Death of one of the characters (spoiler)

I saw Two different cuts of the miniseries. I know there is a three hour version, a four hour version and a 6-8 hour version at least.

One thing that struck me was that in one version, Timothy Dalton dies of a heart attack. In the other version he dies in a traffic accident. Does anyone know why there are two versions of his death? Seems pointless, since it dosen't really change anything?

How does he die in the novel?