1985: The Harvest, The Robbery, The Marriage Break-Up, The Royal Connection...

Harry Mowlam established an alibi at The Woolpack in 1985.

Here's some highlights from four 1985 episodes - comedy, sadness, high drama, farming, mundane moments...

On hearing that Henry, Prince of Wales, visited Beckindale in 1420, and that his servants stayed at a local coaching inn, Amos becomes convinced that the inn was the Woolpack: "You can see him now, can't yer? The Prince of Wales on his armour plated steed, outside these premises, calling to his merry men: 'We few! We happy band of brothers! We'll stop here. I know the premier licensed house in't district when I see it!' Oh, it fills you with pride, don't it, Mr Wilks?"

Whilst Amos drives everybody mad with that little scenario, Jack, Matt and Jackie are in a race against time to get the harvest in at Emmerdale Farm as the weather forecast says rain. It had been Jack's idea to get the harvest in late, and he works through the night, with Jackie Merrick and Matt Skilbeck working shifts alongside him.

Things are going well, when, the next day, Matt and Jack discover that Harry Mowlam has blocked their right of way up to the top twenty acres with stone from a wall he is repairing. Harry refuses to shift the stone - walling is skilled work, the repairs could take two weeks, he says, gloatingly. Jack gives him three hours to shift the stone, or he'll contact the law.

Jack is furious and wants to phone his solicitor as soon as he returns to the farm house. Annie tells him, "No", and is convinced that Jack has contributed to the bad feeling with Harry. Sadly, she doesn't know Harry! She tells Jack to get some sleep and check out the situation in a couple of hours - Harry may have moved the stones by then.

When Jack comes yawning downstairs later, a storm breaks and the rain pours down. Jack is beside himself with fury and stands in the rain shouting: "Damn you, Mowlam, DAMN YOU!!"

Next day, Emmerdale Farm LTD counts the cost of the lost harvest - six thousand pounds. Annie disagrees with Jack that the whole incident was Harry's fault, and points out that it was him that insisted on a late harvest.

Harry Mowlam visits the Woolpack with Derek Warner, a villainous ex-associate of Tom Merrick, and another man - a stranger to the district. The three men arouse Amos's suspicions, and he says he'd love to know what they are talking about! When Matt and Jack come in, a row erupts over the blocked right of way.

When Harry returns to his two friends at the table, Derek advises firmly that Harry should play the good neighbour. After all, they don't want the law on the scene. Harry agrees and tells Jack he'll clear the stone right away - and he'll have no further trouble. Jack comments bitterly: "It's too late now, anyway!" But Harry bustles off. He later tells Amos that God punished Jack for taking risks with late harvesting by sending the rain.

Annie exchanges sharp words with Jack, convinced that he's being unfair to Harry Mowlam. She says that perhaps Harry moved the stones because he'd decided it was better to try and get along with people. She says she's lived at the farm for forty years and seen worse neighbours than Harry. She talks of the days when she was a girl and neighbours were good to each other. The Sugdens had not always been good neighbours, particularly in Jacob's time. But there wasn't all this talk of bringing in the law and the farmers' union. Most neighbours tried to help each other. Clifford Longthorn's father often took care of the Sugdens' stock when Jacob was drinking.

Annie is pleased to receive a letter from Joe in France and is replying when Jack enters the kitchen to make his peace over their difference of opinion. She confesses that she's ageing - it takes her longer to do things these days - and that she can't understand why the family has so many disagreements. Jack says it was always so. Annie agrees: "Maybe it's me that's changed!" But she bangs her fist on the table, and states firmly that she will not be ignored! Jack hugs her, tells her that would be impossible, makes them a pot of tea and reads Joe's letter.

Sandie Merrick leaves Emmerdale Farm for work that morning and goes across the fields to catch the bus from the Connelton Road. Derek Warner and two associates are laying in wait there, to rob the security van bringing the wages for the NY Estates men to Home Farm.

At The Woolpack, Walter and Harry Mowlam are waiting outside when the pub opens. Harry seems in a very mellow mood, and tells Amos he has plenty of time to wait when the barrel needs changing before he can have a pint. Harry is setting up an alibi - Amos, Henry and Walter will become witnesses to his position when the raid takes place on the security van. He later goes to the table outside so that locals passing can see him there, quietly drinking his pint. He becomes even more noticeable when he harasses the vicar about his sermon last Sunday.

On the Connelton Road, Warner and associates, in stocking masks, ambush the van and threaten the drivers with gelignite unless they open the doors. The drivers do so and are quickly tethered. Horrified Sandie witnesses the scene from a field nearby, and is seen by Derek Warner, hurrying away.

Warner and co rob the van and then make off: "Sweet as a nut!" says Warner.

One of the security guards also witnessed Sandie hurrying away and tells Sergeant McArthur. McArthur is concerned and hopes he can find the person before the robbers do.

From the Hotten Courier, 1985.

