Showing posts with label Edward Peel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Edward Peel. Show all posts

Thursday 16 September 2010

Emmerdale Farm 1980 - Edward Peel's Debut As Tom Merrick

Hooray! Somebody has uploaded Edward Peel's Emmerdale Farm debut episode as Tom Merrick - episode 623, broadcast 2 December 1980. The role had previously been played by David Hill in six early episodes, but Mr Peel stamped his own mark on it - making Tom rather a menace in early 1980s Beckindale!

Enjoy the episode in three parts below - and look out for Amos, Walter and other favourites!

Thanks to Ben for letting me know!





Monday 24 May 2010

E-Mails - Edward Peel As Tom Merrick, The Missing Merrick, And Meg Armstrong

1985 Emmerdale tribute article. Intense and snarling - Edward Peel took on the revised role of Tom Merrick in 1980, to be followed by Jack Carr a few years later. The fact that David Hill had once played a lazy, twisting version of Tom Merrick years before had been forgotten.

Maria has written:

I liked your post about the Merrick family. I used to lust after Edward Peel's Tom Merrick! I remember David Hill in the role, and, not to be rude, he was neither smouldering or attractive! Mr Peel had it all - a devious bad boy we ladies could love! Characters were often rewritten in Emmerdale Farm, weren't they? Ruth Merrick became Pat, and nobody could say she was chosen to look like the previous actress in the role. The same, as I've already mentioned, with Edward's Tom. I also recall the Merricks had three children originally, but in 1980 one of them was simply written out of existence. Ursula Camm's Meg Armstrong was also very different to Ruth's Holden's Meg in 1986. Ursula's was quiet, unhappy and stay at home, Ruth's was loud, eccentric and out and about. Great blog to read. I'm a long-time fan. Keep up the good work!

Thanks, Maria!

The Merricks had originally been a brief, "passing through" story - and when they were revamped in 1980, the writers transformed them into an interesting long term story-line concept. Edward Peel, of course, did not resemble the original Tom (David Hill) and Helen Weir did not resemble the original Ruth Merrick (Lynn Dalby).

In particular, Edward Peel's Tom had a snarling intensity that had previously been completely lacking.

Interviewed about his role as Tom years later, Mr Peel played down his impact, saying that Tom was simply up to his old tricks, but comparing episodes with David Hill and Edward Peel reveals that the character had become a lot more menacing and downright angry in the Edward Peel era.

It must be remembered that the Merrick family had previously featured as a short story-line eight years before, when VCRs were unknown in the UK, so viewers were not able to check what the family was originally like - although the Emmerdale Farm novels by Lee Mackenzie faithfully recorded the original facts about them, third child and all.

I don't know why Ruth's first name was changed to Pat - although at Pat's wedding to Jack in 1982, it was revealed that her full Christian names were Patricia Ruth, it didn't quite add up.

Whilst Coronation Street employed an archivist and most past story-line facts were rigidly adhered to (there were howls of protest when the age of Ken Barlow's twin children was altered to fit in with a story-line in 1978), Emmerdale Farm took a slightly more relaxed approach to its past.

As for Meg Armstrong - I think that the downtrodden Meg character, as played by Ursula Camm, had been taken as far as it could go, and that's why the character was so drastically altered in 1986.

Emmerdale Farm was never afraid to rewrite bits and pieces of its history!

Left: Ursula Camm as Meg Armstrong in 1983: downtrodden and frankly fed up with Seth's drinking, she locked him out of their home. Right: Ruth Holden was the new Meg Armstrong in 1986: chirpy, religious, and absolutely barking, she terrified Amos Brearly when she worked at The Woolpack for a while, told Mr Wilks that one of her favourite hymns was called "The Ship Of Temperance Is Sailing To The Port", and called Seth "poppet".

Tuesday 19 August 2008

1980 Month - Feedback And Queries

First, some queries:

Pete asks: "Is it true that Seth Armstrong was not a regular at The Woolpack in early 1980?"

