The Emmerdale '80s Bus - Part 1

This is a bus with a difference. It travels through time. The Emmerdale '80s bus will drop us at various stops to glimpse life during that decade at the farm and in the village. We begin at December 1984...

Jack is having an affair with Karen Moore, a young auctioneer at Hotten Market. The relationship began when Karen sympathised with him after Emmerdale Farm Ltd decided that his purchase of some pedigree cows had been wrong back in the summer. Even Pat had sided with the others, and Jack had felt suddenly confined by his life at the farm. Ever the free spirit, Jack had kicked back hard, and Karen's sympathy had seemed very attractive. Jack had begun seeing her. By December, he was living with the fact that he was in love with two women.

Matt Skilbeck knew what was happening. He was worried as Christmas was looming and it was to be the first without Grandad Sam Pearson, who had died shortly before. Joe, who was working in France, would be coming back to England for the festivities, but this would be a difficult Christmas for all of them - especially Annie.

 

Being Jack, the author, the thinker, the simple approach of deciding between his wife and Karen was not a path he could easily take. He loved Karen. He loved Pat. He didn't want to hurt either. And yet he was hurting both. Pat had been his youthful lover, the mother of his son. She now represented family and security; Karen was young and free - she represented the unfettered life Jack also wanted to live.

Pat knew what was going on and was devastated. She reflected on what a difference a bit of tinsel made to the parlour at Emmerdale, and, slightly bitter, commented that she had kept a piece for herself. She had relocated to the boxroom as far as sleeping arrangements were concerned.

Over at Home Farm, Alan Turner showed off his policeman's costume for the Beckindale Amateur Players forthcoming production of The Pirates of Penzance. He'd asked Mrs Bates to get some Christmas shopping for him, including a gift for Jill, his wife. Mrs Bates had chosen a pretty nightie for her. She was unaware that Jill and Alan were estranged, but got a glimpse of the sad state of Alan's personal life when he awkwardly confessed that he didn't give his wife such "intimate" presents.

Later, Alan surprised Mrs Bates by presenting the nightie to her as a present. He was sad and awkward; spoke more about the state of his marriage, and said that he wanted to thank Mrs Bates for her nine months of help at NY. Mrs Bates protested, the gift was too expensive, but Alan insisted and quietly retreated, leaving Mrs Bates feeling as sad and as awkward as him.

Young Sam Skilbeck was celebrating his second birthday, and his parents took him out to feed the geese at the farm. Dolly reflected sadly on the harsh realities of farming life - the fate of the geese now Christmas was upon them, and said she thought it would upset Sam if he knew. Matt pointed out that it also upset her - every year the same!

Annie had preparations for Christmas well in hand in the kitchen at Emmerdale Farm, with Sandie as her assistant. Sandie asked if they could make up a parcel for her father, Tom, who was in prison. Annie happily agreed - pies, sausage rolls, etc.

Annie was delighted when Joe phoned. He would soon be with them. She passed on Matt's jovial comment that he owed them eighteen months' worth of milking!

In the parlour, Annie commented to Pat that there had always been laughter in the house when Joe was there. Pat, aware that she hadn't been very jolly recently, apologised for any signs of misery, but Annie hurried to reassure her: she hadn't been getting at anybody.

Over at the Woolpack, Amos Brearly had been treating the villagers to some truly terrible sounds as he practised for his role in The Pirates of Penzance. There was no Mr Wilks on hand to try and keep Mr B under control. Henry was in Italy, attending his daughter Marian's wedding.

Amos commented that the audience at the rehearsal for Pirates had all been very moved by his singing. Mike Conrad retorted that the audience had certainly MOVED when Amos began singing. Amos rejected that - humph! - but was frightened that he was losing his voice. Would everything be all right on the night?

Seth Armstrong was in The Pirates too, of course.

 As a pirate.

Of course!

Mike Conrad was in love with Sandie Merrick. But the feeling wasn't mutual. Mike confided in Walter, telling him he was sure he knew how he felt. Walter silently assured him that he did.

