BAD NEWS FOR ALL HEARTBEAT FANS!
After some weeks of rumours it's now virtually certain that Heartbeat will be axed. 
From the Whitby Gazette:
Date: 12 March 2009
THE cast and crew of ITV's Heartbeat were left devastated yesterday, with one crying 'There is no hope', when they were told at a meeting in Whitby, filming of the show will stop in May.
Around 50 crew members and stars of the long-running Goathland set drama including Derek Fowlds, Joe McFadden, Bill Simons, Rupert Ward Lewis and Steven Blakely were among those who met at Whitby Pavilion.
They quizzed ITV's chief operating officer John Cresswell who travelled in a chauffeur driven Mercedes from London along with controller of drama for ITV subsidiary Yorkshire TV, Keith Richardson, about the show's future.
Before the meeting, Brian Taylor of Goathland Post Office and Gift Shop who started a petition to save the show from the chop, handed Mr Cresswell a letter on behalf of the 15,000 people who have signed it so far.
After the hour and a quarter long question and answer session, staff left grimfaced with some in tears. One crew member proclaimed out loud, "there's no hope".
Actor Steven Blakely who plays PC Younger said: "ITV will screen nine episodes this April and will show another nine in 2010.
"I think we can say the questions that have been asked of the executives have been answered to the best of their ability, it doesn't make the situation any easier.
"We stop filming in May and the cast will then be released. I'm more upset for the crew, many of whom have dedicated their whole working lives to the show. It will be a great loss to the area."
Mr Cresswell refused to say if or when Heartbeat will be back on our screens after the production break.
Earlier yesterday, Derek Fowlds who plays Oscar Blaketon was in Whitby's historic Grape Lane filming a scene for one of the episodes.
http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/news/Anguish-as-Heartbeat-is-put.5064318.jp
Beating abroad
We found this interesting article on page 7 of the TV times a couple of weeks ago:
Heartbeat's leading man Joe McFadden is getting set to fly to Australia to film some special episodes of the 1960s drama. Joe, who plays Pc Joe Mason, tells us that he and co--stars Lisa Kay (Carol Cassidy) and Clare WIlle (DS Rachel Dawson) are heading to Oz this month as part of a dramatic storyline involving mechanic Rosie (Vanessa Hehir), who left Aidensfield earlier this year.
"I'm very excited!" grins Joe. "I don't normally get to go anywhere exotic!"
The episodes will be screened next year.
Heartbeat is back on the screen since July 27th, it's yet unknown for how many episodes.
From Trent, webmaster at www.heartbeatland.freehomepage.com:
Hi I have just put up a petition on my site....We want heartbeat released onto DVD......once we get enough signatures weare going to send it directly to ITV in hope of some sort of response
http://www.gopetition.com/online/16266.html
www.heartbeatland.freehomepage.com
Joe Mason
The general consensus seems to be that PC Mason is a good addition to the show. Here are some of the comments from various forums. There have been a miniscule number of negative opinions, which we are ignoring. 
I've removed people's identities though.
From the brilliant IMDB site:
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I like PC Joe Mason, hes different and he doesn't stand any nonsense. |
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me too he breathes life into the series |
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I think he's a fab charecter! =D |
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The best new bobby the show has had in years, i think he's Fab!! |
From addicted.net forums:
 Post #2 I liked it. Joe Mason is my type of character, not sure if he fits in the Heartbeat scene but it was good. I liked how he dealt with the trouble and it was interesting to see how that divided the villagers.
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