Alan Turner is concerned that he is unable to pay the men at NY. He gives Seth a cheque, and Seth is horrified, always having dealt in cash. Henry comes to his rescue by cashing it.

Amos blames Seth when the Beckindale Horticultural Society hits financial difficulties and decides there will be no 1985 show. Seth decides to set up "The Seth Armstrong Horticultural Show" and get the vicar, Donald Hinton, to judge it. He tells Amos it's "five quid" to enter - but advises him not to bother - "you won't win owt!"

Amos decides to set up "The Amos Brearly Horticultural Show" on the same day as Seth's show, and get the vicar to judge that, too. Bitter rivalry erupts between the two old enemies.

Seth Armstrong is annoyed when Amos goes into competition with him, Mr Wilks is bothered by Amos's obsession with a possible link between The Woopack and royalty, Walter sees all, hears all, says nowt.

Mrs Bates tells Alan Turner that her marriage is over. Malcolm is seeing another woman. He has told her that he always thought that their marriage was a sham, and was only staying until the children grew up. "He won't leave me, so I'm leaving him!"

Mrs Bates admits that her marriage was not perfect, but she is stunned by recent developments. She's taking her teenage children to stay with her sister in Richmond.

Alan tells Terence that he is worried about Mrs Bates - "She's a good sort" - and he likes his staff to feel that they can take their problems to him. Terence advises Alan to allocate Mrs Bates an NY Estates cottage. Alan agrees it is a good idea. Terence cynically comments that women of Mrs Bates's age are usually grateful.

Alan tells her Mrs Bates that NY Estates has a slightly run-down cottage in Main Street, Beckindale, where she could live. He would charge her a cheap rent of £30 or so a month. Mrs Bates is pleased.

Pregnant Dolly Skilbeck is suffering from morning sickness. When Mrs Bulstrode tells the vicar that Nellie Ratcliffe's flowers always get a better position in churtch than hers, and refuses to lead the Sunday school any more, Donald asks Dolly to help out for a few weeks. Dolly happily agrees, but Matt is concerned that she's overdoing things. Dolly tells him it's only an hour a week for about four weeks, and her friend Liz McDonald is going to help her.

Meanwhile, Jackie Merrick meets his Indian girlfriend Sita's father. Dr Sharma is not impressed with Jackie and tells Sita that Jackie is: "An English boy without great prospects and little education." He refuses to meet Jackie's family. Sita is upset, but her father tells her to think about the situation. Sita replies: "I HAVE thought about it!"

Jackie and Sita discover opposition to their wedding plans.

When Sandie gets home, she finds Jack tinkering with a farm vehicle in the yard. "Eventful day?" he asks her. She replies that it was all right, and makes her way towards the farmhouse, looking terrified...

Sheila Mercier - Living With Fame

Sheila Mercier as Annie Sugden, matriarch of "Emmerdale Farm", in the 1980s.

An early signed publicity photograph.

From the Daily Mirror, May 23, 1985:

Sheila Mercier, who plays the head of the farming household, Annie Sugden, has been the female anchor of the show since the first episode.

But she has mixed feelings about the programme.

She is delighted with its success, and it has given her a secure living for the past twelve years. "But," says Sheila, "it has completely mucked up my home life. I missed out on my son Nigel's formative years."

"The worst thing is that when you're out people grab you and try to kiss you. It's dreadful. I try to be as remote as possible."

Walter (Al Dixon) - First To Last...

Al Dixon photo and autograph from 1984.

Cerys shares my affection and fascination for Al Dixon's Walter...

He was absolutely great and a real '80s cult. As he didn't appear in the credits, I'm finding it impossible to map his reign in terms of episode numbers. Do you have the info?

Al Dixon did occasionally appear in the closing credits, Cerys, but not often as he was non-speaking! The production team occasionally allowed his inclusion if Walter had featured prominently in the episode.

Al Dixon first gave us Walter in episode 597, broadcast in September 1980. The synopsis was:

Beckindale's eerie Bogle Bog is definitely not the place to be stranded in the dead of night - but that's exactly where Amos Brearly finds himself!

The episode was written by the show's creator, Kevin Laffan.

Read all about the Bogles here.

Walter made his final appearance in episode 1011, broadcast in December 1985:

It's the day of the village show and Amos Brearly is ready for stardom. But a night of celebration turns sour for Jackie Merrick.

The episode was written by Michael Russell.

Walter appeared in the village show, which was Toad Of Toad Hall.

Read our complete Walter/Al Dixon info here.

Hotten Courier, Beckindale Edition, 1985

Whilst Annie Sugden tended her Aga, Matt Skilbeck tended his sheep and Walter silently supped at The Woolpack, elsewhere in Beckindale, things were not so serene...

ARMED MEN IN WAGES SNATCH

A security van on its way to deliver wages to NY Estates was held up by armed robbers on a lonely road near Beckindale yesterday.

The masked gunmen, who were also carrying explosives, drove a herd of cows into the path of the security van, forcing it to stop, and then threatened to blow up the vehicle unless the guards handed over the money.