Up in the attic bedroom at Emmerdale Farm, Jack reflected on the tangled state of his love life. He loved Karen. He loved Pat. To Thine Own Self Be True... Pat had been upset when he'd arrived home in the early hours of the morning, having slept with Karen. He'd had to get back because of the milking. On another occasion, when he'd moved to comfort her, she had been furious - he stank of Karen's perfume!

Jack was hurting Pat.

Jack was hurting Karen.

Jack was hurting Annie, and Matt, and everybody who knew at Emmerdale. Sandie Merrick was having to work with Karen at Hotten Market, knowing that she was sleeping with her mother's husband. Jackie didn't know. Jack couldn't bear to contemplate what the knowledge would do to the fragile relationship he had built with his son.

Pat came in to ask if Jack had bought the bracelet they'd decided on for Sandie's Christmas present? He had. They talked. Pat cried, said she missed him so much, couldn't imagine life without him. Did he want her to leave Emmerdale Farm? Jack was shocked - of course not! It was her home. Pat replied that in some ways she'd never felt she really belonged there. It was HIS home. Jack held her close... they kissed... and... the boxroom had no occupant that night.

Anarchistic goof Archie Brooks didn't really want to be a policeman in The Pirates. He insisted on wearing his CND badge on his uniform.

Joe arrived back in Beckindale and took a stroll around the farm, remembering Grandad Pearson.

It was not going to be an easy festive period.

But, of course, he had no idea of just how difficult it was going to be...

Emmerdale At 40 - And In The 1980s...

A couple of e-mails from readers as Emmerdale approaches its 40th birthday on 16 October.

Rod writes:

Why do you focus on the 1980's? If it was anything like the 1970's episodes I have seen it was dead boring and naff!

That's all a matter of opinion, Rod! I loved the show right from its lunchtime beginnings in 1972, but in 1980 several things happened which increased my enjoyment hugely: Al Dixon arrived as the legendary Silent Walter, Clive Hornby and Jean Rogers took on the roles of Jack Sugden and Dolly Skilbeck - both would be long-stayers, and Seth Armstrong, played by Stan Richards, became a full-time permanent character. On top of this, the Merrick family were revamped and recast and gave us some splendid gritty drama and an attempt to actually portray modern teenagers as permanent characters. The character of Amos Brearly, played by Ronald Magill, became more eccentric and funny and all in all a delicious brew became even more delicious in my view. Wading on further into the 1980s (1982 and 1984), we saw the arrival of the (as it turned out) hugely lovable Alan Turner and his long-suffering secretary Mrs Bates, the terrifying reign of Harry Mowlam and, to cap it all, the arrival of Eric Pollard (1986). 1989, of course, brought us the Tate family.

All shows evolve, and the '80s era was my favourite in the show. That's why I chose to highlight that decade on this blog.

Claire writes:

This is a very valuable resource. Do you still like the show? Could you extend The Bugle to the 90s and beyond?

Well, I didn't see much Emmerdale in the '90s - or beyond - so that would be difficult. I don't watch modern soaps at all because the pace is too fast for my personal taste. But I'm delighted that Emmerdale has survived all these years and shall be raising a glass to it on 16 October.

I have received copies of some very interesting 1980s Emmerdale Farm memorabilia from Sheila, who wrote to The Bugle some time ago about Al Dixon's Silent Walter - who lit up a quiet corner of The Woolpack from 1980-1985. I'll be putting them on-line as soon as possible. Many thanks to Sheila!

1983-1984 - The Fall And Rise Of Alan Turner

Trouble brewing - Alan (Richard Thorp) and secretary Sue Lockwood (Debbie Bowers).

Alan Turner had breezed into Beckindale in March 1982 and had not made himself popular. The first thing he did was cancel the NY cattle hormone injection programme, the beloved brainchild of Joe Sugden (Frazer Hines).

Alan was a snob, who upset Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill) by taking him to play golf and not defending him when he was criticised by his Hotten Golf Club crony, The Major (Michael Sheard).

