Was Kim Tate "Unbelievably Nice" In The 1980s?

An e-mail from Sarah, who has been reading on an Emmerdale chat board that Kim Tate was "unbelievably nice" in the 1980s.

Was she? asks Sarah.

Well, firstly, Kim Tate didn't make her screen debut until late 1989 (she won our recent poll for '80s character introductions) so she didn't have much chance to be anything in the 1980s. But no, she wasn't "unbelievably nice" at all - she immediately outwitted Seth Armstrong and was seen to be quite a direct and self-possessed personality - although a million miles away from the Alexis Carrington-style character of the 1990s.

Phillip says: "I'm so glad that Kim won your 1980s poll - it's fitting that the English Alexis should have made her soap debut in the decade of big hair and shoulder pads. Can you put some pictures and stories of her in 1989 up here?"

We'll be taking a look at Kim's debut very soon, Phillip.

Poll Result - Kim Tate Rules, OK?!

Thanks to everybody who voted in our recent "'80s Introductions" poll - in which we set out to assess the popularity of new characters, recasts and permanent incomers in Emmerdale Farm/Emmerdale in the 1980s.

The results are as follows...

Helen Weir as Pat Merrick, Edward Peel as Tom Merrick, Carl Rigg as Richard Anstey, Jim Millea as Pete Whiteley, Glenda McKay as Rachel Hughes, Craig McKay as Mark Hughes and Drew Dawson as Jock MacDonald all receiving one vote each.

Two votes each for Jane Hutcheson as Sandie Merrick, Martin Dale as police sergeant Ian MacArthur, Peter Amory as Chris Tate, Sally Knyvette as Kate Hughes and Madeleine Howard as Sarah Connolly.

Receiving three votes each are Peter Schofield as Ernie Shuttleworth, Norman Bowler as Frank Tate and Teddy Turner as Bill Whiteley.

Four votes go to Fionnuala Ellwood as Lynn Whiteley.

On five votes - wonderful Walter, played by Al Dixon, Ian Sharrock as turbulent teen Jackie Merrick and Cy Chadwick as nice Nick Bates.

Seven votes go to Leah Bracknell as Zoe Tate.

Jean Rogers as the dependable and much-loved Dolly Skilbeck and Malandra Burrows as tragic Kathy Bates both score eight.

Stan Richards as Seth Armstrong, a permanent character from 1980 onwards, scores nine, as does Clive Hornby's Jack Sugden, a 1980 newcomer.

A bit of a surprise this, but I was glad to see Tony Pitts as Archie Brooks scoring so highly with ten votes, and joined by the brilliant Mrs Bates, who also scored 10 votes.

Almost neck-and-neck, we find Richard Thorp as Alan Turner on thirteen and Christopher Chittell as Eric Pollard on fourteen.

And the winner is...

KIM TATE

... on seventeen votes!

Why aren't I surprised?!

Thanks to everybody who voted - one-hundred-and-fifty votes in all - and took a little time to remember and rate those who arrived in Beckindale during the 1980s.

More polls next year.

Judy Westrop

Judy Westrop (Jane Cussons).

Paul is preparing an all-time Emmerdale cast list for a school project, and has written to ask how long the character Judy Westrop was in the show? He also requests some screen caps.

Judy arrived in Beckindale as a troubled young woman in June 1979, Paul. She was around for a few episodes before the show took a seasonal break in July, and then came the dark days of the ITV Strike.

Because of the strike, Emmerdale Farm was off-screen until January 1980.

Jane Cussons returned to the show after the strike, and Judy Westrop finally left Beckindale in July 1980.

1989: Beginning The Emmerdale Era...

Settling back to watch the first episode of the Emmerdale-minus-Farm era on 14 November, 1989, change was immediately upon us. The timeless Tony Hatch theme tune was still in place, but the accompanying visuals were very different.

The previous opening titles had been retro and lovely at the time of their introduction in 1975. As Emmerdale Farm's creator Kevin Laffan, interviewed in 1982, said - the aim was to get us to feel that Beckindale was the sort of place we wanted to live in - an escape from the grimness of modern day city living. There was a glorious Cider With Rosie feel to those titles, which endured until November 1989 and the final episode of Emmerdale Farm.

By the "go for it!" late 1980s, many of us city dwellers had a little money to spare to "live the dream" and escapes to the country were a reality. The 1989 opening titles reflected the increase in leisure pursuits in the countryside, and also featured Beckindale locations.