The gunmen escaped into the trees with £10,000 and police believe they had a getaway vehicle parked nearby.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell my employees," said NY Estates Manager Mr Alan Turner. "We don't have enough money on the premises to pay their wages, and many of them have wives and children to support."

The police would like to hear from anyone who has noticed an unusual or suspiciously parked vehicle in the Beckindale area recently.

Oh dear. Could this next story be related?

RECORD PRICE PAID FOR FARMLAND

Thirty acres of land previously owned by Mr Clifford Longthorn were put up for auction this week by Golding & Sons, the auctioneers, and achieved the record price of £1,600 an acre.

The land, which adjoins Emmerdale Farm run by Mr Jack Sugden, and property belonging to NY Estates, was bought by Mr Harry Mowlam, an ex-quarry owner.

"I'm delighted," said Mr Mowlam. "This is my first venture into farming and I'm planning to put sheep on the land.

"It was quite a battle, but the other bidders dropped out in the end. £1,600 an acre seems a fair price to me."

Mr Sugden, who was also bidding for the land, was not available for comment...

Meanwhile, Alan Turner and NY Estates were, once again, not exactly the community's pet loves...

TODDLERS POISONED IN CROP SPRAYING ROW

Twelve Beckindale toddlers, all members of the Beckindale Playgroup, were being treated for poisoning last night after a crop spraying incident.

It is thought that the children, all suffering from sickness, diarrhoea and skin rashes, were exposed to a pesticide used in crop spraying while they were on a nature walk in woods near the village.

"I think it's disgraceful," said playgroup leader Mrs Dolly Skilbeck, whose two-year-old son Sam is now being treated by the doctor. "Anyone irresponsible enough to spray their crops in a high wind when there are children about ought to be locked up."

Mr Alan Turner, manager of NY Estates, on whose land the incident occurred, said he was mystified by the whole thing.

"I know nothing about it," he said from the estate office near Beckindale. "All my employees are highly trained and experienced men. There is no way they'd spray the crops in harmful conditions. The children are probably suffering from food poisoning or some sort of virus."

Wasn't there any good news? Well, yes, young Jackie Merrick, recently out of hospital after being run down by the aforementioned Mr Alan Turner, had come sixth at the local sheepdog trials, and in the year of Live Aid, Beckindale had organised its own musical effort to help the starving...

BAND PLAYS TO FEED THE HUNGRY

The starving thousands in Ethiopia are to benefit from a charity concert held in Beckindale last week.

The Hotten and District Brass Band assembled outside The Woolpack Inn in Beckindale High Street and kept the villagers entertained with a medley of popular tunes.

The weather smiled on the proceedings and Mr Amos Brearly, landlord of the Woolpack, was kept busy all afternoon serving drinks and snacks to the thirsty crowds.

"All the profits will be going to Ethiopia," said Mr Brearly, "and I'm very proud to do my bit."

"It was a grand day," said band member Seth Armstrong, who played the triangle. "I reckon everyone enjoyed it."

Nice.

And, on another positive note (perhaps), the Beckindale Players were planning their next venture:

BECKINDALE PLAYERS SEARCH FOR A TOAD

The Beckindale Players have announced this year's Pantomime Production is to be Toad Of Toad Hall. Rehearsals are due to start in the village hall soon.

Anyone interested in taking part should contact the Rev Donald Hinton on Beckindale 6347. All the villagers are looking forward to what should be another splendid production from the Beckindale Players.

Do you recognise the faces behind the masks?

Alan Turner - Otherwise Known As!

Mr Bear in his den at NY Estates in 1986.

From the Sunday People, April 28, 1985:

FARM FUHRER

Emmerdale's awful Alan Turner may have acquired a reputation as a rural J.R. But his long suffering assistant Mrs Bates - actress Diana Davies - has her own way of describing him.

"He's a cross between Adolf Hitler and Pooh Bear - so I call him Adolf Bear."

Emmerdale In The Popular Press - The Racy '80s!

The popular press tended to label Emmerdale Farm as "sleepy" until the 1980s. But then things changed.

From the Sunday People, April 14, 1985:

Muck-raking is no longer confined to the cowshed in Emmerdale Farm. Infidelity and intrigue have transformed the once-sleepy story of Yorkshire folk into the Dynasty of The Dales - and helped catapult it into the top twenty.

Click on the picture to read the whole article.

Late in the decade, the series was given parity with the other English soap operas. The whole country saw Emmerdale Farm on the same date and at the same time - networked - for the very first time in January 1988 - an historic moment - and that year the series was broadcast throughout the Christmas season for the very first time!

Do I think Emmerdale Farm was the Dynasty of The Dales in the 1980s? No. Studying the episodes, I think it was far more influenced by Brookside, which debuted in November 1982!

1985: Diana Davies And Richard Thorp On Mrs Bates And Alan Turner...