Joe found himself in various difficulties, some of them down to his own lack of experience, but Alan was unsupportive, silver tongued and basically lazy.

1983 saw Mr Turner coming badly unstuck. NY Estates imposed swinging cutbacks - up to 50% of the workforce may go, he was told, and the office would be computerised. A network of computers would be installed at the NY holdings, linked to Head Office, the secretary's post would be cut to three days a week, and the farm manager's post would be cut out completely. Alan would have to do the work previously undertaken by Joe, and Joe left to work for NY in France.

Alan blackmailed union shop steward John Tuplin (Malcolm Raeburn) into helping smooth the way with the redundancies. Alan had ensured that John was on the list of those who were to join the dole queue. If John made no waves with the union and the redundancies went through without any disruption to the running of the NY Beckindale holding, John would keep his job, Alan promised.

John hated the proposition. But jobs were hard to come by and he was a family man.

Alan managed to get the secretary's post reinstated to full-time, and a suitable applicant, fully trained in computers (not a widespread commodity in those days) reported for interview. She was middle aged and frumpy. Alan didn't want her. He didn't particularly want somebody who could do the work - that was not his priority. He wanted an attractive young woman.

Sue Lockwood was ideal. She was young, naive and lived at home with her parents. She was not trained in computing, had never used one before, but who cared?

Alan made her faintly uneasy. He smiled at her... He stared at her. But surely he was just being friendly?

Alan made his move after buying Sue a drink at The Woolpack. In his Land Rover outside, he tried to kiss her, and asked her to go back to Home Farm with him.

Sue fled into the pub, Alan pursued her, and there was a terrible scene. An hysterical Sue insisted on calling a taxi home, and the regulars looked on, bemused, as Alan tried to excuse himself to them. Sue was obviously confused... she obviously had problems...

Nobody was convinced.

Alan was now alone at the Home Farm office. He had undertaken a two day course at NY in computing, but it was still all alien to him.

"OPERATOR ERROR - PLEASE REPEAT LAST INSTRUCTION" was the oft-repeated text flashed up on the screen whenever Alan attempted to use the computer.

Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards) thought the computer looked like a telly, and asked if there was anything good on? Alan was not amused.

Alan hit rock bottom. The work was piling up. The computer printer was spewing out loads of printed paper - all gobbledygook to Alan. He sought solace in betting on the gee-gees and was so lonely that he even spent a boozy afternoon at Home Farm with Seth and Walter (Al Dixon).

Alan bought an answer phone for the office and hid behind it, not taking calls from his wife, NY head office, or his bookie with whom he was running up a considerable debt.

Falling into despair, Alan hit the bottle big time. One night, in early 1984, he got so drunk he fell from his bar stool in The Woolpack. Despite his protestations that the bar stools were "precarious", it was obvious that he had had far too much drink, and he was escorted from the premises by Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby) and Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock). Jack drove Alan back to Home Farm.

Jill Turner (Patricia Maynard).

Alan made himself unpopular with Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne) and, once again, the workforce at NY Estates. Since late 1983, Matt had been taking care of NY's sheep on a part-time basis. This saved Alan from employing a full-time shepherd and looked good with Head Office. But John Tuplin felt a full-time shepherd was needed and Jock MacDonald (Drew Dawson), one of the men recently made redundant, was the ideal man for the post.

Matt was fed up with Alan, having discovered that he was a far from ideal boss, and after Jock and John spoke with him, decided to resign from his part-time post. Alan was furious, but was forced to employ Jock as shepherd.

Christopher Meadows (Conrad Phillips).

The new answer phone in the office was relaying increasingly clipped messages from Alan's NY boss, Christopher Meadows, who was wondering what on earth was going on as various reports due from the Beckindale holding failed to arrive at head office. Finally, he announced that he would be visiting Home Farm.

Alan could not hide the state of chaos at the office, although he bluffed that everything would be all right - this was just a glitch. Christopher gave him three months to sort things out.

