1980: Joe Goes To NY Estates

Matt, Jack and Joe in the Emmerdale Land Rover, 1980.

When Joe Sugden (Frazer Hines) returned to England from his stay in America with Ed Hathersage in the summer of 1980, he found that Jack (Clive Hornby), who had returned in February, appeared to be settling in at the farm.

The purchase of two Friesian cows by Jack had been agreed with Joe via telephone, but he knew they were something that could not have been afforded when he was farm manager.

Jack had bought them out of own money.

Joe had enjoyed running the farm, but the presence of his brother meant that he was no longer in charge. And Jack had very different approaches to farming and the land: Jack was an emotional idealist, Joe a pragmatic, go-ahead farmer who believed that sentiment should not stand in the way of progress.

After a couple of drinking sessions with NY Estates boss Richard Anstey (Carl Rigg), Joe was amazed when Richard offered him the job of manager of the NY farms in Beckindale.

Joe was tempted: NY was go-ahead, heartlessly so, certain people said, and the job would be a challenge...

It would also be a way of breaking free of the faintly uneasy atmosphere at Emmerdale Farm. Who was in charge? And how long would it be before Joe and Jack fell out? Joe discussed things with Annie (Sheila Mercier) and Jack, and decided to take the job.

Annie would never have dreamt of influencing her son's decision either way, but she found his absence from Emmerdale difficult. As did Sam Pearson (Toke Townley), who was also hurt that Joe had not consulted him. But Joe had not wanted to worry his grandfather about something that may not happen. As it was, he handled things quite badly and Sam was upset.

The house was quiet without Joe, but after a few visits from him, Sam and Annie began to perk up.

Trouble at NY - Sergeant MacArthur (Martin Dale) made his first appearance in December 1980, investigating the theft of Christmas trees from the NY Estates plantation.

Meanwhile, at NY Estates, Joe found the closing months of 1980 were certainly interesting: Jack disagreed with NY's decision to tear out an old hedgerow - which led to heated words with Joe, the Estate workers joined the union and gained a 5% pay rise, and Joe put forward the idea of hormone injection trials for the cattle: twelve steers would be tested, six injected with the hormones and six not, then compared after a six month period. Cowman Daniel Hawkins (Alan Starkey), who had been at Home Farm since the days of the Verney family, disagreed with this "unnatural" idea, but the trials began. Only 1981 would tell whether hormone injections for the NY Estates Beckindale cattle were to be impemented on a permanent basis.

Christmas trees were stolen from the NY plantation, and Joe was nearly run over by the thieves' van - Tom Merrick (Edward Peel) and Derek Warner (Freddie Fletcher) were the bad lads behind the theft.

As 1980 ended, Joe seemed to be settling in at NY - fraught though his first few months had been. He had a finger in two pies, still being on the board of Emmerdale Farm Ltd, and the future promised many more challenges.

In 1989, Joe told his mother that Jack had thrown him off the farm in 1980. This wasn't the absolute truth, but there was no doubt that Jack's return to the farm had seriously put Joe's nose out of joint. It is highly unlikely that Joe's move to NY would have happened had Jack stayed away from Emmerdale.

But for Beckindale the move led to lots of fascinating gossip, and for Emmerdale Farm viewers some highly enjoyable storylines.

Beckindale Meets The Real World - 1980s Pop Culture In Emmerdale Farm...

Beckindale was not immune to 1980s pop culture. The show took some of the fads from that fast-moving decade and provided us with some on-screen fun. In 1981, a Space Invaders machine was delivered to The Woolpack. Of course, it was all a mistake. Amos Brearly looked down his nose at such new fangled abominations - far more up Ernie Shuttleworth's street. The Invaders had been invented in Japan in 1978, previewed at a UK trade show in 1979 and then invaded the early 1980s, becoming one of the decade's first major fads.

Mr Wilks and Amos waited for the game machine company to pick up the Space Invaders machine and deliver it to the rightful address. Before this could happen, Mr Wilks was disturbed in the early hours of one morning by high tech noises emanating from the living room. He went downstairs...

To find Amos, he who (apparently) looked down on modern technological fads, absolutely glued to the machine...

... valiantly fighting a losing battle.