Of course, Pete. He was a Malt Shovel man. In early-to-mid 1980, Seth was a semi-regular in the storylines - there are a couple of quite long runs of episodes where he didn't appear at all. By about midway through the year he was a Woolpack regular - winding Amos up at every opportunity! In December, Tom Merrick called Seth a "snob" for deserting The Malt Shovel.

Lorraine asks: "How long did Nellie Ratcliffe appear for?"

I believe that Nellie was originally a temporary character, established in 1978 for a storyline about NY Estates seeking to evict her from her cottage. In 1980, she appeared occasionally - featuring quite heavily in storylines about the horticultural show, Sam Pearson's birthday, the return of the Merricks to the village and the Allotment Association's bonfire night celebration. She also featured in 1981. Amos mentioned her in 1986 and it seems she was still a village resident, but I don't think she appeared on-screen at that point.

Nick asks: "I remember the Merricks' caravan as being quite convincing, was the interior real or a studio set?"

It was convincing, but I believe it was a studio set.

Mrs Shook asks: "Did we actually see The Malt Shovel in 1980?"

No, it wasn't featured - and neither was Ernie Shuttleworth, who underwent a change of actor in the early 1980s.

Greg says: "Tom Merrick, nicking Christmas trees - I read that was 1981."

No, Greg, it was just before Christmas 1980.

Thanks to all those who have written with compliments and suggestions about 1980 Month. I have been asked if a "1981 Month" is a possibility. It certainly is, but will take some time to prepare and will not appear until October at the earliest if I choose to go ahead with the idea.

Friday 8 August 2008

1980: Cops And Robbers...

Most of 1980 was pretty peaceful for Beckindale's PC Ted Edwards...

But December brought the first appearance of Sergeant Ian MacArthur, over from Hotten to investigate a theft of Christmas trees from the plantation at NY Estates in Beckindale.

The culprits were one Derek Warner and...

... one Tom Merrick of Hotten, formerly of Beckindale. Edward Peel, who debuted in the role of Tom in 1980, gave an electrifying performance as the sneering villain, and is the actor who immediately springs to mind whenever I think of the character.

Tom had come to Beckindale in pursuit of his wife, Pat, and kids, Jackie and Sandie. Pat had left him a couple of months earlier and was living with their teenage children in a caravan on NY Estates land at Home Farm.

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Dark Side Of 1980...

It wasn't all daft fishing contests and horticultural shows in 1980. There was family life in a grotty caravan for Pat Merrick and her kids for a start...

Never mind. In November 1980 Walter, who had only been on-screen for a couple of months, got a snazzy new cap. Great! But who's that coming through the door behind him?

Oh no - it's Tom Merrick - just in time for Christmas!!

But the nasties weren't all earth bound...

... strange moving lights in the sky terrified Amos Brearly... was it aliens? Or bogles?
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Oh yes, there was certainly a dark side to 1980 down Beckindale way...
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We'll be taking a closer look soon.

Friday 21 March 2008

Walter Altered - And Others Too!

I always thought that a change of actor was preferable to a death in Beckindale. Because of actors and actresses leaving, we saw several tragedies in the '70s and '80s which began to make the Sugdens seem just a little too tragic!

In 1972, the show began with the funeral of Jacob Sugden, and the following year his daughter, Peggy, died suddenly - as actress Jo Kendall had decided to leave the show. Recasting would have been perfectly acceptable in this fledgling serial, but it was not something English TV soaps were very "into" at that time - Coronation Street appeared to have set the standard there! The Skilbeck twins, Sam and Sally, were killed off in 1976 in a most appalling manner - killed in an accident at a level crossing, which was obviously a way of doing away with a loose thread from the Peggy/Matt marriage, and winning viewers.

In the 1980s, both Pat Sugden and Jackie Merrick died tragically when the actors playing the roles left the show.

