Any Heartbeat Fans?

[marval]

I have just found out that William Simons has died. Any heartbeat fans will remember him as PC Alf Ventress. I used to like Heartbeat.

RIP William.

https://news.sky.com/story/heartbeat-actor-william-simons-who-played-pc-alf-ventress-dies-aged-79-11747343

[New Judge]

Sad news.

I used to like the period in the series when Oscar Blaketon (Derek Fowlds) was the station sergeant and he was always bawling Alf out "Ventressssssss. My office. Now!"

I think one of my favourite episodes was where Alf became the victim of a practical joke played by the younger PCs in Ashfordly nick. Alf always used to bring in two hard boiled eggs for his lunch (prepared by Mrs Ventress who was often referred to but - like "Er Indoors" in Minder - was never seen on screen). He used to crack one against the other to break the shells. One day his mates substituted two raw eggs for his cooked ones with the predicable result when he cracked them.

Another snippet is that William Simons played Inspector "Br'er" Fox in the Inspector Alleyn mysteries. In the pilot episode Alleyn was not played by Patrick Malahide (who played the part in the series) but by Simon Williams. So the police team was Simon Williams and William Simons. Not a lot of people know that (nor, I suspect, do they care!)

He was also good as

[THECORBYLOON]

Gold?

[Bazile]

NJ - I might be completely mistaken but didn't we see a fleeting glance of 'er indoors' ; in that episode when Arthur was in charge of the wedding day plans of a relative

That one where Terry had to go and pick up a load of Adult periodicals in the wedding car ; before picking up the bride ?

[Mamyalynne]

He played a safe and stabilising role and was part of the fabric of the show.

RIP Bill.

[Lie-in King]

Sad news - RIP William.

[Mamyalynne]

Never seen according to his biog Baz.

https://heartbeat.fandom.com/wiki/Alf_Ventress

[Bazile]

Oh well mamy , perhaps it was just
me 'remembering' something that a lot of people would like to have seen , but which just wasn't there :-)

[Bazile]

Oh hang on mamy have you posted the wrong thing ?

[New Judge]

//NJ - I might be completely mistaken but didn't we see a fleeting glance of 'er indoors' ; in that episode when Arthur was in charge of the wedding day plans of a relative//

No you're not mistaken, Baz. In the wedding episode Er Indoors was seen behind a pillar in the church. I think you could see about one third of her (vertically as she stood up) and what would have been visible of her face was concealed behind a large hat!

[Jackdaw33]

I used to like The Royal as well, mainly because they were set in the 60s and took me back to my youth.

[Patsy33]

Yes, very sad.

[albaqwerty]

I liked him in Heartbeat. Sad news.

He and Derek Fowlds were in an episode of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, he came across as a lovely man.

[Sheann]

I heard yesterday that he had died, very sad, and the same age as me! He was also in Corrie briefly in the 70s, and I have seen him pop up in numerous films, series and soaps, he will be very much missed

[chessington]

I saw on facebook, very sad news