Alan's estranged wife, Jill, herself a businesswoman, turned up, asking why Alan was not meeting his share of the bills? She had an itemised list - beginning with school fees. Alan paid no interest in the education of their children, Terence and Mary, she said, so the least he could do was pay for it!

Alan was initially defensive, self pitying and lying. When Jock MacDonald fell from some stacked hay and broke his wrist, and John Tuplin reminded Alan that the hay had needed re-stacking for some time and was one of a number of safety issues Alan had let fall by the wayside, Alan ranted to Jill that he had fought for the workforce over the redundancies and this was how they repaid him - by blaming him for something that wasn't his fault!

For a time, it seemed that legal action might be brought against NY Estates because of the accident, but Alan pulled strings and told Jock that it was basically his own clumsiness that had caused him to fall. Basically, his job would be safe if he didn't rock the boat!

Jill still had a fondness for Alan and helped him, her greatest contribution being to employ a new "temp" secretary for him.

It was with some regret over the sad state of his twenty year marriage, and a desire for reconciliation, that Alan waved her off when she left Home Farm.

Soon afterwards, the "temp" secretary arrived - Caroline Bates (Diana Davies) - "Mrs Bates" to Alan Turner (and indeed in the show's closing credits).

There were bumpy times ahead. And Alan was certainly not a reformed character. He was a true Emmerdale Farm groundbreaker - the first permanent character who actually consciously acted badly, manipulating and bullying for his own advancement and self preservation.

But with Mrs Bates, fully trained in computing, in post and soon no longer a "temp", Alan's amusing "overgrown schoolboy" side began to show more and more, together with some warmth and kindness.

And Mrs Bates thought he was funny. On the quiet.

One of Alan's first acts to impress her was to buy a proper coffee percolator for the office and banish the dreaded instant.

Demonstrating it to her, he managed to tear open the packet of coffee and spill it everywhere.

Mrs Bates averted her gaze and smiled quietly to herself.

It was the beginning of a great Emmerdale partnership.

More heavy drama lay just over the horizon, but with Seth Armstrong buzzing in and out of the office, and Alan thundering "GET OUT SETH!", and Mrs Bates hiding her amusement over his basic wally nature, the atmosphere at Home Farm lightened considerably and it soon became one of the great Emmerdale comic scenarios.

I must end this post by saying that 1984 saw the start of one of my favourite Emmerdale eras of all time - the era of Alan Turner and Mrs Bates.

Happy days!

What Alan Turner Wants For Christmas!

We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Sorry posts are slow at The Bugle at the moment. There are important things to attend to behind the scenes which mean that posting will remain sluggish throughout January and possibly into February. But rest assured our 1989 retrospective will continue!

At the top of this post are a couple of piccies of the glorious Alan Turner (Richard Thorp), who made his Emmerdale Farm debut in episode 0723, broadcast in March 1982. On the right, he can be seen with his wonderful secretary Mrs Bates (Diana Davies) - teaching her the gentle art of bowls. Of course, she was much better at the game than he was!

Alan was a truly groundbreaking Emmerdale character. All the permanent characters before 1982 were nice - some even lovable - and, although none of them were saints, they all had the best interests of the community at heart.

Alan Turner, quite frankly, couldn't give a damn, as long as his own nest was feathered. He blustered, bullied, and drank his way into Beckindale's bad books.

Of course, Alan was never a straightforward JR Ewing type baddie - although the popular press of the 1980s liked to label him as such. The character had a deeply lonely and unhappy side to his nature, along with a strong desire to be liked. As time went on, Alan's occasional thoughtful acts, and Richard Thorp's twinkling benevolence, helped to mould Beckindale's first full-time Mr Nasty into a fascinating and multi-faceted character - certainly not all bad, but no fully paid up Mr Nice Guy either!

Below is a doodle drawn by Richard Thorp for charity a few years ago - "A Happy Alan Turner at Christmas".

I wonder if he ate the whole Christmas pudding?!

Bless him!

Back soon.

xxx

1984: The Shooting Of Bundle...

