The 1980s AND The 1990s?

1984 - Amos is furious that Walter has been sneaking off to The Malt Shovel; 1994: Jack Sugden surveys the devastation after the plane crash which ended 1993.

I've had an e-mail from Karl:

I love your blog - it's informative, fun and packed with great pictures. Would you consider extending the Beckindale Bugle to cover the 1990s, as well as the 1980s? It would be great to see these two wonderful Emmerdale decades here.

I'd love to, Karl, but I didn't see a great deal of Emmerdale in the '90s for various reasons. The Bugle is written out of affection for the 1980s era in the show, which gave me lots of viewing pleasure.

Still, there's no doubt that the 1990s were a fascinating decade in the show. How about starting a 1990s Emmerdale blog yourself?

Thanks for your kind words about The Bugle. There's much more to come as we put 1981 and 1984 under the spotlight.

1981: The Sheep Shelter

Jack was not happy when Matt suggested buying a sheep shelter from Clifford Longthorn. He wanted to invest money in starting organic farming at Emmerdale, although Joe was in opposition and the other members of the household had misgivings. Jack was even more disgruntled to discover that Matt had been to see Henry Wilks to discuss the financing of the shelter. Matt had seen the shelters in action on a visit to Smithfield in 1980, and been highly impressed.

"Matt, not another new fangled gadget, eh?" groaned Grandad Pearson.

"Oh no, Grandad, it's just a shelter for sheep, that's all," said Dolly.

Grandad was not convinced of the need for such a thing: "Well, they never needed shelters in my day!"

"Ah, but they did, they just didn't 'ave 'em, that's all!" said Matt. "They save a lot of money in lost lambs, do them shelters."

"Aye, Matt, well, we did lose a lot in the old days - especially in a bad winter," Grandad conceded.

Jack was still not happy.

Then Matt dropped a bombshell: asked where the shelter would go, he announced: "I've thought about that. There's only one place that it can go."

"Where's that?" asked Joe.

"Well, it's got to go round the back for a start," said Matt. "And it's got to go on well-drained land. I mean, that bit of land has got the right gradient. There's no other land round the back there that's really flat enough. "

"Well, which bit of land?" asked Joe.

"I don't really like to say..." Matt was looking very uncomfortable.

"Come on, Matt," urged Annie.

"Grandad's vegetable patch," said Matt.

Grandad was most unhappy. When Dolly asked how he was a day or two later, he bellowed: "Nobody round here takes any notice of my feelings anymore!"

He was promised another patch, but still felt he was being ill treated.

The rest of the family, and Henry Wilks, backed Matt's sheep shelter plan, but Jack - who was still fixed on the idea of investing in organic farming, tried to stall things. When Matt showed him a photograph of the shelter, he announced its appearance wouldn't fit in with the existing buildings.

Matt did not understand Jack's view of farming at all sometimes: the sheep needed the shelter - aesthetics didn't come into it!

As the days passed, Annie grew increasingly annoyed with her eldest son. Until, realising that her intervention was needed, she decided to take action.

Jack was feeling misunderstood - but was convinced he knew best:

"We're still spending too much on concentrates. I'll be glad when I can cut back on them and start using the grass better. Of course, it'll take time. The others don't really understand the principles involved. You can lead a horse to water, but if he thinks he can do without it..."

"I wish you could hear yourself talk, Jack - if only you knew what you sounded like!" cried Annie.

"What?" Jack was puzzled.

"You really do think you're the only person around here with any sense, don't you? You've been carrying on on this farm as if you owned it!"

"I haven't, Ma!"

Annie ignored him: "Well you don't own it - just remember that! I'm getting so fed up of you and your grandad behaving as though you're the only two people that matter!"

"It's not me I'm talking about - it's the farm!" said Jack, startled.

His mother glowered: "We agreed on this sheep housing for Matt, didn't we?"

"Aye. I've not forgotten that."

