Beckindale 1983 - Behind The Scenes...

I know several actors, and, for the majority, it's a funny old life. There they are, one month serving in a wine bar or doing a Christmas temp job at Boots, the next doing a bit-part in Emmerdale, the next "resting", the next auditioning for a stage play and probably not getting the part...

Of course, for many actors a regular role in a long-running soap is a dream (and for some, given current standards of a lot of the plots, it's also a nightmare), but back in the 1980s it was a funny old life working on Emmerdale Farm or Coronation Street or whatever. Today, much soap drama depends on the out of the ordinary, the bizarre, the downright absurd, but back in the 1980s the majority of soap action centred on people nattering about, and doing, everyday things.

And that must have been exceedingly difficult to convey with a load of technical paraphernalia all around, plus being watched and directed by a load of people the actors had to pretend didn't exist.

Here's Jean Rogers (Dolly Skilbeck since 1980), Sheila Mercier (Annie Sugden since episode one), Toke Townley (Grandad Sam Pearson since episode one) and Frederick Pyne and Frazer Hines (Matt Skilbeck and Joe Sugden - both original cast members) standing around in the rain at a Beckindale event in 1983, with little Sam Skilbeck (born 1982) out of vision, apparently asleep in his pram.

Annie's plastic headscarf (14p from Woolies - a snip!) is such an important style detail in setting the tone.

Just how "everyday" and of their time the cast looks, and the fact that they are conversing in character, apparently oblivious of the onlookers and the sound boom hovering above, is something I find fascinating.

Skill, or what?

Ronald Magill's Music Choice - 1983

Ronald Magill as Amos Brearly, 1983.

More treasure from Carl "The Gresh" Gresham, who, in 1983, ran a series of hour-long programmes on his Radio Pennine show featuring various stars of Emmerdale Farm highlighting their favourite music.

Did Beckindale ever play home to a larger than life character than Mr Amos Brearly, licensee of the Woolpack Inn? Accomplished actor Ronald Magill took the role of a surly, nosy Yorkshire publican and made it one of the best loved characters in soap history.

One of the best things about Amos was how he evolved. In the era 1972-1979, he was a great character - a puffed up peacock of a man, given to fads, with a stout Yorkshire commonsense underlying. In the 1980s, with Stan Richards joining the cast full-time as Seth Armstrong and Seth transferring his custom from the Malt Shovel to the Woolpack, and Al Dixon arriving as the weird silent Walter, the character of Amos became odder and more lovable than ever, thrusting off the last few vestiges of commonsense and lurching through the decade at war with Seth over his allotment, launching his own local newspaper, seeing UFOs at Bogle Bog, fighting a bitter war with rival landlord Ernie Shuttleworth, visiting a health farm, keeping bees, seeing crop circles and literally dozens of other exploits. The character was voted Emmerdale viewers' favourite in several mid-to-late 1980s polls.

Walter, played by Al Dixon from 1980-1985, gets a roasting from Amos in 1984.

When Carl "The Gresh" Gresham brought Ronald Magill to Pennine Radio to play some of his favourite music, Mr Magill chose the wonderful world of the musicals, and his choices were nothing less than inspired, spanning from the classic "greats" right through to the early 1980s.

Ronald Magill was actually a quiet and cultured man, very different to the part he played on TV, but he displayed his great sense of humour when he announced that a Mr Amos Brearly of The Woolpack Inn, Beckindale, had sent a request to his musical choice show. What would Amos's choice be? And how did Seth Armstrong and Mr Wilks come into the picture?

This wonderful hour with the man who created an Emmerdale legend, is available simply because Carl Gresham is a bit of a hoarder. He kept the old Ampex ten inch tapes containing the Ronald Magill material, and, despite advice that they would have gone "crumply", persisted in seeking help so that they could be transferred onto CD. The result is an hour of sheer magic that might have been recorded last week!

Seth Armstrong - played by Stan Richards - annoys Amos at the 1983 Beckindale Christmas show.

Copies of Ronnie Magill's musical choice are available from:

PO Box 3. Bradford. West Yorkshire. BD1 4QN

The cost is £5.00 - including postage - which is a real bargain. Please make cheques payable to Carl Gresham. We don't usually go in for advertising or selling things at the Bugle, but this CD is, in our opinion, absolutely priceless!