"Well, he's a bit of a nasty person on the screen, but in real life he's quite likeable," said Diana Davies of Richard Thorp, as the pair were interviewed by Richard Whiteley for the Emmerdale Farm 1,000th episode TV special celebration in 1985. The "quite likeable" was said tongue in cheek - the two were in very jovial mood, and appeared to have an excellent rapport.

When Mrs Caroline Bates turned up as Alan's "temp" secretary in 1984, nobody suspected that this was the beginning of one of the show's best-loved comic partnerships. But with Mrs Bates ever-ready to see through Alan's bluster to the wally underneath, great fun was had by we lucky viewers.

And many of us actually began to like Alan as a result - which was a tremendous change as, since his arrival in 1982, he'd aroused feelings of irritation and even, sometimes, vehement dislike amongst viewers.

"You've taken a bit of stick in real life as the 'JR' figure, haven't you?" said Richard Whiteley to Richard Thorp on the 1,000th episode celebration programme.

"Yes, I have - and particularly at home," replied Richard Thorp. "My wife always insists Alan Turner leaves the room before she has a chance to chat to Richard Thorp!"

Richard Whiteley: "But I hear that when you go into restaurants, people have left the restaurants and taxi drivers wouldn't give you lifts?"

Richard Thorp: "Oh, yes, yes - 'Not you, you walk!' they say!"

Richard Whiteley: "What we all want to know, really, are you two going to get it together ever do you think?"

Richard Thorp (suddenly becoming Alan Turner): "That's down to you, Mrs Bates. I think you can answer that one."

Diana Davies: "Well, we don't know, we just think it's probably not a very good idea because it's good fun the way it is now."

Richard Whiteley: "What about just something for now on this special occasion?"

Diana Davies: "All right."

Richard Thorp, after the kiss, becoming Alan Turner again: "That's in lieu of a rise - you don't get everything for nothing!"

1985: Walter Speaks!!

Al Dixon - Woolpack Walter, 1980 to 1985,

I've received an e-mail from somebody apparently called Tibbles.

Tibbles has recently viewed the 1985 TV special celebrating 1,000 episodes of Emmerdale Farm, which featured actor Al Dixon, the show's silent Walter character in the early-to-mid-1980s.

Why, asks Tibbles, did Richard Whiteley, the show's presenter, state that Al Dixon had not spoken a word during 13 years in Emmerdale Farm, and yet Al Dixon did not actually first appear as Walter until 1980?

It's probably an error, Tibbles - although it is possibly a slightly garbled reference to Al Dixon's first Emmerdale Farm role - he appeared in a photograph as Jacob Sugden, alongside Sheila Mercier as Annie. The photograph stood on the farm's mantelpiece in the very early days.

So, Al Dixon had played two silent roles in Emmerdale Farm.

Sheila Mercier revealed in her autobiography, Annie's Song (1994):

It was decided there should be a photograph of Annie with her late husband, Jacob, on the mantelpiece [at Emmerdale Farm] and they chose Al Dixon to pose for a picture with me. I was absolutely furious because I thought Annie should have a great lion of a man for a husband, not a tiny, weedy thing like he was. I took it out on Al and couldn't bring myself to be nice to him, although he was terribly nice to me. I still couldn't forgive him for daring to be my husband.

Mr Dixon became Walter in September 1980 and was last seen on-screen in December 1985. There were some delightful clips on YouTube in recent years showing a totally different actor being a Woolpack Walter in the late '70s. The actor playing "old Walter", listed in a 1976 TV Times special, was Geoffrey Hooper. Mr Hooper's Walter was, apparently, occasionally known to speak. The story of Walter, as far as we know it, is covered in more detail here.

The wonderful thing about the 1,ooo episode celebration was that we actually heard the '80s Walter (Mr Dixon) speak! Had he ever been tempted to speak in the show? asked Richard. "Oh, many times!" said Mr Dixon.

A toast to all the good folks at the Woolpack!

.

"Daily Mirror", 23 May, 1985.

"TV Times" tribute to Al Dixon, 1986.

Did The Malt Shovel Ever Appear On-Screen?

1984/1985 - barmaid Doreen (Sandra Gough) catches Mr Wilks' eye. Amos does not approve. He's also not keen on having Ernie Shuttleworth in such close proximity! Photograph courtesy of Bill Sands.

An e-mail from Wendy asks if the interior of The Malt Shovel, the arch rival public house to The Woolpack, ever appeared on-screen?

I have some episodes from 1981, Wendy, in which Seth Armstrong revisits the 'Shovel - his old local (he became a regular at The Woolpack in 1980) - and both interior and exterior are seen. I believe the interior of the pub was also seen in the 1984/1985 storyline involving Mr Wilks and Doreen.

Above The Scenes...

Not behind the scenes but above with this view of the Emmerdale Farm kitchen set from 1985. Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) has brought girlfriend Sita Sharma (Mamta Kash) to see the family. Seated at the table are Jack and Pat Sugden (Clive Hornby and Helen Weir) and Sandie Merrick (Jane Hutcheson). On the sofa by the fire are Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier) and Henry Wilks (Arthur Pentelow).