Many of us thought that the house featured in silhouette with the sun sinking behind it in the 1975-1989 opening titles was Emmerdale Farm. But a closer inspection reveals this was not so. I'm not sure where the location actually was, but it certainly wasn't Lindley Farm, the real-life location of Emmerdale Farm exterior scenes.

The 1989 titles went mainly for bright sunlight and featured Creskeld Hall (Home Farm), The Commercial Inn at Esholt (The Woolpack), and, finally, the cows coming home to Lindley Farm (Emmerdale Farm).

There was hang-gliding, ploughing, harvesting, a milk tanker going over a bridge, horse riding, sheep deeping... and some glorious sunshine. A wonderful advertisement for one of England's most beautiful counties.

Scrolling text had been employed for the end credits just before the end of the Emmerdale Farm era, and was used again for early Emmerdale - the end view this time being of the back of the farmhouse.

Of course, the Emmerdale Farm era had not been stagnant - tremendous changes had taken place in the show during the 1980s when the whole pace and tempo was altered. This was particularly noticeable during Richard Handford's era as producer, from 1983-1986, when the number of scenes per episode was increased.

The show had not been without its share of controversial drama, finally prompting Kevin Laffan, who had argued repeatedly against scenes of sex and violence over the years, to stop writing for it.

During the 1980s, Emmerdale Farm became an all-year-round soap, and was first networked - shown at the same time and on the same day across the country.

Original characters had evolved, some had been recast - and also, in the case of Jack Sugden, slightly rewritten - and new permanent characters had arrived by the ton.

But if the Emmerdale Farm era of the 1980s had seen many changes, the Emmerdale era of 1989-2009 has seen far more.

So, how did the new era dawn?

Well, we found ourselves in Main Street, Beckindale, as the opening titles faded...

The mobile library had arrived.

Sarah Connolly (Madeleine Howard) exchanged greetings with a passer-by, and then...

"Morning, Miss Connolly!" called Henry Wilks (Arthur Pentelow), getting in the milk, post and newspaper across the road at The Woolpack.

"Mr Wilks!" acknowledged Sarah.

"Bit nippy!" said Henry.

"Certainly is!" said Sarah.

Back inside the pub, Henry found Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill) bustling about behind the bar, tidying up...

More soon!

1989: From Emmerdale Farm To Emmerdale...

You'll be saying "FANGS for the memories," as we take you back, back, BACK to the golden days of 1989 for a long hard look at the transition of Emmerdale Farm to Emmerdale. It was a whole new era in the farming saga, and it sure was good. With Dolly Skilbeck (Jean Rogers) serving behind the bar at The Woolpack, alongside Amos (Ronald Magill) and Mr Wilks (Arthur Pentelow), could it possibly be anything else?

Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier) was dependably at her Aga, but Eric Pollard (Christopher Chittell) was plotting away elsewhere, and life in Beckindale was definitely not as peaceful as it once had been.

And who were the new people moving into Home Farm?

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Emmerdale Farm becoming Emmerdale on 14 November, 1989, we'll be remembering all that was worth remembering - from the new opening titles and closing credits, to Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby) getting a job in the local chippy, and Pete Whiteley (Jim Millea) getting a darned good thrashing.

You'll be singing "FANGS ain't what they used to be," if you stick with us here at The Bugle.

We begin our 1989 features tomorrow.

Twenty Years Of Emmerdale...

Emmerdale, November 1989: Chris Tate (Peter Amory) pays his first visit to The Woolpack, and meets Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill). Young Mr Tate needs to use the public phone at the pub...

Chris: "I've got one of those cell phone things in the car, but it's playing up."

Amos (dourly): "So much for modern communications..."

Emmerdale lost "Farm" from its title on 14 November, 1989 - episode 1403 - as the show sought to broaden its appeal further.

Other changes were soon sending shock waves through Beckindale - not least the arrival of the Tate family at Home Farm.

We'll be taking a look at some of the first story-lines of the new Emmerdale era - from November and December 1989 - over the next couple of months.

Who was seeking a divorce?

Who was the love-lorn mobile librarian?

Who dressed as Aphrodite for the New Year's Eve party?

And who got a load of baked beans poured over them?

More soon...

The Emmerdale Cast Of 1988

Here's a nice shot of the cast of Emmerdale Farm outside The Woolpack in 1988.

They were (left to right, beginning with the back rows):

Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards), Phil Pearce (Peter Alexander), Reverend Donald Hinton (Hugh Manning), Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill), Sandie Merrick (Jane Hutcheson), Henry Wilks (Arthur Pentelow), Nick Bates (Cy Chadwick), Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby), Joe Sugden (Frazer Hines), Alan Turner (Richard Thorp), Archie Brooks (Tony Pitts), Mrs Bates (Diana Davies), Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock).