No stranger to the stars - Carl "The Gresh" Gresham with Coronation Street legend Pat Phoenix.

Timewarp To 1983: Clive Hornby's Music Choice - Courtesy of Carl Gresham!

Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby) reflects on life at Emmerdale Farm in the 1980s.

I've just been transported back to 1983 to spend some time with the late, much-loved Emmerdale Farm/Emmerdale actor Clive Hornby. Clive played the legendary Jack Sugden, making his debut on 19 February 1980, and was in the show until shortly before his death in 2008.

During that time, the show was transformed, rocketing out of the (by comparison) sleepy 1980s and into the 1990s and early 21st Century, keeping pace with the other English soaps via a thoroughly modern flavour, geared to the evolving tastes of soap fans across the country.

Through all the drama and comedy, there was Clive Hornby as Jack Sugden, providing a lovely thread of continuity back to the old days - as Elizabeth Estensen said in tribute to the character "Always the farmer".

It was an idea of Carl Gresham AKA "The Gresh", a DJ on Pennine Radio in 1983, to make use of his contacts with the stars of Emmerdale Farm and invite six of them into the studio over a period of about two months - to each present an hour of their favourite music. The Gresh put on his producer's hat for the shows, it being his plan not to interview the stars but simply to let them talk, choose their favourite tunes, and then play the music. Judging by the Clive Hornby hour I have just listened to, it made for marvellous radio.

But it's a long way back to 1983, times and technology have changed dramatically, and The Gresh, faced with the old Ampex ten inch tapes he had kept of the shows (he's a self confessed hoarder!) faced some discouragement from those that thought the tapes would be useless now - they would have degenerated, gone "crumply".

The Gresh persevered, and passed the tapes to his archive producer, Dave Perrett, and, after much work, the interviews were transferred to CD and sound as though they were recorded yesterday!

The Clive Hornby show was originally broadcast on Thursday, 10th November, 1983.

It's a lovely listen, an unexpectedly unearthed piece of Emmerdale history - and makes a tremendous tribute to Clive - who tells us a bit about his youth in the 1960s, the decade from which most of his favourite records originate. There's also a chance to hear the Dennisons - the pop group which featured Clive as drummer - and Clive also relates the story of how he became one of the first people ever to hear a certain classic 1960s hit, comes up with a song which captures the complexities of being seventeen years old, and slips in a request for another Emmerdale Farm cast member.

Throughout the hour, Clive comes across as being a thoroughly down to earth and likeable man who would have made a great companion for an evening's chat in the Woolpack Inn, Beckindale - or anywhere else.

If you'd like to hear Clive's musical choice, the show is available on a CD, available from:

PO Box 3. Bradford. West Yorkshire. BD1 4QN

The cost is £5.00 - including postage - and we think it's an absolute bargain. Please make cheques payable to Carl Gresham. We don't usually go in for advertising or selling things at the Bugle, but this CD is, in our opinion, absolutely priceless!

Clive (far left) with his fellow cast members - the folks at Emmerdale Farm - summer 1984.

1983: Wild Oats Farm - And Old Walter's Saying Nowt!

Sunday Mirror, June 26, 1983:

Look out, Coronation Street and Dallas - Emmerdale Farm is on your trail! ITV's "forgotten soap opera" is back in the TV top ten ratings, with a British audience of between nine and twelve million a week.

It has a prime evening showing in most ITV areas except Thames. The programmes cast and makers argue that if Emmerdale Farm got a proper showing in the London area it would be a serious challenge to Coronation Street and Crossroads. The tale of everyday life on a Yorkshire farm has millions of followers in places as far away as Egypt and Sweden.

We went to find out why the world is hooked on the goings-on behind the gritty grim exteriors of the village of Beckindale.

At this time, Rosie Kerslake was coming to the end of her role as vicar's daughter, Barbara Peters, who had set the village aflame with gossip by having an affair with Joe Sugden. Barbara was married, although estranged from her husband.

