James Carlton made Heartbeat history by becoming one of few starring characters to be killed off. He talks to Viv Hardwick about moving straight back into another Sixties character in the touring thriller Wait Until Dark.

INSTANT fame in Aidensfield isn't for everyone. James Carlton admits he was delighted to become the first starring copper to be killed off in ITV1's Heartbeat last year, after deciding not to sign on again as PC Steve Crane.

Despite landing the best Boys In Blue role on Sunday nights, Carlton opted to follow the example of Nick Berry and Jason Durr in quitting the long-running Sixties-style series.

He says: "I wanted to move on and was glad that they came up with something quite exciting because Heartbeat is usually smooth around the edges and most characters normally go off into the sunset. That falling off the bridge scene was quite shocking."

Carlton found it particularly hard acting out his final moments with long-serving Heartbeat actor Mark Jordan, who plays PC Phil Bellamy. Both are from the North-West - Carlton from Bolton and Jordan from Manchester - and had become great pals.

He adds: "We've built a great friendship so it was quite difficult when he was the one watching me fall to my death, but a great scene.

"The two guys before me did five year stints and I only did 18 months but it got to a point where my role was running on its own steam. There was just not enough in the character, particularly in terms of a love story. It just didn't happen, so when it came to signing up for the next year I didn't want to take that risk again and just be someone riding around the dales solving crime. That wasn't challenging enough and I thought it was time to move on.

"It was a little weird saying farewell to the rest of the cast but it was the end of that particular series so the party to celebrate the finish of filming fitted in quite nicely. I don't think my departure was as much as an impact as when an original character leaves the show."

His lasting memory of the family drama is having to speak his words the same way when the weather on the North York Moors was throwing its worst at the actors.

"It's a little difficult trying to smile when you feel like the abominable snowman. The Sixties atmosphere was so ironic because that feeling of being a small laid-back village community in the middle of nowhere is still there today. That's why it's so great to film around Goathland."

It was the first time he'd died in a starring role and he admits it's quite strange to move on to a stage role where his character, Mike Trenton, features in another taut death scene.

He co-stars with Susie Amy, of Chardonnay fame from Footballers' Wives, in Frederick Knott's Wait Until Dark which arrives in Newcastle next week.

"I'm the envy of all my mates acting alongside Susie and it's certainly not a bad thing when the leading lady is so attractive," jokes Carlton, who reveals that Amy has a blind relative who helped her prepare for the role of a blind woman terrorised by three conmen before fighting back.

"It's also quite bizarre that I should leave a Sixties TV show and go into a play set in the 1960s," he adds.

The second half of the drama centres on a darkened basement flat in Notting Hill as Amy, who has switched from Susie to Suzy for the role, battles for her life.

"There's a full black-out on stage so it can be difficult at times fiddling with matches on stage but you have to keep going because you don't want to break the suspense," Carlton explains.

Fellow cast members are ex-Eastender Michael Melia and acting veteran Derren Nesbitt.

Up to now, Carlton has tended to live in places like York and London where he finds work, including a two-year spell in Leeds as gay Jason Kirk in ITV's Emmerdale.

But a move back to Leeds - or even Albert Square - isn't on the cards because Carlton is adamant he'd like a break from soaps.

"Soap is off the agenda for a year or two I feel, but it's great to become a character that the public believe actually exists. You have to be careful because if you're given two weeks of your character being unhappy and miserable it really does affect your own mood," explains Carlton who relaxes by riding motorcycles and listening to music.

* Wait Until Dark runs from Monday until Saturday at Newcastle's Theatre Royal. Box Office: 0870 905 5060.

Published: 18/07/2005