Seated:

Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne), Dolly Skilbeck (Jean Rogers), Sam Skilbeck (Benjamin Whitehead), Robert Sugden (Christopher Smith), Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier), Kathy Merrick (Malandra Burrows).

Emmerdale Farm: 1980 Was Slightly Delayed...

The path out of the grim 1970s into the turbulent 1980s was not easy for Emmerdale Farm. Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier) bridged the gap with a voice-over.

Beginning the 1980s was not exactly straightforward for Emmerdale Farm.

The ITV strike of 1979 had disrupted episode broadcasts and recordings. The show had last aired on 5 July 1979 (Emmerdale Farm was not shown all year round in those days) and several episodes for the next 1979 season, due to begin around early September, were in preparation, when the strike knocked ITV off our screens.

The strike severely disrupted Emmerdale Farm, and the show was off-air until the 8th, 9th or 10th of January 1980 (depending on which ITV region you viewed it in!).

The publicity blurb for the first 1980 episode revealed the ITV regions' differing schedules:

FULL ITV NETWORK (except STV/WTV/CHA) Tuesday, JANUARY 8, 1980.

STV Wednesday, JANUARY 9, 1980

WTV/CHA Thursday, January 10, 1980 } times vary

The production team was able to adapt, complete and use six episodes originally intended for the 1979 late summer/early autumn season to begin 1980.

The problem was that story-lines and exterior scenes clearly reflected the fact that it was summer. And the production team could not pretend that the late summer-themed shows intended for 1979 were actually set in the winter of 1980.

So, a little ingenuity was needed.

At the start of the January 1980 season, Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier) introduced the first episode in a voice-over, reflecting on the events of the previous summer, and over the next few weeks we saw six episodes which filled us in on some of the Beckindale events of 1979 that we'd missed courtesy of the ITV strike.

The synopsis for that first episode shown in 1980 read:

It's winter at Emmerdale, but Annie finds herself thinking back to last Summer. It was a busy time at the farm with new land to work and prospects looked bright for the Sugdens. But there was a shock in store for all of them - especially Matt.

On 29 January 1980, the Emmerdale Farm story-line suddenly moved into 1980, with Annie, again in voice-over, informing us of relevant events of the missing months.

The synopsis for the first episode actually set in 1980 read:

It is winter at Emmerdale and Sam Pearson is causing disruption with his renewed interest in wine making. But N.Y Estates shepherd Jesse Gillin discovers another kind of disruption - and it's a threat to the whole landscape of Beckindale.

All-in-all, the "what we did last summer" strand worked very well indeed, cheering up most of January 1980 (Emmerdale Farm closely reflected the seasons and winter episodes could seem grim), filling us in on some missed stories, and giving the production team time to work on fresh episodes for the new decade.

Emmerdale 1989: Annie Sugden Goes Dancing, Amos Brearly Gets Into Crop Circles, Alan Turner Becomes Nick Kamen And Rachel Hughes Plays With Fire...

Here we take the time tunnel back to 1989 - a highly dramatic year which saw, amongst other things, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the invention of the World Wide Web, which would bring computers into all our lives in the 1990s.

Below are some extracts from an Emmerdale Farm script - episode 1390, broadcast on 28 September 1989. My copy of the script was used by actor Martin Dale, Police Sergeant Ian MacArthur in the show from 1980 to 1994.

At Emmerdale Farm, Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier) enjoys a mug of cocoa with Eddie Hughes (Geoffrey Banks), father of Annie's daughter-in-law, Kate (Sally Knyvette):

SC. 2. INT. FARM PARLOUR. NIGHT. 3.

TIME: 22.15 EDDIE AND ANNIE ON THE SOFA WITH COCOA.

ANNIE: Are you sure you didn't mind leaving the dance early?

EDDIE: No, no. Once they start into the Latin American I've had it anyway. How's your knees?

ANNIE: Better than they deserve to be. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed dancing. You're very good, Eddie.

EDDIE: Aye, I know. Used to go down the Conservative Club.

ANNIE: (TEASING) And what's a good steelworker doing down the Conservative Club, may I ask?

EDDIE: (GRIN) Using the dance floor. It were a good one. (BEAT) You should come and try it.

ANNIE: Sorry?

EDDIE: Come and stay for a weekend, and I'll take you dancing again. They'll not miss you for a day or two.