Said Ms Kerslake:

"I'd like to think I'm more patient and less insensitive than Barbara. At times she can be bloody-minded and tough. I'm nothing like as tough as she is."

Frazer Hines was also bowing out, although he would return later in the decade.

Ian Sharrock said of Jackie Merrick: "It was great when I was going around being objectionable, burning caravans down and smashing things. I was really horrible. Now, though, the character has calmed down a bit, and personally I'm just a little sad. It was all right Jackie Merrick being Yorkshire's answer to James Dean providing he could grow up to be a sort of JR in wellies. But if he's going to be very mature and responsible from now on, I think I'll wind up disliking him intensely!"

Meanwhile that much-loved silent Beckindale hero of the earlyto mid-80s was attracting much attention. Yep, fans had signed a "give Walter summat to say petition". But Al Dixon, the man behind the legend, said: "I'd be out of Emmerdale if I ever spoke any lines."

Matt And Dolly And A Shaggy Dog Story - And Changing Times In Beckindale...

Daily Mirror, December 15, 1983.

Ben belonged to the horrifying Harry Mowlam (Godfrey James) and Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne) snatched him after he witnessed Harry kicking him.

Of course, Harry wasn't having this - Ben was his property - and he wanted him back...

And there was trouble.

But Harry didn't succeed in getting Ben back.

The terrified dog proved a handful - and frightened the wits out of Dolly (Jean Rogers) when she took him some food to the outbuilding. The hairy beast cornered her, snarling most alarmingly...

But all turned out well in the end.

Until 1985. When Harry Mowlam turned his sights on Beckindale again.

And he hadn't forgotten the Skilbecks...

Was Emmerdale Farm a seething hotbed of anger and passion in the 1980s?

No.

But it certainly wasn't as safe as it had once been.

Many of the story-lines revolved around Amos and Mr Wilks (Ronald Magill and Arthur Pentelow) - in their absolutely golden era, Mrs Bates and Mr Turner (Diana Davies and Richard Thorp) in the NY office at Home Farm, Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards) on the cadge or the wind-up, domestic affairs with Matt and Dolly, and the romance between Kathy (Malandra Burrows) and Jackie (Ian Sharrock).

But we also had snarling Tom Merrick (Edward Peel), devious Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell), and, in his early days, awful Alan Turner.

Baddies made their mark on Beckindale, and at least one stuck around.

But the anger and passion were always balanced by beautifully mundane and often comic scenes.

When Derek Warner (Dennis Blanche) almost ran Harry Mowlam over in 1985, and then threatened him with a knife, we were treated to hilarious scenes in the same episode with Alan Turner and the Rev Donald Hinton (Hugh Manning) rehearsing for the Christmas play.

When Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby) was bedding Karen Moore (Annie Hulley) in a hotel room in 1984, the show kept flipping to scenes of Amos and Mr Wilks confronting each other over the breakfast table, or Matt and Jackie dealing with a ram at Emmerdale Farm who was no longer "up to it" and, as Matt said, "ready for the meat pie factory".

The scenes of mating sheep on the farm, and Jack's apparently high-minded affair with Karen, which was simply amounting to humans mating in an adulturous fling, seemed beautifully thought out.

Well, it certainly made me think!

Stability won the day in the Beckindale of the 1980s.

It was more chit-chat and sheep, comedy and everyday drama than anything else.

However, although Beckindale had never been an entirely safe place before the 1980s, there was a feeling that the big bad late twentieth century was brandishing a fist at the village rather more than in the past.

Jean Rogers - 30 Years Since Emmerdale Farm Debut As Dolly Skilbeck...

A newspaper article about the changing face of Dolly Skilbeck from March 1980.

1 April 2010 was the thirtieth anniversary of actress Jean Rogers making her screen debut as Dolly Skilbeck of Emmerdale Farm. Jean took over the role from Katharine Barker, who hadn't been seen on-screen since the previous summer.

Of course, bedding down into a role originally played by somebody else is never easy, but Jean soon made the character of Dolly her very own - and we here at The Bugle remember her fondly.

Matt (Frederick Pyne), Dolly (Jean Rogers), young Sam (Benjamin Whitehead) and Joe (Frazer Hines) in a scene from 1986.

