Heartbeat (1960s police TV series) DVDs cut?

I noticed the thread on the cut episodes of Only Fools and Horses so I’d thought I’d ask anyone if they know if any of the Heartbeat DVDs have been cut, because from the episodes I’ve seen on youtube they appear to have been. I have most of the original early series episodes on tape recorded back in the early-mid 90s when they were shown on ITV, and most of the all the later series are all from the original broadcasts too.

Having early recording of any show is a good way of knowing whether any DVD releases have been subjected to cuts, either music changes or trimmed scenes. I noticed in a series 2 episode “End of the Line”, that there is a brief cut at the beginning for some apparent reason.

Here’s the DVD rip version on youtube (the cut is at the 2:44 mark)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS56ZCvmHvA&t=166s

And here’s the Britbox version with the short scene uncut (at the 2:37 mark)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9OHNf60THM&t=202s

Now, my initial thoughts where that the person who has uploaded it has cut the part out and redubbed a different music track over, but considering all the DVD versions use Beatles cover songs or different songs entirely to the original broadcast songs (in some episodes Jimi Hendrix songs have been changed) I don’t know someone would redub the track with another cover song if they were trying to avoid a copyright strike. Plus I have download this episode outside of youtube (won’t say where) of a higher quality and this scene is still cut. An early recording I have of this episodee from ITV in 1994 has this scene included, but it appears this has been cut on the DVD release. I can’t confirm this as I haven’t seen the actual UK release.

Hi
I have no idea if this series has cuts. I haven’t seen it in ages but have happy memories of watching the early episodes with my Mum and Dad on a Sunday evening.

If there are cuts and help is needed to restore them I’m happy to assist where I can if needed.

Baobab Archiver said:

Hi
I have no idea if this series has cuts. I haven’t seen it in ages but have happy memories of watching the early episodes with my Mum and Dad on a Sunday evening.

If there are cuts and help is needed to restore them I’m happy to assist where I can if needed.

Thanks for the reply. Since my message I have heard that the cut episodes I mentioned, which I watched on youtube, according to someone who has the actual DVDs, told me that the uploader has edited the episodes, why I don’t know as the music used was already a cover version on the DVDs anyway and there would’ve been no reason to cut them to avoid youtube’s copyright policy. I also came across a torrent file of the same episode in much higher quality than the youtube upload (again from the DVD release), and it too has the same cut, so either the DVD themselves are cut or someone has edited the episode, file shared it on a torrent site and then used the same edit and uploaded it to youtube. I will buy the DVD from series 2 and see if it’s uncut. I am quite good at video editing and have managed to edit a few episode together using the DVD version I found and an original broadcast recording which has the Beatles songs included. My intention is to use the DVDs and redub the original music as used on the original ITV broadcast with the available tape recordings I have and some Britbox versions which also used the original songs, pretty much what the Only Fools and Horses fans are doing with the cut episodes. Pretty easy to do if you know about video and audio editing.

No worries just thought I’d offer the help if needed.

Baobab Archiver said:

No worries just thought I’d offer the help if needed.

Hi, I have checked with someone who has the DVDs of all the series of Heartbeat, I asked this person whether the episodes I have seen on youtube (as well as the torrent files in avi I’ve also seen) have cuts in them, and he confirmed that yes they had been cut. Very strange why the DVD distributor of the show cut some scenes out, but watching the scenes I suspect that ITV or Yorkshire TV either didn’t or couldn’t give the DVD studio (Network) the actual raw master tape that didn’t have any music added where they could just simply add a different song in replace of the song used in the TV broadcast, in this case Beatles songs. So all they were given was some already finalised version of the episodes which still had the original music, and this of course created a problem because they couldn’t use that version due to copyright music and all the rights issues for home video, so what they did was just basically mute the audio from the audio track to the scene (which included music and background effects and people speaking), add the replacement cover song on the audio track, but because the music was used during where two characters are speaking they had no choice but to cut out the dialogue scene because the original audio track had been muted to remove/hide the copyright Beatles song which they couldn’t use.