1985: Kathy And Nick Bates Arrive...

Having secured his secretary, Mrs Bates, accommodation in Beckindale after the break-up of her marriage to Malcolm, Alan Turner was delighted to accept an invitation to dinner from her. He arrived punctually, all spruced up and clutching a magnificent bouquet, with hopes for the evening which went way beyond the planned menu of his hostess...

So, imagine his shock and dismay when Mrs Bates' door was answered by two youngsters, who introduced themselves as Kathy and Nick and explained that Mum was still upstairs, but that they had been instructed to make him welcome.

Having envisaged an evening alone with Mrs Bates, and having had no idea that her children were living with her, Alan was terribly disappointed. Faintly stroppy and terribly crestfallen, he thrust the bouquet at Kathy - "These are for your mother!"

This was the first appearance in Emmerdale Farm of Cy Chadwick as Nick and Malandra Burrows as Kathy.

Terence Turner

From the Emmerdale Farm Celebration Edition 1000 Episodes magazine, 1985:

Terence Turner arrived on his father's doorstep in April this year having been sent down from Oxford where he was studying agriculture. Far too sophisticated, he feels, for a farming career. Terence has been trying to make his fortune ever since with a series of unlikely schemes such as "home-made" lime pickle and rock climbing. He is currently working on a dry ski slope project. Arrogant and lazy, Terence can nevertheless be amusing when he wishes, and he's recently been going out with Sandie Merrick, much to the consternation of the Sugden family.

Stephen Marchant (Terence Turner):

The other day Stephen Marchant was standing in Boots, innocently queing to buy a tube of toothpaste, when a young girl rushed over and spat at him: "I hate you!"

The other shoppers politely glanced away, assuming it was some lover's tiff, but Stephen had never seen the girl before and in fact she wasn't even talking to him. Her venom was intended for Terence Turner, Alan Turner's unpleasant son.

Stephen Marchant and the arrogant smoothie Terence have very little in common. Unlike Oxford-educated Turner, Stephen is an East Ender who left school as soon as he could for a series of dead-end jobs. He went to America and worked for a time as a DJ on an American radio station. Then he returned to England and has spent the last five years working in theatre in Bristol.

"If I wasn't an actor I'd work in conservation or some form of ecology," says Terence.

Out riding...

In late 1985, Terence was in charge of organising the shoots at Home Farm. But Alan wasn't happy. Terence's presence in the office at NY Estates was a thorn in Alan's side - and also Mrs Bates's. As she told Alan, she didn't quite know who her boss was!

Terence had a habit of putting his foot in it and, discussing the menu for an upcoming Shoot with Mrs Bates, spouted: "Now, what about a wine? Don't get any of that awful plonk the old man blew his money on!" Of course, he was totally unaware that his father was in the room. Until it was too late.

At the Woolpack, Terence chatted up newcomer Kathy Bates: "I'm on my own. You're on you're own. I fancy you. Well, if you fancy me let's get back to Home Farm, put some sounds on very loud and er... we'll get something together. I think you know what I mean."

Kathy basically told him that she wasn't interested. And she told him that what the locals said about him was quite wrong: "Pillock's nowhere near it!"

Terence moved over to the bar and tried to get back in Sandie's good books. He invited her back for a "nightcap". "Thanks, Terry," said Sandie, who had overheard his conversation with Kathy. "But I'd only be in the way!"

Terence was puzzled: "Sorry?"

"Well, I thought Kathy Bates would be there?"

"Very funny!" and Terence left the pub.

Sandie told Jackie that she didn't really know how she had ever liked Terence.

"This village is really starting to get on my nerves," said Terence to his father back at Home Farm.

Despite his differences with his son, Alan was greatly looking forward to having him at home over the festive season.

"Well, it'll be all right over Christmas," he replied. "I thought we might have a bit of a party. You know, nothing lavish - a sort of in loco Lord of the Manor do."

Terence broke the news that he would not be in Beckindale for Christmas: a friend had phoned, he had rented a cottage in Ireland over the festive season - "with plenty of booze and a bit of skirt", and had invited Terence to join him. Terence eagerly anticipated being saved from a "celibate Christmas".

Alan was downcast: "You've made up your mind?"

"Nothing to keep me here, is there?" asked Terence.

"No. No, I suppose not."

After Terence had retired to bed, Alan switched off the Christmas tree lights and retired to his own room, his plans for the festive season in tatters.

Harry Mowlam: Brute Of Beckindale

Ah, Beckindale in the early-to-mid 1980s...

Annie at her Aga, Amos behind the bar at the Woolpack, the Rev Donald Hinton being concerned for the spiritual welfare of his flock, our Jackie making a mess of things, Grandad Pearson making a crib for the Christmas nativity, Jack and Matt creosoting a fence and talking about the meaning of life...

1980s? Some said it was so sleepy it could almost have been the 1880s! As one viewer told Toke Townley: "Emmerdale Farm isn't about how life is, it's about how life should be."

