Heartland (Canadian TV series)

Main cast

Amy Fleming was only 15 when she was involved in a car accident that killed her mother and seriously injured herself. As she was in the hospital she couldn't go to her mother's funeral but her father surprisingly showed up. Amy inherited her mother's gift of being able to intuit the needs of horses and of practicing natural horsemanship. When Amy returned home, she decided to continue her mother's work of healing abused or damaged horses, including Spartan, the horse that her mother died saving. Amy also had to deal with the return of her older sister, Lou, who had been living in New York City. Before Amy's mother died, she agreed to allow Ty Borden to live at Heartland as part of his probation. When Ty arrived, Amy's grandfather accepted his late daughter's wishes, allowing Ty to live in the loft above the barn and work at Heartland as a ranch hand. Amy grows close to Ty and becomes best friends with him, later falling in love, although their relationship was rocky at times and they broke up more than once. Later in the show, while working with a pair of horses, they manage to make amends, with Ty giving Amy a promise ring in season 3. In the last episode of season 5, Ty secretly makes plans to propose to Amy, but after hearing her say how they should never "tie themselves down", backs out of his proposal. However, Amy, while answering Ty's ringing phone, finds the ring in his coat pocket, thus ending the season with a cliffhanger. At the beginning of season 6, she and Ty discuss the ring and marriage, and a few episodes later, Ty finds the perfect moment to propose to Amy, and she accepts. In Season 8, Amy and Ty break up again for a while. Amy and Ty get back together when they rescue a herd of horses penned by ranchers believing the horses to be detrimental to the land required for their cattle. In the end, Ty and Amy are married in Jack's house. Amy is escorted by Tim and Jack, and she rides in on Spartan. She announces to Ty at the end of season 9 that he is to become a father.

As a child, Ty was abused by his stepfather Wade and was arrested and sent to Juvenile hall for attacking Wade while he assaulted Ty's mother. To complete his probation, Marion Fleming offered him a job as a ranch hand at Heartland. He soon begins to enjoy his life there and decides to stay after completing his probation, though he leaves for a short period to live with his father in Calgary. Jack treats Ty like a son and is very proud of him, especially after he earns his high school diploma and decides to study to become a vet. Ty at first is known as the "new cute guy," Amy quickly falls for him. Ty dated Kit Bailey, a local cowgirl, for a time before he admitted his feelings for Amy. Ty buys a ring with plans to propose to Amy in the final episode of Season 5, but after hearing Amy say they should never "tie themselves down", rethinks his proposal. After he leaves, Amy finds the ring in Ty's coat pocket while answering his ringing phone. In Season 6, Ty and Amy agree to wait, and Ty is accepted to vet school. After a few episodes, Ty and Amy find themselves in the perfect moment while camping, and he proposes to her. She accepts, and they are married in season 8, episode 18. In the last episode of season 9 Amy announced to him for the first time he going to become a father.

At the beginning of the series, Lou moves back home from her job in New York City to help run Heartland. She is initially reluctant to stay in Hudson because she has a long-term boyfriend and a lucrative job in New York. Upon discovering Heartland's poor economic situation, she crafts a financial plan to pull the ranch out of debt and make it successful. However, she is told by a financial advisor at the bank that her presence at the ranch is essential to secure the loan necessary for implementing her plan. Once Lou decides to stay, she sets her mind to starting a new business venture: The Heartland Equestrian Connections. This idea is met with much resistance, especially from Jack. Family members derisively refer to the business as the "Dude Ranch", and the name sticks, though no longer with its negative connotation. Along the way, Lou breaks up with her boyfriend from New York and tries to re-kindle a romance with the local vet, Scott Cardinal. In season two, Lou's relationship with Scott dissolves. She meets her future husband, Peter, thanks to a setup by Jack's girlfriend Lisa, and starts a secret relationship with him due to Peter's job in the oil industry. Lou had previously rallied the local ranchers against Peter's oil company, and expects Jack would not approve of her choice of boyfriend. Later, Lou's relationship with Peter is more public and they marry at the end of season 3. They move to Dubai, but she soon feels very alone in such a foreign country and grows to miss Heartland and her family. When they move back home, Lou finds out she is pregnant. She later gives birth to a girl who is named Catherine Marion Minnie Fleming Morris (often referred to as Katie). After several failed attempts to buy a place of their own and even to build a home somewhere on the 600 acre property at Heartland, Lou and Peter buy Mr. Hanley's ranch from Mrs. Bell and they plan to move into it and refurbish it. However, faulty wiring in the structure causes a fire, and the buildings and stables burn, leaving them no choice but to remain at Heartland. Lou has a positive relationship with her sister Amy, providing a listening ear and timely advice when she needs it, and Amy often plays the same role for Lou. Lou is also close with her father, Tim, and she is the first one to reconnect with him after Marion's death. In Season 6, Lou and Peter decide to adopt an orphan named Georgina Crawley, whom Jack had been fostering. In season 8, Lou and Peter start having relationship problems since Peter is always in Vancouver for his job. On Amy's advice, Lou goes to Vancouver to talk things over with him, but they decide to separate.

