Tuesday 3 February 2009

A Warm Welcome At The Woolpack...

The title banner from The Hotten Courier, official YTV publicity information, May 1st 1986. Fiction jostled with fact as the YTV version of The Courier, which was of course based on the fictitious newspaper featured in the series, covered news from the TV programme - cast characters, production team, etc - and was not focused on the unreal world of Beckindale. And yet it contained advertisements, just as the fictional Courier might do, for those arch rival hostelries - The Woolpack and The Malt Shovel - it even included the telephone numbers: The Woolpack's was Beckindale 828 and The Shovel's Beckindale 808!

"There's always a warm welcome at The Woolpack"...

Hmmm...

Yes...

I see what they mean...

Walter enjoys a Woolpack warm welcome.

The Woolpack, with Amos as landlord, was never the most convivial place: in the first eight years of the show, Amos was dour and sour, a gossip and given to puffing himself up like a peacock. Who wanted to spend the evenings with the likes of him and pay for the privilege?!

In 1980, Ronald Magill took Amos up to a new peak - he became less dour, but louder, more animated, more fad-ridden, more pompous, more prickly, more nosey... more everything! The old Amos could display sound commonsense at times. The '80s Amos was usually absolutely bonkers! I believe that the arrival of Seth Armstrong as a full-time Woolpack regular, plus the arrival of Al Dixon as Walter, and Amos gaining an allotment - all events of 1980 - contributed enormously to Mr B's increased oddness.

But he was a sweet, innocent soul underneath. I suppose that's why we loved him.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Come on Network hurry up and bring out some
1980's Emmerdale farm DVDs Please.