"No, but you're ignoring it - you're putting it off, hoping he'll forget the whole thing. Well, he won't forget it and neither will we. You can think we're a lot of idiots if you like for not understanding your farming principles, but let me tell you this: Matt knows more about sheep farming than you'll ever know. He's more expert in his field than you, with or without book learning!"

"I know that, Ma, but..."

Annie bulldozed him: "Happen you do! And happen that's why you're being so pig headed about letting him have his sheep house!"

"Oh, that's not fair, Ma..."

"Then why hasn't he got it? It's been over a week since we decided!"

"I don't mean to be pig headed. I know Matt's good at his job. Oh, he's a bit slow sometimes..."

Annie rose from her chair, furious.

"No, I didn't mean it, Ma!" Jack was shaken.

"All right, go and talk to him!"

"Aye, I will..." said Jack, playing for time.

"GO ON!!" cried Annie.

"What, now?!"

"No point in holding back!"

Jack scuttled for the door: "I'm going!"

Annie watched her eldest son scuttle out of the kitchen, like some daft little lad, her face stony.

Then she turned...

... and burst out laughing!

Jack sought out Matt and soon Matt was smiling.

The sheep shelter went up.

Matt was thrilled with it. He showed Grandad the ventilation system: "You can have a howling gale blowing outside, and in here all you get is fresh air!"

Later, Annie asked Sam about the loss of his vegetable patch: "You're not too upset, are you, Dad?"

"No, of course I'm not, love!" said Sam. "He's a good lad - and to see him running around like a spring lamb is worth any amount of vegetable gardens! Mind you, as long as I have another one as good!"

"What do you reckon, Dolly?" asked Matt.

"Seven!" said Dolly.

"Eh?!" Annie was puzzled.

"I've been counting up how many times he's said 'What do you reckon, Dolly?'!" grinned Dolly.

A hay fight broke out between the Skilbecks, and Matt chased Dolly to the nearby barn...

... where Mr and Mrs Skilbeck indulged in a quick kiss and a cuddle - both well pleased with the outcome of the sheep shelter affair - and with each other.

Freddie or Frederick?

Yasmin has written:

I've read that Frederick Pyne is sometimes referred to by friends as "Freddie". How was his name listed in the closing credits of Emmerdale Farm?

As Frederick, Yasmin.

I hope the 1981 screen capture above will bring back some happy memories of Frederick Pyne and Jean Rogers as Matt and Dolly - they were two of the audience's favourite characters in the 1980s. And that included me!

Click on one of the labels below for more information.

The Beckindale Bugle Review Of 1981

E-mails: Seth's Sons And Screen Caps Of Beverley Callard

McDuff enquires:

I've been reading that Seth Armstrong had two sons, Fred and Jimmy. Do they appear in the 1980s?

Fred does, briefly. I'll be writing more about that soon, although I don't recall seeing Jimmy!

Mark W writes:

PLEASE some larger screen caps of lovely Beverley Callard in her 80's Emmerdale gear!

Here's a publicity pic I prepared for one of my other blogs! I'll upload some more Beverley Callard/Angie Richards screen caps as soon as possible.

Am I A Fan Of The 1980s Walter?

Are you a fan of Al Dixon's Walter (1980-1985) asks Laura, via e-mail?

I loved that character, Laura - one of Emmerdale Farm's '80s and in fact all-time greats.

When Walter was in The Woolpack, with Amos chuntering on at him, all seemed right with the world!

Read The Bugle's Walter information here.

1983: Beverley Callard In Emmerdale Farm!

Beverley Callard (then Beverley Sowden) made her soap debut in Emmerdale Farm in 1983. She played Angie Richards, a chip shop cashier, who was briefly Jackie Merrick's girlfriend. She had big hair. She wore pixie boots... and she was a little too modern for Beckindale.

The relationship was doomed to failure. The couple had nowhere to be alone together - Angie, who was older and more experienced than Jackie, ended up taking his virginity on the parlour sofa at Emmerdale Farm in the dead of night - although Jackie bluffed that it wasn't his first time.

