Cool, calm and collected, Superintendent Heaton is the public face of Sun Hill, handling press conferences and politicians with equal aplomb.
However, he’s not afraid to get stuck in on the ground and work alongside his officers, whom he will always backs to the hilt.
Most recently he exercised his experience and expertise with Machiavellian tactics: Heaton only had circumstantial evidence against two suspects he was sure were guilty of murdering a 17-year-old boy in the Teenage Kicks case.
He put the two prime suspects into a press conference after briefing a journalist. When the two suspects were hit with a shocking revelation, their composure cracked.
In phase two of his plan, Heaton flushed out the all important murder weapon from the case by using the media once again: he had it broadcast over the radio that the police had found the murder weapon that had killed Alistair Ransome. Sure enough, the guilty party led the police to the vital piece of evidence whilst checking to see if the weapon was where it had been hidden.
Within 36 of a body being found, Heaton had solved the Teenage Kicks case using his own methods and going against DCI Jack Meadows’ judgement.
Heaton is a force.