peggy and Vic's young daughter Lucy.
Cast list
Pam Ferris as Peggy Snow (series 1–4)
Sarah Lancashire as Ruth Goddard (series 1–3)
Tony Haygarth as Vic Snow (series 1–6)
Thomas Craig as Simon Goddard (series 1–6, 9)
Andrew Knott as Henry Green (series 1–5)
William Ash (series 1–2) and Jason Done (series 3–5) as Stephen Snow
Jessica Baglow as Lucy Snow (series 1–6)
Maggie Wells as Patricia Illingworth (series 1–3)
William Travis as Dick Lampard (series 1–6)
Marsha Thomason (series 2–3) and Paulette P Williams (series 4–5) as Jacqui Richards
Kathryn Hunt (series 2–4) and Phillippa Wilson (series 5–6) as Cheryl Lampard
Susannah Wise as Wendy Atkins (series 1)
Laura Crossley as Deborah Alliss (series 1–3)
Graham Turner as Walter Charlton (series 1–4)
Neil McCaul as Keith Harrison (series 3)
Melanie Kilburn as Sandra Harrison (series 3)
Alex Carter as Craig Harrison (series 3)
Lesley Dunlop as Anna Kirkwall (series 4–10)
Home media
Books
A tie-in book based on the characters of Peggy and Ruth, written by Kate Lock, was released on 7 May 1998. A television companion book was released on 28 October 1999.
VHS releases
Series 1 of Where the Heart Is was released on VHS on 26 October 1998.
DVD releases
Series 1–4 were released on DVD by Network between 2006–2014, with all four series re-released together in a boxset in 2023. Series 5–10 remain unreleased on any physical media format.