The family patriarch, Jack is Amy and Lou's grandfather and was Marion's father. He is a former rodeo star and was once a cattle rancher. When Marion took over, Heartland became a horse ranch. After her death, Jack helps Amy and Ty maintain Heartland and its horses and is the one who fixes everything. Early in the series, he was very hostile towards ex-son-in-law Tim. The men have maintained a difficult relationship stemming from Tim's troubled past with alcohol and prescription drug abuse, his acrimonious divorce from Marion, and lack of involvement in Amy and Lou's lives. Jack seems to barely tolerate Tim's presence at times, and they've had numerous arguments over the running of the ranch. Jack was also initially hostile towards Ty. He warned Ty to keep ten feet away from his granddaughters at all times, and that any part of him that crossed that line would be removed. Later, he comes to accept Ty like a son and shows a great deal of concern and paternal affection for him. When Ty seeks permission from Jack to ask for Amy's hand in marriage, Jack gives him his blessing. In terms of personality, Jack is very stubborn and reluctant to accept change of any kind. This trait sometimes causes friction between him and others, most notably his romantic interest, Lisa Stillman, and with his granddaughter Lou. In season 7, Jack finally asks Lisa to marry him, and she says yes. They elope in the season 7 finale.

Georgie is Lou and Peter's adopted daughter, Jack's adopted great granddaughter, whom he adores, and Phoenix's owner. She has a best friend named Steven who she met in the seventh/eighth season. It has been hinted that they have a romantic spark, but this may not be developed. When she first came to Heartland, she was a misbehaving runaway, but because she wanted to stay, she began to improve her behaviour. Georgie has a habit of running away from every foster home in which she's been placed. Jack agrees to foster her until Clint found another family to foster her. Not wanting her to leave, Lou and Peter agree to become her long term foster parents and later adopt her. Georgie adores Katie, her little sister. She also loves Phoenix, a horse who repeatedly ran away from a neglectful home, and through the intervention of the Fleming Bartlett Morris family, she found a new home at Heartland. She is a naturally talented show jumper, reminding Ty of Amy on Spartan when she jumps with Phoenix. She met Phoenix when she was escaping from her social worker and rode for the first time, astounding the family. Georgie is a tomboy, who shares a lot of Amy's personality; she is fearless, talented, strong minded, and clever. This makes Mallory very jealous of her. In season six, she finds an Alsatian dog running wild, whom she is allowed to keep and names Remi. When Georgie was 3 her birth parents were killed in a car accident. She has an older brother named Jeff.

Amy's and Lou's father who leaves them. After Amy and Lou's mother dies, he comes back into the picture and becomes a regular character. He begins to date a jockey named Janice, and nearly moves to California with her. However, in season 4 episode 18 ("Burning Down the House"), it is discovered that Tim has an 11-year-old son named Shane with Miranda Grenier, his ex-girlfriend from Fort St. John. When he reveals this to Janice, she leaves for California without him. At the end of season 5, it is announced that Miranda has feelings for Tim. In the books, Tim was in a wheelchair for a while, but when he recovered, he moved to Australia with his new wife and daughter, where he owns a jumper training barn. In seasons 6-8, Tim still thinks he's a big shot. He starts a rodeo school, a horse-selling business, and a new relationship. When he finds out that Miranda is getting married, he tries to crash the wedding, until Jack hides his keys and they have an argument.

Supporting cast

Caleb is an Irish Canadian ranch hand hired by Jack after Ty leaves for 4 months. In the beginning he is rather husky, has feelings for Amy, and develops a strong rivalry with Ty over Amy. He and Amy are a couple for a short period, but Amy soon goes back to Ty. He grows close to and falls in love with Ashley, eventually getting married. Before their marriage, Caleb goes to a rodeo and is severely injured. After a battle with pills and alcohol, much like Tim's, he comes out okay but much thinner. After a difficult marriage, from Ashley's mother being so bossy, and the life that Ashley was used to living, he divorces Ashley. Afterwards, he becomes depressed for a brief period. Caleb loves his American Quarter Horse, Shorty.

