At Central, with a child to support, Rob created Gaylord and Merriweather – Good Gardeners of Hampstead, a landscape company.
Over the following ten years he built gardens for Charles Dance, Alfred Brendel, Michael Palin, Phil Collins, Janet Suzman, Jeremy Irons and many others.
Heyland established a thriving late night review spot at the theatre, which hosted, amongst others, the Edinburgh Fringe award winning Cambridge Footlights team of Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Tony Slattery in their first London performances.
Theatre credits include Henry VIII in A Man For All Seasons at Birmingham Rep, with Denys Hawthorne as Sir Thomas More.
Heyland was Baron Tuzenbach in The Three Sisters at the Albery Theater in London’s West End with Francesca Annis, Susan Penhaligon, Ian Ogilvy, Hywel Bennett, and Ron Cook.
Heyland began his writing career in 1991, as part of the team that helped Tony Garnett to create BBC’s hit series Between The Lines (1992-4), starring Neil Pearson.
Other TV writing credits include: Wycliffe, Thief Takers, Kavanagh QC, Out of Hours, Heartbeat, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Foyle's War, Robin Hood and Striking Out.