Then, BANG! POW! the late 20th Century burst in, turning village life upside down, in the shape of Harry Mowlam.

Harry had a brief innings in the show in late 1983 and early 1984, when Matt and Dolly fell out with him over his mistreatment of his dog. But in 1985 he blew back in to Beckindale - worse than ever, chip firmly on shoulder.

Mr Mowlam had a cruel, villainous streak a mile wide and was quickly involved in a security van robbery.

As 1986 began, the man turned his venom back on to the Skilbecks - and finally there was a terrible fight with Matt, entirely initiated by Mr Mowlam, and the man ended up dead, with Matt accused of his murder...

Life in Beckindale had never been absolutely cosy - the early years of the programme had featured murder, suicide, rape, a teenage pregnancy, adultery, arson and a gun hold up. But Beckindale had never seen the likes of Harry Mowlam before.

The part was an acting triumph for Godfrey James - Mowlam, whether wallowing in self pity, bantering in the Woolpack, battering Matt Skilbeck or menacing Dolly, was absolutely believable, a bearded hulk of a man, as turbulent and changeable as the Yorkshire weather. And thoroughly twisted.

From the Yorkshire Evening Post Emmerdale Farm 1,000! supplement, 1985:

He's the nastiest man ever to walk the streets of Beckindale. A big, bearded loudmouth whose loathsome behaviour earned him a smack across the face from Dolly Skilbeck.

Godfrey James, who plays the hated Harry Mowlam, has even been spat at in the street by real-life old ladies who take exception to Harry's wild antics on the box.

"Mowlam is thoroughly hated," said Godfrey. "He's a nutcase. He's a bit touched."

Playing the villain comes easy to the surprisingly mild-mannered Godfrey. Off-screen, he's nothing like the man who gets up the noses of everybody down on the farm.

But bad guy parts have regularly come his way in films and TV.

And he's so convincing, it often lands him in trouble with people who can't tell the difference between fiction and reality.

He might have got spat at for looking like Mowlam, but his part as a hard man in "The Sweeney" almost got him beaten up in a London pub.

"I was down in the East End when these characters tried to have a go at me," he says. "They wanted to see how tough I was."

The East End is Godfrey's home ground. He was born there 54 years ago, the son of a greengrocer who, he says, "didn't like the idea of me becoming a woofter actor."

After a brief stint as Harry in Emmerdale Farm, Godfrey James was invited back a couple of years later for a longer run.

Filming in Yorkshire means long spells away from his home in Pevensey Bay, East Sussex, where he lives with his wife Vivienne - "she's a cracker" - and spends his leisure time at sea in his own fishing smack.

They've been married for 32 years and have a daughter, Tracy, 24, named after the film star Spencer Tracy. She works as a nurse.

He doesn't like hotels, so he's brought his caravan north and let it come to rest in a pub car park.

He's managed to convince the regulars that he's not quite as distasteful as Harry Mowlam. They even play dominoes with him.

Annie Sugden And Sheila Mercier

From the Emmerdale Farm Celebration Edition 1000 Episodes Magazine, 1985.

Annie Sugden

Ever since she was widowed thirteen years ago, Annie Sugden has felt responsible for Emmerdale Farm and the Sugden family. Life has not been easy for her, coping with financial crises, warring sons and the loss of her only daughter. But she has faced the problems courageously. She's a strong, level headed woman, loyal to her family but not blind to their weaknesses, and she speaks her mind when she feels it's called for. Annie's honesty is usually appreciated and people often turn to her for advice, but the years haven't dulled her sense of humour. She enjoys a joke as much as anyone in the family.

Sheila Mercier

"Annie Sugden has changed a great deal over the years," said Sheila Mercier. "At the beginning she was very terse. She was the head of the family and let everyone know it. She ruled with a rod of iron. She'd had a tough life. She'd had a rough ride with Jacob, who used to drink the money away and sit in the Woolpack until all hours. Jack didn't live at home then and it was Annie who kept the farm together. Until Henry Wilks came along they were poor farmers, living hand-to-mouth.

"But now things are different. Jack has made a success of Emmerdale and Henry's interest in the farm and Annie herself has made her relax. She's mellower now."

Sheila Mercier enjoys playing Annie and has learned to live with the fame it brings her.

"People often stop you in the street and say 'Oh. I'm sorry I thought I knew you.' Or they call out 'Oi! Are you Annie Sugden?' Others write to Annie asking her to solve their problems."

Ocasionally though, the attention is unwelcome.

"I do think it's rude when people interrupt your meal to ask for autographs," said Sheila. "And once a woman with a bag of fish and chips ran after me shouting 'Oi! Oi! Annie! Sign this fish and chip paper for me!' "

Sheila has been interested in acting for as long as she can remember. Her whole family was in love with the threatre. Her mother had a beautiful singing voice and spent a great deal of time organising shows to raise money for the church.

