'Heartbeat' star forced to use stuntman

Heartbeat star Joe McFadden has admitted that he has to use a stuntman when his character rides his motorbike in the show.

The 31-year-old, who plays new PC Joe Mason in the ITV1 series, revealed that he has not passed his motorcycling test, but has been taking lessons to get up to scratch.

He told The Sun: “I’m convinced I got the role because I look like the stunt double! I've been taking lessons so I can do more motorbike scenes and I passed my theory test last week. It won’t be long.”

McFadden replaces Jonathan Kerrigan, who quit the show in April after playing PC Rob Walker for three years. Mark Jordan, who stars as PC Phil Bellamy, will also leave the programme.

Mason causes a stir in Aidensfield with his dare-devil attitude to tackling crime. But McFadden insisted that he is not a hero in real life, saying: “I’m from Glasgow and I’ve been in a couple of scraps but nothing as dangerous as Mason. But I have enjoyed filming the fight scenes in which I always seem to beat up massive bad guys.”

Nick Berry recently turned down the opportunity to make a one-off appearance in the show, saying he was too busy with personal projects.

Heartbeat airs at 8pm on November 11 on ITV1.