When Caroline Bates (Diana Davies) brought her Golden Labrador bitch, Bundle, into work at NY Estates one day in April 1984, she assured Alan Turner (Richard Thorp) that it was a temporary measure. The Bates family was living in a flat at that time, and Caroline's husband, Malcolm, usually returned home from work in his lunch hour to take Bundle out for a walk. But Malcolm was away for a few days, and Caroline felt that she couldn't leave Bundle cooped up in the flat all day.

And, she said, Bundle was used to farms.

As NY Beckindale manager, Alan should have known better: every farmer knows, no risks should be taken with dogs. But Alan simply accepted Caroline's word, and said that Bundle could have free reign at Home Farm.

Shortly after this, Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne) and Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) made a grim discovery: two of the Emmerdale ewes had aborted the lambs they were carrying. Something had obviously alarmed them.

Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier) came across Jackie burying the aborted lambs, and reflected grimly on the bad old days at Emmerdale: a dog or fox worrying the sheep was the one thing absolutely sure to bring her husband, Jacob, from The Woolpack, she said. And he would keep grim vigil with his gun.

And so the Emmerdale gun was brought out.

Shortly afterwards, Jackie was out on the farm with his mother, Pat (Helen Weir), when both witnessed Bundle worrying the sheep. Jackie fired the shotgun, and Bundle ran away.

Jackie took the news to Home Farm and found Caroline firmly in denial: Bundle was a loving family pet and used to farms - she simply wouldn't do such a thing. Alan backed her up - how dare the Merrick boy cast such a slur on his secretary's dog?

Jackie left them with a grim warning - if it happened again, he might end up shooting Bundle.

Meanwhile, Dolly Skilbeck (Jean Rogers) had organised a visit to Emmerdale Farm for the Beckindale playgroup children to see the sheep and new lambs.

And it was on that day that Bundle chose to pay another visit, let off her lead by Alan whilst out for a walk with Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards).

Seth advised Alan not to let Bundle run free, but Alan fully expected her to stay close by, and was horrified when she ran off across the fields towards Emmerdale Farm.

And in no time at all, she was terrorising the sheep, in full view of the equally terrified Beckindale playgroup children.

And, in full view of the children, Jackie shot her dead.

It wasn't the most sensitive thing to do, but, highly distressed himself, Jackie took Bundle's body to Caroline at Home Farm in the Emmerdale Land Rover.

And Caroline was absolutely distraught.

As was Jackie. He had begun to develop a feeling for farming and the animals at Emmerdale, including Nell, Matt's faithful sheepdog, and was horrified by what he'd done.

Jack (Clive Hornby) told Jackie that he'd been lucky - as Matt or Joe (Frazer Hines) had usually dealt with sheep worrying dogs. And they had always felt awful afterwards.

But Jackie was not in the wrong. It was not a crime to shoot a dog under such circumstances.

Caroline could not believe it - she was convinced that Bundle had meant no harm to the sheep - and to her mind her dog had been murdered in cold blood.

She visited Sergeant MacArthur (Martin Dale) at the Beckindale police station, who informed her that no law had been broken. The police would be bringing no charges against Jackie.

So, Caroline and Malcolm Bates decided to bring a civil action.

Why had Bundle been let off her lead, she wondered? Alan lied to protect himself - claiming that something had gone awry with the clasp on Bundle's lead, and he'd been adjusting it when, distracted by Seth Armstrong's chattering, he'd momentarily let go of the dog's collar and away she'd gone across the fields.

It was all very sad for Alan. As he confided in Seth Armstrong, he had meant no harm in letting Bundle off for a run.

But, through that simple action, his inexperience as a farmer was made absolutely plain.

Seth was in a difficult position - he had his job to think of, and wasn't about to drop Alan in it, but when Caroline asked him for the truth, promising not to reveal her source, Seth told her.

Caroline was furious and lost no time in telling Alan so.

Alan fully expected her to resign, and dreaded the prospect.

