Heartland (Canadian TV series)

Heartland
Format	Family drama
Created by	Lauren Brooke
Starring	Amber Marshall Michelle Morgan Nathaniel Arcand Chris Potter Jessica Amlee Shaun Johnston Graham Wardle
Opening theme	"Dreamer" by Jenn Grant
Country of origin	Canada
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	82 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Tom Cox Jordy Randall Michael Weinberg
Running time	approx. 44 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	CBC
Original run	October 14, 2007 – present
External links
Website

Heartland is a Canadian family drama television series which debuted on CBC on October 14, 2007. The series is loosely based on the Heartland books by Lauren Brooke.

Set against the vistas of the Alberta Rocky Mountains, Heartland follows sisters Amy and Lou Fleming and their grandfather Jack Bartlett through the highs and lows of life on a horse ranch. Amy and Lou's mother was killed in a car accident. Amy and Lou continue to keep their mother's dream alive by healing abused and neglected horses.

Heartland has recently started its fifth season, which premiered in Canada on CBC on September 18, 2011. In the United States, it airs on KFWD. Also, Gospel Music Channel has started showing Heartland from the first season.

Cast

Main

• Amber Marshall as Amy Fleming

Amy Fleming was only 15 when her mother died in a car accident in which she was involved. Amy was in the hospital and missed her mother's funeral. Amy inherited her mother's gift of horse curing. When Amy returned home she decided to carry on her mother's work healing abused or damaged horses including the horse that her mother gave her life to save: Spartan. Amy also had to deal with the return of her oldest sister Lou Fleming who had been in New York for four years. Amy's grandfather also invited Ty Borden to come and live with them as part of his probation. Ty helped Amy a lot and they became best friends and later fell in love but in more recent episodes, have broken up. Then while working with a pair of horses they talk things through.

• Michelle Morgan as Samantha Louise "Lou" Fleming

Amy's older sister. At the beginning of the series she moves back home from her job in New York to help run Heartland. She eventually meets her boyfriend Peter online and starts a secret relationship with him because Jack would not approve but starts to have a public relationship with him. Then at the end of season 3 she gets married to Peter. They move to Dubai, but she soon feels very alone in such a foreign country and misses Heartland and her family. When they move back Lou is expecting a baby. She later gives birth to a baby girl, whose name is Catherine Marion Minnie Fleming-Morris.

• Shaun Johnston as Jack Bartlett

Amy and Lou's grandfather and Marion's father. After Marion dies, he helps Amy and Ty maintain Heartland and horses and is the one to fix everything.

• Graham Wardle as Ty Borden

Ty was abused as a child by his step-father Wade. He was arrested and sent to juvenile prison after attacking Wade, when Wade was assaulting Ty's mother. For his probation he was sent to Heartland to work. He enjoyed his life there and decided to stay. Jack treats Ty like a son and is very proud of him especially after he earned his high school diploma and his dreams to become a vet. Ty dated Kit Bailey, a local cowgirl for a time before admitting his feelings for Amy. They have been together ever since but in recent episodes have come to a tragic breakup.Then while working with a pair of horses they talk things through.

• Jessica Amlee as Mallory Wells

A friend of the family who visits frequently. She is mostly known for talking too much and getting into everyone's personal lives, which often gets her into trouble. Sometimes she does make sense. She has two love interests throughout the series. Their names are Jake and Badger. In season 4 she ends up falling for Badger. She is hired by Lou to babysit, which sometimes annoys Mallory, though she really does like helping everyone out.

• Chris Potter as Timothy "Tim" Fleming

Amy's and Lou's father who leaves them. Later after Amy and Lou's mother dies he eventually begins to come back into the picture and becomes a regular character. Then dates his jockey,a woman named Janice.. then in season 4 it is announced that Tim has a preteen son from an old fling.

• Nathaniel Arcand as Scott Cardinal

A good friend of the Bartlett/Fleming household who is also Heartland's one and only vet. Marion had changed his life in a good way from the past bad boy that he was. Scott previously had a relationship with Lou and regrets the fact that he lost her.

• Cindy Busby as Ashley Stanton

In season one she was the Mean Girl. But after needing Amy's help to fix her horse, she eventually became friends with Amy. She falls for Caleb in Season two and starts a serious relationship with him. Ashley and Caleb marry in the season 3 finale. It takes Ashley a while to come back from their honeymoon in Italy. Caleb comes home alone.