Jean Rogers became Dolly Skilbeck on 1 April 1980 (allow for a few days' regional variations in ITV's schedules!). It was very rare for a member of the Sugden family circle to be recast, and the Skilbecks were very much part of that circle, but in 1980 producer Anne W Gibbons took the bull by the horns, recasting both Jack Sugden - Clive Hornby took on the role last played by Andrew Burt a few years previously - and Dolly, when actress Katharine Barker left the show.

Interviewed in 1983, Jean Rogers recalled:

"I was recruited to take over the Dolly Skilbeck part from actress Katharine Barker. We looked alike, of course, and it was important that the continuity of character be maintained for as long as possible.

"But that posed a major problem: was I playing the part of Dolly, or the part of Katharine playing Dolly?

"I knew I wouldn't be able to sustain a double-role indefinitely, so I slowly eased Katharine's presence out of the role and established my own identity.

"It was a long, slow task - but after a couple of years I finally received a letter from a viewer who said I was doing OK, and that no-one could now recall what the first Dolly Skilbeck was like."

Terence And Mary Turner

Stephen Marchant briefly appeared as Terence Turner in the mid-1980s.

Ken asks:

I hear the ages of Alan Turner's children were altered to fit into more recent plots. Do you know how old they were originally?

Alan Turner refers to Terence being eighteen and Mary being seventeen in 1983. Terence was studying, Mary was into pop music and "bizarre clothes".

Emmerdale In The News - 1983: The Farmer's Wife Who Is Afraid Of Cows

Sunday Mirror, 3/7/1983:

"Emmerdale Farm" is making a quiet assault on the TV ratings. It is at number 5 in the ITV top ten, rivalling "Crossroads" for the title of Britain's most popular show after "Coronation Street"....

Helen Weir fled to a cast caravan as a gaggle of particularly loud and petulant geese played havoc with the film set outside.

Helen had no intention of tangling with them.

Even after three years with "Emmerdale Farm", 42-year-old Helen still can't cope with animals.

"I'm just terrified of horses," said Helen, who plays Pat, the wife of Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby). "And I hate going into a field of cows."

But the goat Pat Sugden looks after in the programme is helping Helen to get over her nervousness.

"The viewers have been marvellous," she said. "I'm always getting letters advising me on how to handle the goat."

Annabelle, Pat's goat, wreaked havoc, and formed part of an excellent storyline in which Pat, tired of criticism about her cooking, moved out of the kitchen a little and got out and about on the farm.

Back in 1983, many members of the cast believed that the show should have a prime time slot in the London area. But Sheila Mercier, the farm's matriarch Annie Sugden, did not agree...

Unlike her famous brother Brian Rix, the former king of the Whitehall farces, Sheila is shy and reserved and guards her privacy.

Thames TV's stubborn refusal to shift the series from their afternoon schedule suits Sheila just fine because she can live undisturbed by fans in Shepperton, Middlesex, with Peter, her husband and agent.

"Yes," admitted Sheila. "I am happy that the series goes out at a time when not many people are watching."

But something no viewer ever sees is the secret battle against pain which Sheila fights every time she gets on set. She is in constant agony with arthritis - and that's why the motherly, houseproud Annie is never seen scrubbing floors.

"I just can't kneel down," she explained. "I've tried everything from acupuncture to faith healing but it's still painful."

Sheila says there are few similarities between herself and Annie. "Annie is wise and I'm not. I'm not as compassionate as Annie. She is religious - and I'm not.

"But we're both good cooks."

Annie copes with a crisis in 1983: she has just discovered that her son Joe (Frazer Hines) is having an affair with the vicar's married daughter, Barbara Peters (Rosie Kerslake).

Archie Brooks (Tony Pitts) - In The Beginning...

Archie Brooks, played by Tony Pitts, in 1984. Mike Conrad (Martin Barrass) had dragged him into decorating the back room at The Woolpack after Amos (Ronald Magill) had accidentally caused his gas cooker to explode, spraying hot casserole all over the walls.

Archie Brooks, of Hotten, was a genuine one-off - right from the time of his very first appearance in Emmerdale Farm in November 1983.