Annie Sugden suspected what Jackie had been up to under her roof, and he was strongly reprimanded.

Soon, Angie was calling the whole thing off. This led to an altercation at the local disco: as True by Spandau Ballet played in the background, jealous Jackie almost came to blows with Angie's new boyfriend.

Jackie cooled it, and Angie disappeared from his life.

In 1989, Beverley Callard appeared in Coronation Street as Liz McDonald, wife of big Jim, and mother of Steve and Andy - and more permanent soap stardom was hers.

UPDATE: I've had several comments and e-mails pointing out that Beverley also appeared as June Dewhurst in Coronation Street in 1984. Many thanks to all those who have written.

Happy 2009 - And Welcome To 1984!

1984 always sounds ominous to me - also being the title of George Orwell's famous novel. Did you know that George Orwell took several years to write the book back in the 1940s, and that it was originally to be set in 1980, and then in 1982?

The real 1984 didn't see the arrival of Big Brother - it's more like that today with the various databases (established and planned) and security cameras logging our every move - but it did see the arrival of the Apple Mac - complete with affordable computer mouse. A revolution was beginning...

The UK edition of Trivial Pursuit arrived and we were trivia crazy. Sir Alec Jeffreys accidentally discovered DNA fingerprinting, at the University Of Leicester, England (More here). The miners fought a bitter, losing battle; Frankie Goes To Hollywood shocked the charts; the yuppie era was drawing in; V was on the telly and Do They Know It's Christmas? hit the No 1 spot. Agadoo was another chart favourite. Push pineapple, grind coffee? Hmm...

In the world of fashion, shoulder pads were getting bigger and bigger, people were streaking their hair blonde and using hair gel to very striking (or ugly, depending on your viewpoint) effect and moon boots were a must-have, as were Frankie Say T-shirts.

And so to Beckindale. What was 1984 like in the village? Well, a quick skim through some of the episodes reveals that Al Dixon as Walter (1980-1985) actually got to appear in the show's closing credits on at least one occasion...

Walter himself got a new hat at the village jumble sale, but Amos was not happy. "There's something rotten in the state of Beckindale!" he told Mr Wilks. What was Ernie Shuttleworth up to at the Malt Shovel?

Meanwhile, at Home Farm, Alan Turner was just having a row with Seth Armstrong when a woman appeared, telling him that she was the new "temp" secretary from the agency. Who was she? Can you guess?

One of the NY Estates bulls saw his chance and made a dash for freedom, causing problems for Jack Sugden...

And 1984 ended in tears. The death of actor Toke Townley meant the death of Sam Pearson. Annie, and in fact the whole of Beckindale, not to mention we viewers, mourned his passing in November...

To round things off, Jack began his affair with Karen Moore, which would spill over into 1985.

Our "Twenty Five Years Ago" series highlights 1984 in 2009. We'll also be giving 1981 a thorough looking at (Rubik's Cube, anybody?!) and presenting snippets from other years.

My thanks to Magnus, Will, Cerys, Squirrel K, Bryan, and others, for some very interesting e-mails/comments this year - and To Mrs Violet Howes for her Beckindale poem. Thanks also to Bill Sands for supplying some original YTV publicity stills, and to all those who took part in the competition.

See you in 2009! Or do I mean 1984?!

Happy New Year!

Amos' English Lesson...

Amos Brearly, seen here with Mr Wilks and Walter in 1983, was a man of words. As Beckindale correspondent of The Hotten Courier, he had to be.

"I'm a weaver of words. Aye, that's the name for it, if I do say so myself, Mr Wilks..."

So what would Amos make of some of our modern day written nonsenses? One of the things that puzzles me is the tendency for people to write that something happened "between" certain years - as in: "the show ran between 1986 and 1988" for a TV programme which began in 1986 and ended in 1988, for example.