ANNIE: (GENTLE) Thanks, Eddie, but I don't think so. If you don't mind.

EDDIE: As long as you don't mind me asking.

ANNIE: I'm very flattered.

EDDIE: So you should be. I've not asked a lass back for a weekend since before the war. She said no as well. (BEAT) It's quiet here, isn't it? Where is everybody?

ANNIE: Still down at the pub, I imagine. They always have a bit of a celebration come harvest home.

At The Woolpack Inn, Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill) ponders a mystery, whilst Mr Wilks exhibits signs of jealousy...

SC. 4. INT. WOOLPACK BAR. NIGHT. 3.

TIME: 23.15

AMOS AND WILKS CLOSING AND CLEARING UP.

AMOS: I don't understand it, Mr Wilks. One minute it's standing room and mind your backs, next minute it's like the Marie Celeste. What's going on?

WILKS: (DISINTERESTED) No idea.

AMOS: It's that beer. First thing in the morning I'm writing a strong letter to the brewery.

WILKS: You do that.

AMOS: Joe, Matt. (BEAT) Jock and Bill. I mean usually I have to take the yard-broom to 'em. Even Annie and her Eddie only stayed -

WILKS: He is not her Eddie, he's - he's a visitor. She only left because she'd promised to go to some daft dance with him.

AMOS: Yes, I know, I'm sorry.

WILKS: Sorry? No need to say sorry to me, Amos. No skin off my nose.

AMOS: No, but -

WILKS: The person that should be saying sorry is that Eddie. Dragging her off like that. She's not the dancing sort. Too polite for her own good.

With Denis Rigg dead and the harvest at Home Farm unharvested, locals move to bring it in. When Annie Sugden finds out, she is furious and wastes no time in giving her family a tongue lashing. Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne) is one of those on the receiving end:

ANNIE: Well? What have you got to say for yourselves?

KATE: Sorry, I'm not with you.

ANNIE: Oh yes you are, my girl. You're part of this family now, and what goes for them goes for you too.

JOE: Now hang on a minute -

ANNIE: You be quiet! I'm ashamed of the lot of you!

MATT: But what have we done?

Annie: (BEAT) Taken me for a fool for a start. D'you seriously think I've not heard the talk of the Home Farm wheat? And d'you seriously think when I hear the machinery coming into the yard at midnight I can't put two and two together? Did you get permission?

JOE: Hardly.

ANNIE: Then it's theft. Plain and simple.

JOE: It's not a simple theft at all, Ma, it's... it's - getting a harvest in! We haven't thoight about what to do with it yet.

ANNIE: (CYNICAL) Oh aye?

KATE: Nobody's been told to harvest. Have you forgotten the damage Rigg and his lot did to us? That was worse than theft!

ANNIE: (NOT QUITE SO CERTAIN) Two wrongs don't make a right and never did!

JOE: They owe us, Ma.

MATT: It'll rot where it stands if we don't get it in.

ANNIE: What d'you mean it WILL rot? Have you not finished?

JOE: (BEAT) Not quite.

Matt (LOW) You're not going to tell us to leave it, are you Ma?

ON ANNIE MAKING A DIFFICULT DECISION.

CUT TO...

Teenager Rachel Hughes (Glenda McKay) and married man Pete Whiteley (Jim Millea) are beginning an ill-fated love affair...

PETE: I am glad you came over.

RACHEL: Are you?

PETE: Yes.

RACHEL: Didn't have much choice really.

PETE: What d'you mean?

RACHEL: Just what I say. I don't seem to be in control any more. When you whistle I come running.

PETE: It's the same for me.

RACHEL: (SHAKES HEAD, SMILES) I don't think it is.

PETE: Alright, I don't run. I drive. I sit outside schools.

RACHEL: How did you know I'd come out?

PETE: (SHRUGS) I didn't. I just had to chance it.

RACHEL: (STATEMENT, NOT QUESTION) It's not just a one night stand, is it.

PETE: Doesn't look like it.

RACHEL: (WHISPER) Good. (BEAT) It's funny. Specially being here. Sometimes I hate Lynn.

PETE: Why?

RACHEL: I don't know. Straight jealousy, I suppose. She's got you and I haven't. I keep wanting to tell her what a good thing she's got.

PETE LOOKS ALARMED.

RACHEL: Don't worry, I won't. (LAUGH) It's pathetic, really, isn't it! Not rocking the boat 'cause you know you'll be the first one overboard if you do.