New Emmerdale Farm Producer Richard Handford took over from Anne W Gibbons in June 1983, and immediately decided to give Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) more of a social life. Martin Barrass arrived as Jackie's pal, Mike Conrad. Mike looked on as Jackie lurched through his short-lived relationship with Angie Richards (Beverley Callard).

And then, with the Angie affair consigned to history, Mike came rattling up to Emmerdale Farm one day in his tacky old van (complete with mattress in the back for "entertaining" the local scrubbers, er, sorry - I mean "ladies"!).

Mike had brought with him a pal of his called Archie. Archie was a little on the odd side by local standards, with his Tom-from-the-Thompson-Twins style hairdo and ghetto blaster. But, this being Beckindale, Archie wasn't playing Mr Pharmacist or Party Fears 2 on his ghetto blaster - bless your heart no - he was playing Status Quo's latest dazzling hit, Old Rag Blues. He did get a little trendier by slotting in some Big Country later though.

Archie had great enthusiasm for popular music - spanning everything from Little Richard to Alexei Sayle's Ullo John! Gotta New Motor? He also played the electric guitar.

Archie distinguised himself on his first visit to Emmerdale Farm by being rather monosyllabic and "out of it", and by rocking back and forth on one of the kitchen chairs, finally overbalancing, and causing the chair to break.

He was soon back in Beckindale to play the guitar with local New Wave band The Giro Technics (the name was a clever play on unemployment giro cheques) at the Beckindale Christmas Show, and he joined Jackie and Mike in undertaking some deliveries of quarry stones for local baddie Harry Mowlam (Godfrey James).

When Harry wouldn't give the lads their agreed rate of pay, and the lads were trying to think of a possession of Harry's they could seize and hold to ransom to force him to pay up, Archie thought the answer was obvious: some quarry stones.

As Harry Mowlam owned a large quarry at Connelton, and was in no way short of stones, Mike and Jackie, needless to say, were not impressed by Archie's suggestion.

In early 1984, Archie and Mike undertook the job of decorating the back room at The Woolpack. Archie proved himself a pretty good decorator, but the job took longer than was originally envisaged because of Mike's tendency to skive and Archie's tendency to break off and write poems and love letters on scraps of wallpaper.

Archie was in love.

And her name was Cathy.

However, writing love letters didn't come easily to the slow-thinking lad.

But, with Mike's advice, surely he couldn't go wrong?

Mike: "Why don't you put: 'Dear Cathy, you're the best looking bird I've ever seen, how about a bit of the other? Your secret admirer, Archie.' "

Archie saw nothing wrong with the sentiments expressed, but spotted a basic flaw:

"Hang on. How can I be a secret admirer if I sign my name?"

As the 1980s continued, Archie would appear in the Emmerdale Farm series more and more, become a bit of a thinker, and develop strong political and ecological views.

But that was very hard to imagine in his early days!

Uttered In The '80s Part 7: "P*SS OFF!"

Ah, the 1980s! The man from Del Monte, he say Yes, Frankie, they say Relax, the Scotch Skeleton he say Re-Record, Not Fade Away (more here), and the man from Beckindale's local quarry, he say PISS OFF!

Harry Mowlam (Godfrey James) blasted into Emmerdale Farm in late 1983, the early months of Richard Handford's stint as producer. And he was trouble. In fact, you can give that "trouble" a capital 'T'.

Harry was rude to Dolly, dumped a load of stones in the Emmerdale farmyard, and mistreated his dog.

Richard Handford was giving the show a shake-up, and there is no doubt that this shake-up was influenced by Brookside's debut. Emmerdale Farm had never been as cosy as some believe (indeed, in 1981, Pat Merrick had been hit and bruised by her soon-to-be-ex-husband Tom) but under Richard Handford's leadership in 1983 the pace gathered speed, scenes grew shorter, and a real baddie arrived...

The breath-taking Harry Mowlam. The awe-inspiring Harry Mowlam. The terror-inducing Harry Mowlam.

And, via Harry, Emmerdale Farm followed in Brookside's 1982 footsteps by letting fly some verbal naughtiness in 1983.