Meanwhile, Matt Skilbeck had visited Home Farm on an entirely different matter, and struck by Caroline's cold front, had spoken to her about Bundle: Jackie was very distressed about the dog's death, he said, they had sheepdogs at the farm and cared for them a great deal. The fault was not Bundle's - dogs had an instinct to hunt. The fault rested with whoever had let Bundle off the lead, and the same went for other dogs like her that met an untimely end for sheep worrying.

Caroline remained convinced that Bundle would never have hurt the sheep, but was simply enjoying the chase. Matt gently pointed out to her that whatever Bundles' intentions, six aborted lambs was the result.

Having already met several of the Emmerdale Farm folk, Caroline called there and told Dolly that she and Malcolm would not be bringing any action against Jackie. She still didn't condone what he had done, but Matt had made her think.

Alan bought Caroline another Golden Labrador bitch - this time a puppy - and took it into The Woolpack so that he could have a courage-giving drink before making the presentation to Caroline.

In conversation with Seth and Amos (Ronald Magill) Alan referred to Mrs Bates' present as a she. Giving her to Seth to hold so that he could enjoy his drink - thus stopping Seth, with an armful of Golden Labrador, from enjoying his, Alan beamed upon the world.

When Amos frostily informed him that dogs were not allowed on "these licenced premises", Alan, the expert, was completely unfazed. He told Amos that the dog was all right with him - and besides he was on a lead, and dogs were perfectly safe on a lead. The sudden change of the animal's gender made it plain that as far as Alan was concerned the only dog on the premises was not Mrs Bates' bitch Labrador, but Seth Armstrong!

Seth, arms still full of canine loveliness, still unable to sup, could only scowl.

Andy's note: This was very much a cautionary tale with a strong message for real-life dog owners. In 1984, the farming content of Emmerdale Farm was increased and we were treated to the sight of a cow and several sheep giving birth - and also mating scenes, plus the sorry sight of aborted lambs in the fields. The "Bundle" story-line was treated in the same visual way - viewers actually saw the shooting.

Some viewers wrote to Yorkshire Television, seeking reassurance that "Bundle" was only acting her death scene.

She was.

The '80s Bad Boys Of Beckindale...

The first of the 1980s bad guys who brought a touch of the ruthless to Beckindale was one Alan Turner - manager of NY Estate's Beckindale venture at Home Farm.

Alan swept into Beckindale in 1982. He blustered and bullied, and was thoroughly grotty to his staff - which included Joe Sugden. Women like Barbara Peters, the vicar's glamorous daughter, who worked for a time as Alan's secretary, could see through him and, despite his romantic overtures, kept their distance.

Interviewed in 1993, Richard Thorp recalled the turning point in Alan's life...

"Oh, Alan was an absolute stinker in the beginning, he rubbed everyone up the wrong way. The major influence on him was Mrs Bates who was played by Diana Davies. In the very first scene we did together I was losing my temper, ranting and raving, so she sent me up and it came across when we did the scene."

Mrs Bates arrived in 1984 and simply couldn't keep a straight face...

And so Alan became a lovable, comic character...

Remember the time in 1986 when he went on a diet, bought an exercise bike, talking scales, and took up jogging? By the time he reached the Woolpack after his first jogging session, he was close to collapse - and in fact he did so as soon as he entered the pub, flopping inelegantly onto the floor before the startled regulars.

"My gaffer!" said Seth Armstrong.

"My floor!" said Amos Brearly, who'd just cleaned it.

Not all the Beckindale '80s baddies turned out to be good fun in the end. Harry Mowlam (Godfrey James) was a thoroughly nasty piece of work who brought much unhappiness to Matt and Dolly Skilbeck when they intervened over Harry's mistreatment of his dog.

Mr Mowlam then left the scene for a time, returned in 1985, and was soon involved in a security van robbery, netting £6000. Harry had a huge inferiority complex - he thought that the village, and the folk at Emmerdale Farm in particular, looked down on him. He plagued the vicar, the Rev Donald Hinton, with questions and statements about religion, was a generous buyer of drinks in the Woolpack, and had a sadistic streak a mile wide.