This article is from the Cambridge Evening News, 1981, and proves just how topical Emmerdale Farm was being by including Space Invaders in its story lines.

More about Space Invaders here.

In 1982, Sam Pearson became seriously ill with pneumonia. Recovering in hospital, he met a young fellow patient called David, who introduced Sam to the Rubik's Cube. Sam had a go and then dismissed it as too "new fangled" for him.

The Magic Cube had been invented by Hungarian Erno Rubik in 1974 and the first test batches released to Budapest toy shops in late 1977. In 1980, the Cube was re-manufactured, renamed Rubik's Cube and released in the Western World. The first Rubik's Cubes reached England just before Christmas 1980, although the country was not fully stocked until the spring of 1981 as there was a worldwide shortage.

The pictured article from The Sun, May 1982, shows that people were doing the Cube everywhere, and that Emmerdale Farm was once more absolutely on the button when it came to pop culture!

More about the Cube here.

Annie, Joe, Matt and Dolly - Reunited!

A YouTube clip showing original Emmerdale Farm cast members, Sheila Mercier (Annie Sugden), Frazer Hines (Joe Sugden), Frederick Pyne (Matt Skilbeck) and 1980 arriver Jean Rogers (Dolly Skilbeck) reuniting for a tribute to the serial. The script being acted during the clip is from 1981.

Hat tip to Will for spotting this.

Al Dixon - What Walter Did In 1941

Of course, Al Dixon did not make his Emmerdale Farm debut as silent Walter of the Woolpack until September 1980, but by that time a long career in show business lay behind him. I was recently thrilled to be given this souvenir from the Summer Season 1941 at West End Pier, Morecambe. Al Dixon - light comedian and dancer - was a highlight.

With the summer season programme, came a clipping from a March 1986 newspaper:

Al Dixon, 84, who acted in Yorkshire TV's series Emmerdale Farm has died. For five years he played Walter, the character who sat in the Woolpack pub without saying a word.

Al Dixon had a very long career and appeared with many stars. It's said that his stories of his past were fascinating to hear and he often entertained the Emmerdale Farm cast with his recollections.

It was not until the early 1980s though that Al truly became a star in his own right, with the newly installed Walter becoming hugely popular. Al was delighted, but disagreed with a 1983 viewers' petition aiming at getting Walter to speak. The character wouldn't be a novelty any more, Al claimed, quite rightly.

And how did he actually land the Walter role?

"They asked me to take my teeth out, and that's how I got the part!" explained Al in 1985.

Competition Winners

What was Dolly saying? Well, we have three lucky competition winners to tell us!

"Out On A Limb" wrote:

Dolly: "Eee, no wonder your dinner's taste funny. I never could read Aunt Jessie's writing, and what she's got down here in the recipe looks more 'aniseed' than 'arsenic' now I come to think of it..."

Cerys wrote:

Dolly: "This is a lovely knitting pattern - neon pink legwarmers! Just the thing for you Matt - trendy and practical for working on the farm!"

Ian wrote:

Dolly: "And just think - if I'd added paprika it would of been goulash!"

Matt: "Well as you didn't, do you mind telling me WHAT it is?"

Well done, folks, some nice giggles there! Just send me your addresses and your highly exclusive Beckindale Bugle mugs will be on the way to you!

Drink your tea with pride!

Competition: What's Dolly Saying? Win A Beckindale Bugle Mug!

Here's your chance to win your very own, limited edition Beckindale Bugle ("Gossip From '80s Amos") tea mug.

Just study the screen grab above: Dolly Skilbeck (Jean Rogers) is having dinner with husband Matt (Frederick Pyne) and Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock), but her attention appears to have been distracted. Write a witty caption for the pic, enter it via our "comments" facility, and the three best entries will win Bugle mugs (Walter and Mr Wilks have already got theirs!). So, don't delay, write today!

CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES: 28 February 2011.

The Long Silence...

Just checking my sitemeter tonight and I note that there is quite a lot of interest today in Alan Turner and Mrs Bates. I'm glad that people are still visiting! To those that have written - sorry for the long silence here - even Walter has been a little disgruntled by it - but 21st Century life is busy and so updates are few. We'll be back in the 1980s Beckindale groove again soon, I promise!