Brookside supremo, Phil Redmond, had wanted down-to-earth language to feature in the new serial from its beginning in November 1982. He'd wanted a few choice words and phrases sprinkled into the dialogue. Like real life. But the audience hated the swearing, and Redmond dropped it, puzzled over the fact that, whilst people swore in their everyday lives, and knew they did, they seemed to have a deep-seated need to be offended by hearing it on the telly.

In late 1983, as Beckindale's thoughts turned towards Christmas, Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne) witnessed Harry Mowlam abusing his dog and stole it away from him.

Harry was furious, and when young Mike (Martin Barrass) made a joke about the sorry state of the dog's kennel, Harry asked him what he knew about the dog?

"Nothing, it's just a joke, that's all," said Mike.

"Piss off!" said Harry.

In homes across the land, mouths dropped open... knives and forks clattered onto plates from suddenly nerveless fingers...

And then a howl of "WELL REALLY, HOW DISGUSTING!" (probably followed by torrents of outraged expletives), went up from houses all round the United Kingdom.

Toke Townley (Sam Pearson) once recounted a conversation with an Emmerdale Farm fan who told him that the show, for her, did not represent how life was, but how it should be.

It seems that, by 1983, this was changing...

Harry Mowlam didn't stick around that long initially... but he later returned...

Read all about him here.

Uttered In The '80s Part 6: When Walter Couldn't Speak

Lemonade instead of beer... During Walter's glorious reign at The Woolpack bar from 1980 to 1985, this was a complete one-off!

When Amos (Ronald Magill) and Mr Wilks (Arthur Pentelow) went to Amos' uncle's funeral in the autumn of 1983, The Woolpack was closed for the afternoon. When Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards) arrived for a pint (or eight), he found Walter (Al Dixon) tapping at the door, firmly out in the cold. Alan Turner (Richard Thorp) joined them and, informed by Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) of the reason for the pub being closed, the men joined forces and went to The Malt Shovel.

A boozy afternoon ensued, with the unlikely threesome going back to Home Farm to sup some more after the afternoon session ended at The Shovel.

The next day an incredible thing happened: Walter drank lemonade instead of beer at The Woolpack.

Seth told Henry Wilks the facts about the day before, and revealed even more startling news: "Walter got that drunk, he couldn't even speak!"

Crumbs, what a state of affairs! A non-speaking Walter - can you imagine it?!

Rewriting The Past: Alan Turner's Children

Confrontation at Home Farm in 1984 - Alan Turner (Richard Thorp) with Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards) and John Tuplin (Malcolm Raeburn).

Mike queries:

I seem to remember Terence Turner in the mid-1980s being very much younger than the (now late) Terence Turner of more recent years! Can you explain this?

Yes, Mike - history is often rewritten in soaps. I'm studying some episodes from 1983/1984 and in one 1983 episode Alan plainly states that he is having to find school fees for his two children. And, in 1985, Terence was, of course, dropping out of university!

Both Alan's children in the modern day Emmerdale serial were born somewhat earlier than the original versions.

This type of thing is common in soaps and has been for many years - previously unseen/minor/recurring characters in a regular character's background have their details tweaked to suit the dramatic needs of a programme. I recall similar things occurring in Coronation Street in the 1970s and 1990s, when the ages of the Barlow twins and Mike Baldwin's son, Mark, were tweaked to fit in with story-line ideas.

I'll reveal further information about Alan's family background in the 1980s as soon as I have it.

Terence Turner, the '80s version, played by Stephen Marchant.

Uttered In The '80s Part 5 - Seth Armstrong: Advice For A Young Man...

Seth (Stan Richards) was fond of young Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock), and, watching him suffer after the break-up of his romance with Angie Richards (Beverley Callard) in the late summer of 1983, decided to offer some heartening words of wisdom:

Seth: "I'll tell you somethin' - bit of fatherly advice - if you're gonna start takin' young women out..."

Jackie: Look, I don't need your advice, Seth!"

Seth (ignoring that): "It's four F's - I learnt that, see... Find 'em, Feed 'em..."

Jackie (interrupting): "I tell yer, I'm not interested!"