Amos - seen in our picture with Walter (Al Dixon) in 1985 - thinks that aliens are visiting Beckindale as crop circles hit the 1989 headlines and a field at Home Farm. He gets Mr Winstanley, an enthusiast from a local university, to come and have a look at them. Accompanied by Bill Whiteley (Teddy Turner) they make their way to the Home Farm field:

TIME: 13.30

AMOS, WHITELEY AND WINSTANLEY ARE WALKING TOWARDS THE FIELD. THEY DO NOT SEE AT FIRST THAT IT IS NOW HARVESTED.

WHITELEY: T'others have been taking the mickey out of Amos - reckoning it were space ships or some such twaddle.

AMOS: (QUICKLY) What ignorant folk say, Bill Whiteley, is of no interest to intelligentsia. Mr Winstanley here'll soon be able to make up his own mind. (HE TAKES OUT A NOTEBOOK) I measured them, you know. They were twenty one foot precisely... or as precisely as I could measure not having a measure with me, but happen you'll have one of those... and they were... (SMILES) Well, you can see for yourself.

THEY GO THROUGH A GATE/OVER A STYLE AND ARRIVE AT FIELD.

ALL THREE STARE AT A FIELD OF STUBBLE. AMOS GOBSMACKED.

AMOS: Heck.

WINSTANLEY RAISES HIS EYEBROWS QUIZZICALLY. AMOS SCURRIES INTO THE FIELD.

AMOS: Honestly, Mr Winstanley. This was the centre of one, (PACING, GESTICULATING) and... and it reached over to about here... and there was another one just that way... and a third one over there... (HE LOOKS HOPEFULLY AT WINSTANLEY, BUT THERE IS NO RESPONSE). You know, like I said, in a sort of triangle. (HE LOOKS DOWN) Look, look, if you come here you can still see where some of the stubble's bent over.

WHITELEY: That's 'cause you've stood on it.

CUT TO...

Nick Kamen thrilled the girlies by stripping off his jeans in the famous ad of the mid-1980s. Emmerdale had its own version of this scenario in 1989, as Mrs Bates (Diana Davies) returned to the house in Beckindale she shared with Alan Turner, unexpectedly bringing her mother, Alice (Olivia Jardith). Thanks to Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards), Alan had got landed with doing some (literally) dirty work for a change and he arrived home, tired and unkempt.

TIME 16.03

TURNER STANDS IN THE KITCHEN, PUTTING KETTLE ON, TAKING SOCKS AND SHOES OFF, FOLLOWED BY SHIRT AND TROUSERS, WHICH HE BUNDLES INTO WASHING MACHINE IN THE MANNER OF THE "LEVI 501" AD. IT IS NOT A PRETTY SIGHT. AS HE IS REMOVING HIS TROUSERS, ALICE PASSES THE DOORWAY, AND GASPS IN UNDERSTANDABLE SURPRISE. TURNER JUMPS OUT OF HIS SKIN AND PULLS TROUSERS UP AGAIN.

TURNER: Who the devil are you?

CUT TO...

Other events of the episode...

Amos discovered that Mr Winstanley, the man he believed was a university professor interested in crop circles, was actually a university caretaker; Eric Pollard (Christopher Chittell) got wind of the harvesting going on at Home Farm and began to make comments; Joe wanted Kate to have a baby. They talked and Kate confessed that she was finding it hard to give up her independence and that although she was happy to be married to Joe, she also felt invaded...

1980 Emmerdale: Pam St Clement As Mrs Eckersley...

Josh writes:

I'm a huge fan of Pat in EastEnders, and I've heard that Pam St Clement was briefly in Emmerdale in the 80's. Do you know anything about this? She played a woman called Eckersley.

Yes, Josh - Pam St Clement played Mrs Eckersley in Emmerdale Farm, making her debut in episode 561, broadcast in March 1980. She was in the show for five episodes.

Mrs Eckersley was a Beckindale local, and was called into help at Emmerdale Farm when Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier) and her father, Sam Pearson (Toke Townley), went on a competition-won holiday to Ireland.

She was a capable woman, well able to step into Annie's shoes.

Mrs Eckersley's family consisted of her husband, Harold (Roger Hammond), and teenage daughter, Esmarelda (Debbie Farrington). Esmarelda had written a book and was distressed when her manuscript was rejected by the publishers she'd sent it to.

The newly returned (and recast) Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby), himself a published author, helped Esmarelda through her disappointment.

Locals though they were, once this story-line was complete, the Eckersleys were never seen or heard of in the show again - quite common in those days!

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.