When Dolly miscarried the baby she was carrying in 1985, Harry was very much on the scene and Matt later confessed that he thought Harry was the cause of the miscarriage. In 1986, Matt treated several of Harry's ailing sheep - taking them up to Emmerdale to do so. Three of the sheep died, through no fault of Matt's, but Harry, who had not given permission for the sheeps' removal to Emmerdale in the first place, was furious.

He frightened Dolly further by accosting her in Beckindale, then stole several Emmerdale sheep to "make good" his loss. Unfortunately Matt caught him in the act.

"I'm gonna break your bloody back..."

A terrible fight took place, entirely initiated by Harry - at one point he seemed set to squeeze the life out of Matt with a fierce bear hug. Matt fought back, Harry tripped and fell backwards into the beck and Matt left him with Mowlam's comforting assurance "I'll 'ave you, Skilbeck!" ringing in his ears.

The next day, out on a walk, Henry Wilks found Harry dead.

Matt was accused of the crime and endured several months of hell until the true culprit, Harry Mowlam's accomplice Derek Warner (Dennis Blanche), confessed to the crime, holding the Rev Donald Hinton hostage at St Mary's Vicarage before finally giving himself up to the police.

Richard Franklin (formerly Mike Yates of "Dr Who") with Frazer Hines (formerly Jamie McCrimmon of "Dr Who"). Photograph courtesy of Bill Sands.

Next on the list of '80s baddies is businessman Denis Rigg - played by Richard Franklin.

Turning up in 1988, Denis wasted absolutely no time in making enemies. He was too old to be a yuppie, but he was, however, a ruthless old school businessman - not ashamed to use underhand methods to get his way.

His desire to turn part of the area, including Emmerdale Farm, into a quarry not surprisingly met with resistance from the Sugdens in 1989. Rigg used various devious and underhand tactics to "persuade" them, including trying to get their long-term friend Henry Wilks on his side. After years in business himself, Henry knew Rigg's type, told him so, and showed him the door.

Rigg went to the farm to continue his campaign, cornered Joe in an outbuilding, tried the sweet approach, then turned nasty. Unfortunately, Rigg's tone and animated manner upset Emmerdale's prize bull, which Joe was tending at the time. Rigg was crushed against the wall by the bull and died.

So, judging by Alan, Harry, Derek and Denis one can assume that Beckindale's '80s baddies either turned nice, disappeared to prison never to return or got bumped off. But that's not absolutely true...

This man arrived to work as auctioneer at Hotten Market in 1986, and judging from his manner to his assistant, Sandie Merrick, right from the first, would not be qualifying for any Charmer of the Year awards.

Smiling in triumph in 1989, Eric Pollard's reign of rottenness was only just beginning as the show leapt into the increasingly far fetched '90s...

And no, he's never turned nice, never disappeared into prison forever, and never got "bumped off". Eric Pollard is one '80s Beckindale bad guy who still runs rampant - over twenty years after his debut.

Said Christopher Chittell of the role:

"There are certain destructive elements in all of us which we try to keep subdued, but they raise their ugly heads from time to time..."

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."

Viewers' Confusion - Taking Fiction For Fact...

1986 - Alan Turner teaches Mrs Bates to play bowls. Or so he thinks...

Back in the 1980s, some viewers were prone to getting soap fiction mixed up with reality. If you played a well-loved soap character, this could work to your advantage. But if not...

English actress Vivean Gray, Mrs Mangel in the Australian soap Neighbours, left the show when some viewers entered into the fantasy a little too much and treated her as though she was the character she played.

It could be seen as a tribute to her acting skills, but all the same!

In Emmerdale Farm, Richard Thorp also suffered as his at first disliked, figure-of-fun character Alan Turner, who arrived in 1982, upset the Beckindale locals. As seen in other posts on this blog, Richard Thorp suffered some abuse, and the article pictured below, from the Sun newspaper, August 26, 1989, reveals some problems he experienced at a public swimming pool.