But surely, "between" is not the correct word? In our photograph above, Mr Wilks is between Amos and Walter but not part of either. To write that something "ran beween 1986 and 1988" is saying it ran in 1987 and actually had nothing do with 1986 and 1988.

Surely, if something began in a certain year and ended in a certain year, the correct way to indicate it is to say that it "ran from 1986 to 1988" (for example), thus making the quoted years inclusive?

No Return For The Skilbecks?

Signed YTV publicity picture of Jean Rogers as Dolly in April 1980.

An e-mail this evening expressing disappointment that Dolly and Matt Skilbeck will not be returning to Emmerdale for Jack's funeral.

Chloe writes:

It was lovely to see Frederick Pyne and Jean Rogers with Frazer Hines and Sheila Mercier in the 5000th episode celebration programme. I loved watching them doing the scene from the 80s episode, with Matt, Dolly, Annie and Joe all sat round the farm table!

I know Joe can't return, but I thought it would have been very natural for Matt and Dolly to have been there. I'm really disappointed. Is there any chance that they may still appear?

It doesn't seem likely, Chloe. If I hear anything different, I'll let you know.

The blurb from the 1980 publicity photograph.

Clive Hornby Tribute

Clive Hornby as Jack Sugden, 1980.

February 2009 will see a special Clive Hornby tribute episode of Emmerdale. Mr Hornby debuted in the show on 19 February 1980 as Jack Sugden.

From ITV.com

A special episode, dedicated to the late Emmerdale actor Clive Hornby, will be screened in February 2009, the anniversary of his last appearance in the soap.

The special tribute will mirror the first ever episode of Emmerdale, which featured the funeral of character Jacob Sugden in 1972.

Actress Sheila Mercier will return to Emmerdale as Jack’s mother Annie Sugden and Karl Davies will reprise his much-loved role as Jack’s son Robert Sugden for the episode, in order to bid an emotional farewell.

Karl Davies says “I was lucky enough to work with Clive over a number of years and he was the kindest, funniest man you could've wished to meet. I'm sure the show he loved will pay a fitting tribute to a genuinely wonderful person.

Sheila Mercier says: “It will be a pleasure to return for this special tribute episode to Clive. I’m sure it will be a fitting way to celebrate the life and memory of one of Emmerdale’s dearest characters.”

Series producer Anita Turner says: “It was hugely important to everyone at Emmerdale that we waited until an appropriate time to pay tribute to Clive on-screen.

"We have been in discussion with Clive’s son throughout this process and hope this episode will honour the memories that viewers, friends and colleagues hold of him.”

Clive passed away in July, aged 63.

"Bingle Boy" has written in puzzlement:

I've just read that the Clive Hornby "tribute episode" will "mirror" the first episode of Emmerdale Farm from 1972. But as Clive Hornby wasn't in Emmerdale Farm until 1980, how is that a tribute to him? Surely it's more of a tribute to the ORIGINAL cast and writer? And I'm terribly disappointed that Matt and Dolly won't appear.

The episodes have been written in consultation with Mr Hornby's son, and Karl Davies played his scenes as Robert with Clive Hornby so it will bring back many memories of Clive's later years in the show. It will be nice if the tribute episodes also feature memories of the Clive Hornby version of Jack making his debut and his early years on the show in the 1980s.

It's nice that it will echo Andrew Burt's era in Emmerdale Farm, too. Clive Hornby became Jack from 1980-2008, very much stamping his mark on the character and creating an Emmerdale legend. The programmes will undoubtedly be a fitting tribute to him. But we are also saying farewell to the character of Jack, first played by Andrew Burt, and this is a good, full-circle way of doing that.

I share your disappointment about Matt and Dolly - especially as Jean Rogers made her screen debut just after Clive back in 1980. The characters were very much a part of Clive's early years on the show. I feel that their inclusion alongside Sheila Mercier would have added a great deal to the episodes.