Lou's ex-husband. He was first introduced as the owner of a small oil company caught doing some drilling on Heartland property, which caused Lou to use her skills to organize a protest against PW's company. In the meantime, one of Lisa's 'horsey' friends finds a 'great catch' for Lou and Lisa gives out Lou's email without her permission. Stage set for a bit of dramatic irony: Lou (using her first name, Sam) and PW (using his first name, Peter) begin a relationship over an instant messaging service. They meet in person not long after, and are shocked to discover each other's full identity. Their relationship is kept secret because Lou's grandfather & father hate PW for being part of "Big Oil". Peter eventually wins the family's approval and he and Lou are married in the Season 3 Finale because Peter's business is immediately taking them to Dubai. Lou returns from Dubai for a one-week visit that stretches on because she is living so far from Heartland and her family. Peter begins to commute to and from Dubai because Lou is expecting their first child. Peter ends up bankrupt in Dubai, which cause them to move into Jack's house. Peter ends up back on his feet, but is only home on weekends due to his new job's location in Vancouver. In Season 6, Lou and Peter decide to try to adopt Georgie when Jack isn't approved as her legal guardian, and they are ultimately successful. Peter and his first ex-wife have joint custody of friendly a St. Bernard named Max. Lou and Peter are now separated.

A good Native Canadian friend of the Bartlett/Fleming household who is also Heartland's only vet. Scott had a troubled background, but Marion helped him to turn his life around, in much the same way as Marion's family later helps Ty after her death. Scott has a relationship with Lou for part of seasons 1 and 2, and later regrets the fact that he lost her and did not try harder to win her back. In season 2, Ty mentions to Amy that Scott had agreed to let Ty be his apprentice and that Scott would mentor him until he could possibly work with him after veterinary school.

She is the sarcastic owner of a very successful horse racing establishment. Her current horse is named Cinders. Jack and Lisa begin a romantic relationship early in the series, but are troubled by her constant travelling for work. After a lengthy break, Lisa returns to Heartland and reunites with Jack. At the end of season 7, they elope. Lisa is also the godmother to Lou and Peter's daughter, Katie.

Recurring cast

Bob runs a wildlife reserve.

Adam is Georgie's math tutor and boyfriend.

Oliva is Georgie's rival throughout the series.

Casey is in a relationship with Tim. Casey was a professional Barrel Racer. She is the one who convinced Tim to start his Rodeo School.

Jade is Georgie's friend. She lives in Caleb's old trailer and is a Bronc Rider.

Cass works at the Vet Clinic with Ty. She and Amy have a rivalry at first but are able to become good friends. She and Caleb are in a relationship.

Amy's best friend who works at Maggie's, her mom's diner. Soraya is always there for Amy and becomes friends with Ashley around the same time as Amy. She later visits London, England and meets her now boyfriend. In Season 5, Soraya moves to London permeantly.

Ashley and Jesse's widowed mother. Val is the proud owner of Briar Ridge Stables and uses more traditional methods of horse training compared to Heartland. Val is shown as the main antagonist through much of the series. Val puts too much pressure on Ashley to win horse shows, but loves and spoils her daughter. She is also shown to be friends with Jack, particularly when Jack helps her to work on her relationship with her daughter, after Ashley becomes more independent and rebellious.

An elderly woman who owns a cute miniature Appaloosa called Sugarfoot, whom Lou once learned to ride on. Mrs. Bell keeps Sugarfoot in her house, and prefers using her herbal remedies on him rather than having him cared for by Scott or the farrier.

