WHEN Heartbeat was unceremoniously cancelled by ITV five years ago, there was a sudden gap in the market for a whimsical, unchallenging drama with some nice scenery thrown in along the way.

Not since the days of All Creatures Great and Small had the stunning Yorkshire countryside had such an audience.

After 18 years in which the 1960s never seemed to end, Heartbeat was gone, consigned to the great television wasteland that is ITV3.

No more Sunday nights looking forward to a low-speed police chase on Whitby pier, or wondering if Mr Scripps really was going to see a widow in Northallerton.

But then came Downton Abbey, the grand, big budget series based on the trials and tribulations of the fictional Earl of Grantham and his family.

The show has made household names of many of its cast, and has been sold to more than 150 countries around the world.

While actually filmed at Highclere Castle in Hampshire, the location of Downton is decidedly North Yorkshire.

The servants talk about going to church in Easingwold, the Earl goes to a regimental dinner in Richmond, and the family dine with Lady Lawson of Brough Hall, near Catterick Garrison.

There is mention of the York and Ainsty Hunt, and in the most recent series the dramatic climax of one episode revolved around a toddler (illegitimate child of middle daughter Edith and her missing-presumed-dead former lover) going missing at Malton Fatstock Show while Lady Mary was showing off her prize pigs.

During the First World War, youngest daughter Sybil goes off to nurse soldiers in York, while pre-war, heir Matthew has designs on a comfortable solicitors' partnership in Ripon.

He should have stuck to that plan, as he would never have been able to afford the fancy car which he crashed into a tree, thus bringing to an end his Downton adventure.

Alnwick Castle made an appearance as the backdrop for last year's Christmas special, and at one stage, the family's financial troubles led to several episodes of mild peril in which they discussed selling the estate and moving to Eryholme. The horror!

The entire cast referred to the place in such derogatory tones that if you weren't familiar with the geography of North Yorkshire, you could have been forgiven for thinking it was something akin to a ghetto of New York.

What they ever had against Eryholme - the tiniest of villages, sitting beside the River Tees between Hurworth and Great Smeaton - I'll never know.

Even more randomly, kitchen cook and series stalwart Mrs Patmore has recently invested her savings in a bed and breakfast in Haughton-le-Skerne, that well known tourist hotspot on the edge of Darlington.

Shockingly, her first guests turned out to be an adulterous couple, and she attracted the attention of the authorities for running, as she called it “An 'ouse of ill repute".

But in a happy twist of fate, Lord and Lady Grantham hotfooted it up to Haughton-le-Skerne to take tea and pose for a photo for the local paper - surely The Northern Echo? - to restore her reputation. And all was well again.

So where is Downton actually meant to be? A signpost in the TV village puts Thirsk six miles away and Ripon nine miles away.

By my reckoning, the nearest place that fits the bill is Topcliffe, a bonny little spot, but unlikely to find itself at the centre of a grand estate such as Downton.

If the producers were looking for a stately home in the area, they could have had their pick. Castle Howard will forever be associated with Brideshead Revisited, but there's always Harewood House just down the road near Leeds, Beningbrough Hall, near York or Newby Hall, near Ripon.

It seems as though writer Julian Fellowes saw Highclere and immediately fell in love with the place, saying it represented the confidence of the late Victorians.

Nowhere in North Yorkshire obviously met his specifications - but which locations will turn up in the finale on Christmas Day? More than discovering whether Lady Edith will ever find happiness, or whether Anna and Bates' much wanted baby will enter the world safely, I'll be looking out for any more unusual northern places that might crop up.

Will Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes retire and buy a bungalow in East Cowton?

Will Tom the chauffeur-turned-estate manager take his daughter on holiday to Thornton-le-Beans?

Will Lord Grantham go for a weekend shooting at Nether Silton?

And will ITV find another Yorkshire-based ratings winner to fill the hole in their Sunday night schedules. Only time will tell.

*Downton Abbey Christmas special is screened on ITV1 at 8.45pm on Christmas Day.