And so the Sugdens built up a grim saga of tragedy - for purely off-screen reasons.

Sometimes, central characters were recast - although very rarely were they residents of Emmerdale Farm itself. But in 1980, the improbable happened twice...

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

HELLO DOLLYS

"Emmerdale" has had four "doubles" in the cast, but the mos startling lookalikes have been Jean Rogers, the present Dolly, and Katharine Barker, the original one.

Dolly Skilbeck is expecting her second youngster - much to the delight of Jean Rogers, who plays Matt's pretty wife.

Jean just loves kids. She's a proud off-screen mum to Jeremy, 17, and Justin, 14.

And on screen, it's difficult to believe that she's not the real mother of Benjamin Whitehead, the little boy who takes the part of Dolly's son, Sam.

It's a relationship which Jean has worked hard at ever since three-year-old Ben joined the series as a baby.

One of her secrets was getting to know Ben's parents, Richard and Susan Whitehead, who own a butcher's shop in Otley.

And the Whiteheads took to Jean so much they asked her to become Ben's godmother.

Jean, who is divorced, goes to playgroup with Ben and his real mum and has become deeply involved in promoting the Pre-school Playgroups Association.

"Ben and I know each other well so now he acts perfectly naturally when he's in a scene with me," says Jean.

"The rest of the cast, too, make an effort to know him and win his confidence, which makes filming a lot easier."

Ben is so relaxed, that unlike some children, he doesn't mind if his mum isn't around on the set.

She goes off into another room and watches her son in action on a monitor.

Viewers can look forward to some authentic scenes when the new addition to the Skilbeck family comes along.

Sam's arrival was heralded as a great acting achievement for Jean, who said she just relied on her unforgettable experiences while giving birth to her own children.

"I think I gave the acting performance of my life that day," says Jean. "I let my mind go back to my own children's births and practically lived through them again.

"At the end I was quite exhausted. The nurse said I'd been so convincing she felt she should be handing me a new-born baby.

"And one cameraman was so overcome by my gasps, straining and cries, he felt ill and had to rush off for a glass of water!"


[Andy's note: Actress Helen Weir, Pat Sugden in Emmerdale Farm, became pregnant in real life at the time of the Dolly pregnancy storyline. Helen's pregnancy was written into the plot, and, sadly, there was room for only one baby on set, so Dolly's screen pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.]

A PAIR OF JACKS

The original Jack Sugden was played by Andrew Burt. The call of literature led to Jack cutting his ties with Emmerdale Farm and floating off to Rome to write a book of poetry.

However, Annie Sugden's elder son returned to the fold in the shape of Clive Hornby and revived his interest in the land... only to land the family with a few problems born of Jack's single-mindedness.

Andrew Burt, after leaving the series, went on to play many other TV roles.


So, two of the central characters up at the farm were boldly recast in 1980! Around and about the village, the Yorkshire Evening Post Emmerdale Farm 1,000th episode supplement noted a couple of other face changes...

TOM TOM

The two actors who played the roguish Tom Merrick have also portrayed characters on the right side of the law. Edward Peel, the first Tom, is now to be seen as Chief Inspector Perrin in "Juliet Bravo", and Jack Carr, the second Tom Merrick who did a stretch in jail, played a police sergeant in "Coronation Street".

Merrick, who has disappeared again, probably to the oil rigs, is the father of Sandie and for a long time thought he was Jackie's Dad until it was revealed Jack Sugden had sired him in a long-ago affair with Pat.

[Andy's note: Tom was also played by actor David Hill in the show's early days. ]

Walter altered

Another "double", of course, was the two Walters....

Geoffrey Hooper was the original silent*, bar-propping regular at the Woolpack, but sadly, he died some time ago, and he was replaced by the present Walter, former music hall entertainer Al Dixon.

*In actual fact, Geoffrey Hooper's Walter often spoke.