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!

1986: Jack Sugden In A Witty TV Times...

This clipping from the TV Times, 27 Sept to Oct 3 1986, makes me smile.

One man went to mow... Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby) deals with whatever crops up in 'Emmerdale Farm'.

Whatever CROPS up, geddit?!!

And what was happening in Beckindale that week?

Well, on Tuesday 30 September we discover:

Joe Sugden makes a big decision about his future, but there could be even bigger decisions ahead for Phil Pearce and Sandie Merrick.

And on 2 October:

Amos believes he is the victim of a gypsy's curse - and Seth Armstrong is more than willing to lend a hand to the supernatural.

Brilliant!

The cast for the week was:

Annie Sugden - Sheila Mercier
Matt Skilbeck - Frederick Pyne
Amos Brearly - Ronald Magill
Henry Wilks - Arthur Pentelow
Jack Sugden - Clive Hornby
Joe Sugden - Frazer Hines
Dolly Skilbeck - Jean Rogers
Sam Skilbeck - Benjamin Whitehead
Jackie Merrick - Ian Sharrock
Sandie Merrick - Jane Hutcheson
Alan Turner - Richard Thorp
Seth Armstrong - Stan Richards
Mrs Bates - Diana Davies
Kathy Bates - Malandra Burrows
Nick Bates - Cy Chadwick
Phil Pearce - Peter Alexander
Eric Pollard - Christopher Chittell
Jock MacDonald - Drew Dawson
Bill Middleton - Johhny Caesar
Gypsy woman - Clare Kelly
Gypsy man - Craig Fairbrass

Emmerdale Farm - Who Was Who In August 1980

1980: the vicar comes to tea at Emmerdale Farm.

Geoff writes:

I'm interested in thirty years ago and wonder who was in the Emmerdale Farm serial in August 1980?

Well, Geoff, the community of characters was rather different from today - the average age of the characters rather older. The show would not feature its first permanent school-age teenagers until September. The show was on its summer break in August 1980, but the permanent characters were:

Annie Sugden - Sheila Mercier
Sam Pearson - Toke Townley
Jack Sugden - Clive Hornby
Matt Skilbeck - Frederick Pyne
Dolly Skilbeck - Jean Rogers

Amos Brearly - Ronald Magill
Henry Wilks - Arthur Pentelow

Reverend Donald Hinton - Hugh Manning

Richard Anstey - Carl Rigg

Seth Armstrong - Stan Richards - Mr Richards joined the permanent cast in the summer of 1980.

Semi-regular characters included Nellie Ratcliffe, played by Gabrielle Blunt and Meg Armstrong played by Ursula Camm. The characters made their debuts in 1978 and 1979 respectively. Other semi-regulars were the Tolly and Longthorn families, introduced during early 1980.

Jane Cussons, who played Judy Westrop, had just left the cast and at the start of the autumn season it was revealed that Judy had left Beckindale for a new job.

Frazer Hines who played Joe Sugden was absent for part of the year - his character away in America.

Performers making their debuts later in 1980 were Ian Sharrock as Jackie Merrick, Jane Hutcheson as Sandie Merrick, Edward Peel as Tom Merrick, Martin Dale as police sergeant Ian McArthur, Malcolm Raeburn as John Tuplin, Alan Starkey as Daniel Hawkins and Al Dixon as Walter.

Helen Weir had already appeared as Pat Merrick during the summer, and her character would become a regular from September onwards.

Dolly's Tragedy...

Kim writes:

When Dolly lost her baby in 1980, was it defined as a stillbirth or a miscarriage?

I don't recall hearing the phrase "stillbirth" back then, Kim - apart perhaps from babies who died when the mother was actually giving birth.

Dolly referred to her loss as a miscarriage in 1980.

She had announced her pregnancy in July 1979. Annie Sugden, in a monologue bringing viewers up-to-date with Beckindale news in early 1980, stated that Dolly had been taken into hospital just after the New Year came in. She lost the baby not long afterwards.

I know that times change and there are various technical definitions of a stillbirth, depending on the location, but certainly way back then in England the word I heard used for losses into late pregnancy was miscarriage.

And this was the word Dolly Skilbeck used in Emmerdale Farm.