Showing posts with label Malandra Burrows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malandra Burrows. Show all posts

Sunday 26 October 2008

Teddy Turner As Bill Whiteley

An enquiry about Bill Whiteley, played by actor Teddy Turner:

I liked watching Teddy Turner on TV. Whether he was playing Chalkie Whiteley in Coronation Street, Banks in Never The Twain or Bill Whiteley in Emmerdale Farm he always seemed a really down-to-earth character. Do you have any pics of him?

Cerys

Yes we do - here's Bill Whiteley with Kathy Merrick (Malandra Burrows) and Bill Middleton (Johnny Caesar) lining up for another fun storyline. The copy of this original Yorkshire TV publicity photograph was supplied by Bill Sands - many thanks, Bill!

Sunday 13 July 2008

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.

Tuesday 22 January 2008

1987: Kathy And Jackie - An Engagement Is Announced

TV Times, 14-20 November, 1987 - Kathy Bates and Jackie Merrick - young love!

Background storylines for the Jackie and Kathy engagement episodes included a break-in at the deserted Crossgill farmhouse, leading to Matt discovering the deceased owner's last will and testament - leaving the farm to him, and rumblings of concern as closure loomed at Hotten Market - NY Estates had decided to sell it. Auctioneer Sandie Merrick tried to placate angry farmers, but Eric Pollard grabbed the opportunity to do a little gentle stirring.
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Meanwhile, Annie Sugden organised a celebratory get-together for the Sugden and Bates families. Young Nick Bates did not take the engagement seriously, but his mother told him that she was taking it seriously and his sister needed his support.

Two page spread about love on the farm. Interesting reference to Joe's relationships with "upper class" women - from first wife Christine Sharp, to vicar's daughter Barbara Peters, to local vet Ruth Pennington, there seems to be some truth in it!

Conclusion of the article looking at love in Beckindale.
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To end on, do you know how actress Malandra Burrows (Kathy Bates/Merrick in Emmerdale Farm) came by her unusual and rather impressive christian name? Malandra revealed in an interview back in the early '90s that it was derived from her parents' names - Malcolm and Sandra!

Sunday 6 January 2008

The Pub And The Church - Traditional Focal Points Of The English Village...

Amos Brearly is at the pumps whilst the Vicar, the Reverend Donald Hinton, enjoys Woolpack hospitality in the 1980s.

An interesting piece about the unlikely bond between the pub and the church in English villages on the TV Times soaps page, 21-27 September, 1985. Below that, we find an article about Paul Beringer, of Brookside and Albion Market. His part as busker Paul O'Donnell in the Market soap required a violin. Said Paul: "In fact I had to borrow a violin from my girlfriend, Malandra Burrows, who will soon be seen in Emmerdale Farm..."
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More about Albion Market here.

Sunday 23 December 2007

Diana Davies

Daily Mirror, 23/5/1985.

Experienced actress Diana Davies arrived on Emmerdale Farm as Mrs Bates, Alan Turner's new secretary, in 1984. Originally, Mrs Bates was not intended to be a major character, but all that soon changed and she gained a christian name - Caroline, a broken marriage and two teenage children - Kathy (Malandra Burrows) and Nick (Cy Chadwick).

Alan Turner and Mrs Bates deal with a problem at the NY Estates Home Farm, Beckindale, office in 1986.

Saturday 15 December 2007

1986: The Night The Mobile Phone Arrived In Beckindale...

A freezing cold night in 1986, with snow on the ground, and a figure came running down from The Struggle...

... and into the village of Beckindale.

Young Kathy Bates (Malandra Burrows) emerged from her mother's house to fetch something from the car and heard the sound of metal dustbins clattering and a cat yowling. She paused, alarmed. But everything was still.

At the Woolpack...

... Amos (Ronald Magill) was unhappy. He was suffering from conjunctivitis (or "conjunc-tia-vities" as he called it), hence his pirate-style eye patch...

... and Seth (Stan Richards) never tired of teasing him about it.

Having left the pub, Seth started for home...

... and was surprised when two police cars come roaring into the village, sirens going "nee-norr"...

Seth never liked to mix with the police. This feeling got the better of his curiosity and he continued on home.

Curtains twitched at the Woolpack as the police arrived there. The regulars were told that a dangerous man was on the loose.

Over at the village church, the Reverend Donald Hinton (Hugh Manning), locking up for the night, was startled when Derek Warner (Dennis Blanche) jumped out on him, brandishing a shot gun.

At the vicarage, Derek told Donald Hinton that he was the killer of local Mr Nasty Harry Mowlam (Godfrey James)...

A siege was underway, Derek told the vicar he could leave, but the Rev Hinton, stirred by his plight, decided to stay and talk to him. Outside, the police wanted to phone the vicarage and on came a hand-held mobile phone!

It was a Motorola analogue model - state of the art. The first mobile phone call in England - indeed the whole of Britain, had been made by comedian Ernie Wise at St Katherine's Dock, London, on 1 January 1985. The very first commercially available hand-helds had been unveiled by Motorola in 1983. They were hugely expensive and many of us dismissed them: "Yuppie toys - ridiculous, haven't they ever heard of phone boxes?!!"

So, the first sighting of a hand-held mobile in Emmerdale Farm was quite a milestone in the serial's history!

Back to the storyline, and the assembled police (including village bobby Sergeant MacArthur, played by Ian Dale) awaited developments at the vicarage. Finally, Derek emerged with the vicar, and was hustled away by police officers.
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Life in Beckindale soon settled down again, but the glimpse of the mobile phone was an indication that a great technological change was soon to impact on everyday life in the village. And everywhere else!
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When you add to that the invention of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners Lee in 1989, which brought the Internet into all our homes in the 1990s, and the arrival of Sky TV, also in 1989, it seems surprising just how recent the advent of the technology we now take for granted actually was.
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Read more about the arrival of mobile phones in the 1980s here.