Fortunately, Mr Thorp managed to deal with the problems and remain in Emmerdale Farm. For which I am truly grateful. As regular readers of this blog will already know, I was a great fan of the Alan Turner and Mrs Bates boss/secretary partnership at NY Estates from 1984-1988. The scenario was not planned, something just seemed to "click" between the two actors, but in an amazingly short amount of time Alan Turner and Mrs Bates were two of my favourite characters in the show.

An episode featuring Alan blustering and boasting away at the NY Estates office, whilst Mrs Bates smiled quietly to herself, seeing right through him to the wally inside, and Amos launching into a new fad at the Woolpack, to Mr Wilks' despair, is my idea of soap heaven!

They don't make 'em like that any more!

1989: Beckindale Gets Knitting - Again...

1989... the year Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, the Berlin Wall came down, Acid House Raves rocked youth culture, Sky TV was launched and, over in America, Game Boy arrived...

And the year also brought a new knitting book from Emmerdale Farm, the first since 1983. Out came the needles across the land.

On the cover were Kate (Sally Knyvette) and Joe (Frazer Hines) Sugden. After a stormy relationship, they tied the knot in '89, but married life was not to be peaceful as Kate found her organic venture at Crossgill beset by slugs, and her daughter, Rachel (Glenda McKay) tumbled into an affair with married Pete Whiteley (Jim Millea).

A traumatic year for Dolly (Jean Rogers) and son Sam Skilbeck (Benjamin Whitehead), also on the knitting book cover, as the Skilbeck marriage finally broke up. For Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill) there was irritation as Mr Wilks (Arthur Pentelow) developed hay fever and sneezed his way through the summer...

Evolution not revolution was the apparent intention of Emmerdale Farm producer Stuart Doughty, the man from Brookside, featured in the knitting book wearing a charming jumper. He took the producer's chair in 1988. His reign saw tense drama in Beckindale in 1989, and the arrival of the Tate family at Home Farm in November of that year.

1989 also saw the deletion of the word "Farm" from the show's title, as Doughty decided to begin dropping some of the farming content - and to reflect the fact that a lot of the show was not actually about the farm.

From a temporary bit-part in 1978, to full-time character status in 1980, Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards) spent quite a lot of 1989 baiting Amos Brearly. Situation normal.

Kathy Merrick (Malandra Burrows) - looking charming in a lovely '80s cardie. The poor girl faced the tragic loss of her husband, Jackie (Ian Sharrock) in 1989 - he accidentally shot himself whilst hunting a troublesome fox.

Amos and Mr Wilks - a stormy year at The Woolpack as Amos realised just how irritating Mr Wilks was (!!!!). He told Seth: "I cannot understand why I've never noticed before, he's got more irritating habits than anyone I've ever known - including you, Seth Armstrong!"

Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne) - lovely cardie, but 1989 had it in for the man. His marriage to Dolly was at an end. Frederick Pyne recorded Matt's last scenes in November, and Matt was last seen on-screen in December.

Caroline Bates (Diana Davies) arrived as a temp secretary at NY Estates in 1984. She soon became permanent. Since his arrival in 1982, Alan Turner (Richard Thorp) had been making a proper pig's ear of things on the estate, and Mrs Bates was his saviour. Romance developed and, in 1989, the two planned to wed. But things didn't work out, and Mrs Bates left Beckindale, in tears, in November to look after her ailing mother in Scarborough.

Matriarch Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier). Her strength finally crumbled in 1989, and she found herself developing a dependency on tranquillisers. Recovering, she faced new heartache - businessman Denis Rigg's underhand attempts to buy the farm, and then the death of her grandson, Jackie.

Archie Brooks (Tony Pitts) - first turned up clutching a ghetto blaster and sporting a hairdo rather like David Sylvian's, of synth pop group Japan, in November 1983. He sported a very natty alphabet jumper for the knitting book in 1989, and temporarily departed from Beckindale in November to live with his mum when the old outbuilding he called home became too draughty.