"My brother Brian Rix and I used to hide under the piano and listen to them rewhearsing," said Sheila. "My father was a ship owner and he didn't go on stage himself, but he used to make all the scenery. We had a little cottage in the grounds of our house where he kept all his stuff and he was always sawing and hammering and painting. He loved it."

When her mother wasn't putting on shows, she was throwing lively parties at which everyone did his party piece. Sheila's speciality was the dramatic poem.

"My favourite poem was called 'Ojistoh", about a Mohican woman who is captured by another tribe. It's quite exciting," said Sheila. "I learned it at elocution lessons when I was eleven, and when I recited it the mistress said 'That girl will be an actress.'

"The funny thing is, years later when I was in the airforce I was asked to do something for a concert. I couldn't think of anything to do until I remembered 'Ojistoh'. Anyway, in the audience that night were some tough Glaswegian boys from the Argyll and Sutherland Regiment and when I launched into 'Ojistoh' they started to laugh and they laughed me off stage!" It was Sheila's worst theatrical disaster.

Spotted at drama school by Sir Donald Wolfitt, she was invited to join his company and spent a great deal of time staying in seedy digs while they toured the country.

"The funny thing is when you're young you don't seem to mind," said Sheila, "and the landladies could be kind. In Norwich one of the other girls and I were staying with a Mrs Pigani who discovered that we liked Welsh Rarebit. It turned out to be her husband's speciality and we had it for supper every night!"

Since then Sheila has worked in countless productions, including comedies with her brother Brian Rix. These days, however, she's happy to swap the irregular hours of the theatre for the more settled life of television.

1985: Frederick Pyne Pays Tribute To The Late Toke Townley

From the Yorkshire Evening Post supplement Emmerdale Farm 1,000! - 1985:

Frederick Pyne, Matt Skilbeck in Emmerdale Farm, paid tribute to Toke Townley, the much-loved Grandad Sam Pearson in the show, who died in 1984.

Unlike some members of the cast I had not known Toke Townley before we started work on "Emmerdale" in June 1972. "Grandad" and "Matt" in the story soon developed a relationship of friendship and mutual understanding with, I believe, only one quarrel which was quickly forgiven and forgotten.

I am happy to say that the same was true of Toke and myself in real life except that we never had even the one quarrel.

We were never extremely close friends because Toke was essentially a loner as, to some extent, I am too. But we shared mutual interests in music, opera and theatre.

I remember taking him to see Beethoven's "Fidelio" at Leeds Grand Theatre and Verdi's "Othello" at the Palace Theatre, in Manchester. He had seen neither before and he was as thrilled and enthusiastic as a young lad with a new train set.

His needs were usually very simple and his praise always most generous. I once gave him tea, bread and butter and boiled eggs at my house and he told everyone at work about it as though I had given him a three-course cordon bleu meal.

This was partly because he was totally impractical at such things, but mainly because of his wonderful generosity of spirit. He rarely criticised fellow actors and he would travel far and wide to see them.

If he saw something he didn't like he would say: "Well, you see, it's not my sort of play."

This generosity showed up in his gifts to charity. I have a reputation for scrounging money for charity but I was never afraid to ask Toke.

Many a time I did not need to ask - he was already opening his wallet and asking me what I was collecting for. Sometimes I was quite astonished at the amounts he would give.

Of course, Toke wasn't all goodness - none of us is. He could have his dislikes and he could have very tetchy moods but I was extremely lucky; I only witnessed those moods; I was never the subject of them.

I always admired his tremendous energy and his terrific sense of fun and the absurd. It was nothing for him to give us notes on our performances in mock Russian and he would, completely seriously, talk the most ridiculous rubbish all morning but always with that mischievous twinkle in his eye that was so uniquely his own.

Or he would pretend that "Emmerdale" was a ballet and give us new steps to perform. "I think it will come to life," he would say, "when we get the full orchestra."

During breaks in the rehearsals in the farm kitchen set I quite often deliberately sit in "grandad's" chair and just quietly think about him.

Is this a form of prayer for him? I don't really know. What I do believe is that he is truly at rest because, although he was restless (because of his boundless energy) in life, he lived his last years in happiness and contentment with his work, his friends and his love of music and the theatre.

There could be no more fitting memory of him than the furnishings for the Green Room at the new Leeds Playhouse bought with the money from his memorial fund.

We loved him, we miss him and we shall never forget him.

Back on this 'ere blog, I have been undertaking a little reseach into Mr Townley's background and have so far come up with the following:

Toke Anthony Townley was born on 6 November, 1912, in the Dunmow, Essex, area of Eastern England. He died in September 1984. Because of advance filming, his Emmerdale Farm character lived on until late November - the character died on the 27th of that month.

If anybody has any further memories of Mr Townley and/or Grandad Pearson to share, I would be delighted to hear them!

Walter - The Mystery Man!

Did you guess who the mystery man featured a few posts back was? Yep, it was Al Dixon, Beckindale's second silent Walter actor, who made the role his very own from 1980-1985.