Former main cast

A friend of the family who visited frequently and often stayed overnight. She was mostly known for talking too much and prying into everyone's personal lives, which often got her into trouble, though sometimes she had her own wise moments. Her main love interests in the series were Jake and Badger, although she had a crush on Ty early in the series. She was hired by Lou to babysit Katie, which sometimes annoyed her, though she really did like helping everyone. Later in season 5, she fell for a boy who was only interested in her dad's music, but then broke up with him. Mallory was later shown to still have lingering feelings for Jake. Mallory leaves Heartland several times, often for her father's music. Her father is played by real-life Canadian country music artist George Canyon. Mallory is shown to be annoyed by her father's music, and it is used as a running gag in a few episodes in Season 2. She is sent away to an all-girls boarding school called Blessed Virgin by her parents when her father goes on tour the first time, but Jake helps her buy a bus ticket and return to Heartland. At the end of Season 5 she announced, much to her dismay, that she was moving to Nashville, Tennessee for her father's music career. Mallory and her family returned to Canada in season 6. In season 7, she finally confessed her feelings for Jake and went with him to Paris, France. In season 10 she came back to Heartland. While at Heartland she married Jake

In season 1, she fulfilled the archetype of the high-school mean girl, but after Amy helps Ashley improve her show-jumping and later saves her horse Apollo, Ashley warms up to Amy and her best friend Soraya. Ashley's character develops substantially from this point, and she is shown to struggle in her relationship with her mother. As a result, she lives at Heartland for a short period of time, and later stays with Caleb, in his rented trailer. Ashley gradually falls for Caleb in Season 2 and starts a serious relationship with him, and they marry in the season 3 finale. It took Ashley a while to come back from their honeymoon in Italy, resulting in Caleb coming home alone. Later in the series, Ashley and Caleb moved away so she could attend college. Caleb returned alone again, and they eventually got a divorce.

Former recurring cast

Shane's overprotective mother and Tim's ex-girlfriend. Tim and Miranda have a custody battle over Shane but later work things out. Miranda only wants what's best for Shane.

Tim's long lost, 11-year-old son and Lou and Amy's half brother. Shane is Tim's love child with Miranda. Tim had been in a casual relationship with Miranda while living in Fort St. John, during the years after his rodeo accident, before he returned to Hudson. When Miranda reveals to Tim that Shane is his son (in "Burning Down the House"), he confirms it with a paternity test. Everyone is mad at Tim when they find out the truth about Shane. Miranda and Shane move all the time. Shane wants his parents to reconcile and become friends. Shane tends to run away and hitchhike to get to Heartland to visit his family and his horse, Pal.

A professional show jumper that refused Ty and Scott's treatment for his horse Buckingham. Jeremy is a handsome young man with an evil side to him that was revealed over the course of season 6. Jeremy appeared in six episodes, including the 100th episode of Heartland.

Lou's friend from New York. She first had one guest appearance in season two, joining Lou and her other friends on a trip, before returning in Season 7 as a recurring character.

Lou and Amy's mother, Tim's ex-wife, Jack's daughter. Marion became interested in being a Horse whisperer after Tim left her, although Amy always describes this simply as listening to horses. At the beginning of the show, Marion is killed in a car accident when she and Amy rescue Spartan from his abusive former owner, Mr. Mallen. Marion is seen in only two of the early episodes.

A young cowboy who is always trying to catch Mallory's eye. In season 7, he asks Mallory to go with him to Paris, France and she agrees.

A Juvenile delinquent who is introduced in "Do or Die" with his best friend Tara. 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. After "A Heartland Christmas", Badger isn't seen or mentioned again.

Mallory's ex-Pony 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.

An aspiring country musician introduced in Season 5. He is torn between his feelings for Mallory and the chance to get to her famous musician father.

Others

Filming locations

Much of the series is filmed on location in and around High River, Alberta, with additional filming in studio and on location in nearby Calgary. A June 2013 flood in High River swamped the standing set for Maggie's Diner.

DVD releases

Entertainment One has released the first seven seasons of Heartland on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only). The standalone TV movie A Heartland Christmas were released on DVD in Canada on November 1, 2011 and in the USA on October 29, 2013. Season 8 was released in Canada on October 6, 2015.

[NOTE: USA/GMC-DVDs were released and distributed by Entertainment One (eOne)-Region 1; these are: Season 1 (which consists of Canada's Season 1-Episodes 1-13 to Season 2-Episodes 1-9) and Season 2 (which consists of Canada's Season 2-Episodes 10-18 to Season 3-Episodes 1-14)]-both US/GMC Season 1 (http://www.eonehomevideo.com/product.aspx?number=741952706496) and US/GMC Season 2 (http://www.eonehomevideo.com/product.aspx?number=741952729792) were released on August 7, 2012 and include the top heading "As Seen On GMC."

In Region 2, 4Digital Media has released the first 6 seasons on DVD in the UK.

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

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. The 100th episode "After All We've Been Through" was watched by 945,000 viewers.