Why ITV Studios or Yorkshire didn’t give them the actual master tape I do not know, surely they have a copy it somewhere and haven’t lost it. I’m pretty sure this is what they have done as other episodes where they have used different music are like this also, in a previous scene where the original TV broadcast music would’ve transitioned from the previous scene into the next scene, in one ep from series 4 ep 9 you can hear the beginning of the Beatles song “Back in the USSR” with the sound of the plane which was on that song, however, when the scene cuts to the next scene where it should be Back in the USSR, we hear a cover song of “You Can’t Do That”. The original broadcast tape should’ve had no music at all, again why ITV never gave them the episode without the music is strange.

Sorry for the long winded message.

If anyone has any original ITV broadcast recordings of the episodes to share I would love to them. The Britbox versions, although “uncut” don’t include the original ad break bumpers which the ITV broadcasts from the early-mid 90s do, but the DVD versions do include them but scenes have been cut in some episodes. When it has been shown on ITV3 in the UK they have (from the ones I’ve seen) add the original songs included, but some scenes have been cut, and they don’t include the ad break bumpers as they were originally shown, and also the display the annoying channel logo.

Sadly I don’t have any original recordings. I don’t think my Dad does either. I’ll check a couple of other sources and let you know if I find anything.

Regarding your comment about the master tapes, I don’t think it’s very surprising to be honest. Even more recent shows wouldn’t necessarily retain the raw audio. It’s hit and miss with most shows what’s retained. The slightly more concerning thing is whether the edited versions become the new masters.
That would result in the original versions being lost altogether.

Baobab Archiver said:

Sadly I don’t have any original recordings. I don’t think my Dad does either. I’ll check a couple of other sources and let you know if I find anything.

Regarding your comment about the master tapes, I don’t think it’s very surprising to be honest. Even more recent shows wouldn’t necessarily retain the raw audio. It’s hit and miss with most shows what’s retained. The slightly more concerning thing is whether the edited versions become the new masters.
That would result in the original versions being lost altogether.

No worries. I was a big fan of the series having watched it back when it was first shown on ITV in 1992, partly through my dad watching it as he loved the 60s. The earlier series were the best, never liked the later series after Nick and Claude Greengrass left. I’m not sure whether they would have lost the raw master tape without the audio track because they do occasionally show the early series on the UK ITV channel with the songs included (though I do recall over 10 years when they showed an ep from series 7 they replaced “Goodday Sunshine” by the Beatles with A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procul Harum, and I’ve also seen versions on youtube from the Filmrise channel which retain some of the songs used in the original broadcasts, other versions I’ve come across they have kept some songs but changed others, even the song Rawhide by Frankie Laine was replaced in one epsiode, though the source of the recording seems to be unknown as the channel logo was blurred out. Surely they could get the rights to that song?.

In episode 9 from series 2 “Wall of Silence” (DVD version this is), they have replaced “Hey Jude” with a cover version of “If I Fell” by the Beatles but they have cut a few seconds out of that scene the song is heard during, but it’s clear from watching the scene that they must’ve had the original raw tape in order to remove the original song and replace it something else as there’s a scene with the characters speaking with the music heard, something that would’ve been impossible to keep if they couldn’t remove the audio, unless there’s a mix of the two songs (no software I know can remove an audio track completely). Can’t think of any reason why they trimmed a few seconds off that scene.

In another episode from series 4 (ep 9 Red Herring), again from the DVD, in one scene where it cuts to the next scene we hear the beginning of “Back in the USSR” with the noise of a plane, but when it cuts to the next scene we now have a cover version of “You Can’t Do That”. The fact that in the previous scene you can hear the opening to Back in the USSR but it then next there’s a different used, suggests to me that what the DVD studio did was mute or remove the audio in the next scene because they couldn’t remove Back in the USSR, they added a few sound effects to make it match the live sounds from the filming and then add the different song on top.

Vultural said:

I am midway through S04. Been watching from S01, on and off, for about ten years.
Only plan to go to S05, then bail.
My take is when songs are dropped, it is a rights thing.
This happened with Lost In Austen when US versions of the DVD missed the “Downtown” sequence, as well as the ringtone in-joke.