The article above, from the 1985 Yorkshire Evening Post's Emmerdale Farm 1000! supplement, reveals that Mr Dixon was actually born in Lancashire, and went to Leeds during the war as part of a group called Fred Musson's Select Entertainers. The group thrilled the crowds at open-air shows in Roundhay Park.

Seth and His Boss!

From the Yorkshire Evening Post's 1985 supplement - Emmerdale Farm 1,000!

Somebody recently turned to Stan Richards with a quizzical look and asked: "Why is it you talk right posh when you're on the telly?"

Stan, who is as much a part of Barnsley as Arthur Scargill's ceremonial pit lamp, couldn't come up with an answer.

Apart from the now legendary woolly hat and a change of spectacles, the real Stan Richards isn't very far removed from the fictitious Seth Armstrong of "Emmerdale Farm".

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two down-to-earth characters is all that Woolpack ale Seth pours down his neck. Stan can't stand the stuff.

He has to grin and bear it as he swigs his way through scene after scene in anguish with Amos.

But as soon as the cameras have stopped rolling he screws up his face in disgust and swills his gums with a glass of scotch.

Those gums have become his stock-in-trade, not only as a highly-popular Seth, but over more than 30 years they have made him a sought-after toothless grin around the working men's clubs of the North.

"It isn't a gimmick," he says. "I just don't like wearing false teeth. And now I don't have to."

The role of Seth has come like a pools win for the lad from the mining town who still calls corrugated iron "wriggly tin".

He was originally signed up for a mere five episodes. "They must have liked me because they kept asking me back," he says. He is now one of the series well-loved fixtures and fittings.

That unmistakable face, set off by a magnificent handlebar moustache, means a lot of writer's cramp signing autograph after autograph.

But Stan never grumbles. At 54 he remembers the days as a struggling stand-up comic.

Going even farther back, he recalls his start in showbusiness. At the age of 15, as a pupil of Barnsley Grammar School, he used to enjoy a pint and a Woodbine while playing the piano around local pubs.

One of his first jobs was as a Ministry of Labour clerk. But he was transferred to London, which didn't do for a pure-bred Northerner.

"I couldn't stand the place," he says. "I packed up my job and came home."

After that he went to work in the accounts department of the local disinfectant factory and that's where he remained until 1965, when he decided to go full-time professional as a solo comic.

Television bit parts bolstered his earnings and he now boasts of acting alongside Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman.

That was a 10 -second appearance as an hotel porter in the film "Agatha".

He still keeps his hand in with working men's club dates, although it means strenuously long hours after doing a stint in the studios or on location.

Stan is a realist whose lifestyle has hardly altered since he found "Emmerdale" stardom.

"I was born and bred in Barnsley," he says with that pride which seems to accompany everyone who was born and bred there.

"To me it is the greatest place in the world. That is where I intend to stay.

"As far as the neighbours and my mates down the local are concerned, I'm still Stan Richards, an ordinary chap with a wife and six kids.

"I think they're all happy to see me successful. But nothing's changed."

He knows that one day Seth Armstrong or the series might cease to exist. As he tells his club audiences: "I used to be a clairvoyant, but I had to give it up due to unforeseen circumstances."

"You're a very, very nasty man," an elderly lady once told actor Richard Thorp as he sat in a genteel tea-room...

Richard, of course, is the "JR"-type manager of NY Estates in "Emmerdale Farm", but in reality he is a quietly-spoken, gentle man with a ready smile and a deep-throated chuckle.

Seth Armstrong's boss, and the bane of the gamekeeper's life, escapes to his beautiful old Tudor home in Sussex each weekend to join his wife, Noola, a TV floor manager.

The couple love animals and have two dogs, eight ducks, 14 chickens and numerous "wild" pets.

Richard tells an amusing "Emmerdale" story about a horse...

"I admit I'm a bit on the stout side and I had to get on a horse in one scene. The director said 'Action,' I hoisted myself into the saddle - and the entire production crew crew fell about laughing.

"I sat bemused until they explained that the horse, which was facing directly into the camera, had pulled a face when I climbed aboard."

Emmerdale - Play Time!

And now for something completely different. This is an Emmerdale Farm toy from 1985 - a drag harrow. So, children everywhere could play at being Matt Skilbeck or Jack Sugden.

Made by Lone Star Toys, England, the range also featured a plough, disc harrow, excavator, elevator and bale lift.

Tom Merrick - Both Sides Of The Law!

Look at the Dirty deeds of Rita's friendly policeman article on this soaps page from the TV Times, 13-19 April, 1985. Who remembers Jack Carr's role on the other side of the law from Tom Merrick in Coronation Street?

1985: Emmerdale Farm Fascinates The Press!

News Of The World, May 12, 1985.

The newspaper gossip was fast and furious - how much was Frazer Hines being paid to return to the show? What about Ian Sharrock's wedding?

Journalists were now aware that articles featuring behind the scenes rumour and gossip from Emmerdale Farm helped to sell newspapers. The show had well and truly "arrived"!