• Jessica Steen as Lisa Stillman

She is the owner of a very successful horse racing establishment. Her current horse is named "Alberta Comet". Jack and Lisa begin a romantic relationship, but they are troubled by her constant travelling for work. At one point, Jack proposes and Lisa accepts, but they later agree that they would rather keep their relationship as it is.

Recurring

• Greta Onieogou as Soraya Martin

Amy's best friend who works at a cafe. She is always there for Amy and becomes friends with Ashley. She is hired by Lou to run the Heartland's retreat.

• Wanda Cannon as Val Stanton

The mother of Ashley Stanton, Val Stanton is the proud owner of Briar Ridge Stables. Val uses very different methods with horses compared to Heartland.

• Kerry James as Caleb Odell

A ranch hand at Heartland who has feelings for Ashley and lives in a trailer. He follows the rodeo circuit and rides broncos.

• Jake Church as Jake Anderson

A young cowboy who is always trying to catch the eye of Mallory.

• Jack Knight as Badger

A delinquent who is introduced later in the series. He is often quiet, but eventually becomes comfortable enough to talk. He has shown to be a talented artist. He is another one of Mallory's love interests and kisses her.

• Gabriel Hogan as Peter Morris

Lou's husband. He is an "Oil Guy" and was at first despised by Jack, but eventually gets on a good note with everyone. He marries Lou in the Season 3 Finale. They surprise everyone by moving to Dubai, but Lou is torn up by the fact that she is so far from Heartland and her family. They eventually move back while Lou is expecting a baby. Peter's company ends up bankrupt.

• Siobhán Williams as Jamie Baker

Mallory's Rodeo Club friend who is introduced in Season 3 when she invites Mallory to try out for the club's pole bending competition. She reappears in Season 4 as Jake's new love interest.

Others

• Clint, the Probation Officer
• Tatiana Maslany as Kit Bailey, Ty's ex-girlfriend.
• Anna Ferguson as Mrs. Bell
• Constable Rodrigez
• Maggie Martin
• Victor Whitetail
• Torrance Coombs as Chase Powers
• Arezo Pasrinejad
• Emma Lahana as Blair Conner

Episodes

Main article: List of Heartland episodes

DVD releases

Entertainment One has released the first four seasons of Heartland on DVD in Region 1. The fourth season of Heartland and the standalone TV movie A Heartland Christmas were released on DVD in Region 1 on November 1, 2011.

In Region 2, 4Digital Media released the complete first season on DVD in the UK on April 26, 2010.

In Region 4, Season 1 and Season 2 Parts 1 and 2 have been released by Roadshow Home Video.

Season	Ep#	Release dates
		Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Season 1, Part 1	7	September 15, 2009	N/A	N/A
Season 1, Part 2	6	November 10, 2009	N/A	N/A
The Complete First Season	13	May 4, 2010	April 26, 2010	August 31, 2010
Season 2, Part 1		N/A	N/A	December 2, 2010
Season 2, Part 2		N/A	N/A	March 3, 2011
The Complete Second Season	18	May 4, 2010	June 13, 2011	N/A
The Complete Third Season	18	March 22, 2011	N/A	N/A
The Complete Fourth Season	18	November 1, 2011	N/A	N/A

Other Releases	Release dates
	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
A Heartland Christmas	November 1, 2011	N/A	N/A

Ratings

In its series premiere, Heartland beat out Global's comedy Da Kink in My Hair with 513,000 viewers in a battle of two new series. After four episodes, Heartland had an average viewership of 464,000. In its first season finale, Heartland attracted 625,000 viewers. The third season premiere brought in over 1 million viewers, a new record for the show.

International syndication

Country / Region	Channel	Series premiere
Canada	CBC & Série +	2007 & 2011
Australia	ABC2
Austria	ORF 1	May 16, 2009
Belgium	RTBF	Spring 2011
	Vitaya
Finland	YLE 2
France	Gulli
Germany	RTL Passion	February 6, 2009
	VOX	Winter 2010
Italy	Rai 1	May 30, 2010
South Africa	SABC2
United Kingdom	E4
United States	local stations, gmc	Fall 2010
Argentina	Boomerang
Brazil
Peru
Chile
Mexico
Luxembourg	Double V
Senegal
Switzerland	HDsuisse
Japan	Green channel	February 28, 2011
Latvia	LTV7	February 01, 2011
Netherlands	Teen Nick	December 03, 2011
Israel	HOT Family

External links

• Heartland – Official website
• Heartland on Facebook – Official Heartland Facebook page
• Heartland at TV.com
• Heartland – Paradies für Pferde – German Fan-Forum
• Heartland at the Internet Movie Database