I am aware of the music rights issues with the series and know that certain songs have been replaced/changed, sometimes with cover versions of those songs of replaced with different songs altogether (why they couldn’t have used cover songs for every song they replaced (ie Beatles covers) instead of using different songs (which sometimes don’t suit the scene at all compared to the original song used), but I’m guessing this is either down to the studio not having a cover song for that song, or that the artist who covered that song wants an arm and a leg for them to use it.

My issue with the songs is that appear to have been badly dubbed over the audio in some episodes, but not everyone. It appears that some episodes they weren’t using the actual raw episode which would’ve been without the music added prior to the episode being aired; this would allow them to add the songs where it was needed in for the scene, but it looks like they were only given a “finalised” version with the original (ie Beatles) songs already added, and of course this wouldn’t have been possible to remove and replace, so it appears that they muted the audio and added another song over the top. This is apparent in series 2 episode 2 “End of the Line” where the opening scene seems to have no background noise, ie no coughing, you don’t hear the vicar, the steam train etc apart from the music they used as a replacement, and this is maybe the reason why the scene with the taxi driver was cut out. In series 4 episode 9 “Red Herring” just before it cuts to Ivanov walking around the village looking for help, the shot on the boat where they are looking for him you can faintly hear the opening of Back in the USSR (again this would’ve been added in the edit), but when it cuts to the next scene we now have a cover of “You Can’t Do That” (In the original broadcast Back in the USSR transitioned into the next scene). My question is, why was the opening to Back in the USSR left intact in the previous scene?. My answer is, like with S2 EP2, was that they couldn’t remove the song, so when the scene cuts to the next scene they probably removed the entire audio track of the scene up until Ivanov stops Nick on his bike (which the song ended at that point too - luckily too otherwise the dialogue would’ve been too) and simply added another song on top and added a few background sounds. Again, if this is the reason then why didn’t they have the raw edit without the songs?.

Hope that makes sense.

Vultural said:

This does not help you, but I watched Heartbeat S04E09 “Red Herring” last night.
I watched with subs, which indicated the Rolling Stones “Play With Fire” but what actually played was a Searchers tune.
Later, during some business, subs indicated “Sloop John B” by the Beach Boys, when there was no music whatsoever, just folks mucking around in the countryside.
I can see where this might drive you nuts.

Hi, I’m not sure what version of the ep “Red Herring” you have watched but as far as I know the songs used on the DVD version are:

Playing with Fire by the Rolling Stones
You Can’t Do That (cover version originally sung by the Beatles)
Let Me Go Home (no idea who sings this song)

On the ITV broadcast I have from 1994 the songs are:

Playing with Fire (Rolling Stones)
Back in the USSR by the Beatles)
Let Me Go Home

None of the above versions feature the songs Sloop John B by the Beach Boys or a Searchers song. It’s likely you’ve probably watched an upload on somewhere like Dailymotion where someone has dubbed over the original song with another song to avoid a copyright strike, or it’s from another TV channel broadcast. I have seen the Red Herring episode on Daily Motion where someone has added From Russia with Love by Matt Munro during the end scene, and you can hear the original song underneath, so it’s probably someone messing about with the episodes and uploading them, or maybe an overseas channel which couldn’t use the original songs for whatever reason.

There used to be uploads on youtue from the Filmrise TV channel which included the original Beatles songs used in the TV broadcasts and Britbox versions, but for some reason other songs by Bob Dylan have been changed. In “Toss Up” from series 5 on the Filmrise version they have changed “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan during the car crash scene for Tobacco Road by Status Quo, a very inappropriate song for that scene but likely because they couldn’t use the song. And also, when Bob Dylan is heard on the radio in the Aidensfield Arms they have muted his vocals and you can only hear the instrumentals. Abit OTT but they must be so terrified of being sued for just a few short seconds of someone’s voice. The music changes to Heartbeat is all over the place.

I am currently doing a list of all the song changes to every episode, time consuming but I have nearly every episode to work with and compare the versions I have seen. Just wish my tapes where in better condition.

Hopefully one day I will redub the original broadcast songs to the DVDs, but the short cuts to the series 2 episodes (why only those 2 episodes have been cut out of all the rest is abit strange, maybe there’s another reason for the cuts?) presents a problem in editing them.