I seem to remember that the fourth "F" was "forget 'em", but the third... well, that would have raised a few eyebrows in Beckindale!

1983: Jackie Merrick's Black Eye...

Notice anything odd about this postcard of Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards) and Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock), taken at the Corner Shop in Esholt in 1983?

Yes, that's right, Ian Sharrock appears to be sporting a black eye!

But rest assured, Ian wasn't, Jackie was!

The photograph was taken whilst Stan Richards and Ian Sharrock were filming in Esholt in the summer of 1983. I've actually found the completed episode, which shows Jackie and Seth leaving the Esholt Corner Shop, AKA the Beckindale village shop, and discussing the latest village doings in the street.

Jackie's shiner came from "women trouble". His brief romance with Angie Richards (Beverly Sowden/Callard) had ended, but Jackie, after a few pints, was still jealous to see her with a new boyfriend at the disco in Hotten...

Angie's latest lover-boy was up to the challenge, and landed Jackie with a black eye, before the bouncer moved in to split the warring pair up.

Can You Guess? Skulduggery At The Beckindale Horticultural Show, 1983...

There was trouble at the Beckindale Horticultural Show in 1983 when Skipdale Co-op price tags were found on one of the competitors' cauliflowers...

Who do you think the miscreant was?

A) Judy Westrop

B) Seth Armstrong

C) Jackie Merrick

D) Henry Wilks

E) Walter

F) Amos Brearly

G) Sam Pearson

1983: Computers At NY Estates And Seth Armstrong's First Name...

Seth Armstrong "entertains" on the piano at the 1983 Beckindale Christmas Show.

In the summer of 1983, changes were afoot at NY Estates in Beckindale. The company was going computerised and each of its holdings would have a computer installed which would be linked to head office. Alan Turner (Richard Thorp) discovered that his secretary's hours would be cut from full-time to three days a week because of this.

And that wasn't all.

NY were seeking to make redundancies of around 50%, over a period of time.

Barbara Peters (Rosie Kerslake), Alan's secretary, ensured that the workforce, via Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards), got a look at the redundancies list. Alan had already told union rep John Tuplin (Malcolm Raeburn) that he was on the list, but that he needn't be. As union rep, John was in a position to cause major disruption. If he went with the flow and enabled the redundancies to be made without undue hindrance, Alan would ensure that John's name was taken off the list.

John hated what Alan was suggesting, but he had a wife and children to support.

Seth discovered that his name was on the list.

Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) was curious to discover that "Armstrong: A.S." was the name listed.

What did the "A" stand for, he queried?

"It were just a name I were given. All't eldest lads 'ad it. I were never called by it," said Seth.

"Well, what's it for, then?" persisted Jackie.

"Archibald," said Seth.

Jackie was highly amused.

Seth was too devastated at the prospect of losing his job to pay much heed.

The Beckindale shoot had been operating at a loss, and NY wanted to abolish it, but Alan moved to save it, also saving Seth's job as gamekeeper.

Funnily enough, 1983 seemed to be the year of Archibalds in Beckindale - with Seth's secret christian name coming out, and Archie Brooks (Tony Pitts) making his first appearance!

Archie - nice hair, shame about the name...

Uttered In The '80s - Part Three

1983: "Tough titty, Mr Turner!" Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) can't help crowing when he has a run of good luck whilst on a day out at the races, and Alan Turner (Richard Thorp) has quite the reverse!

Jackie Merrick - Out Of Fashion?

Cerys writes:

Jackie Merrick must have been one of the most out of date teenagers in England in the early 1980s! He seemed to have hardly any clothes, and those that he did have, particularly those dreadful patched flares, made him look like he was off to Woodstock in 1969 - or to a tramps' convention! And yet he was into modern bands like Adam and the Ants!

Sandie ran him pretty close for the first couple of years. I know that Pat was hard-up, but no working class teenager I knew would have been seen dead in the clothes Jackie and Sandie wore in the early 1980s! If teenagers had actually been playing the roles, I'm sure they would have protested!

I see what you're saying, Cerys. I think the "Woodstock" flares stood out like a sore thumb when Ian Sharrock played scenes with other young male characters in their fashionable narrowed legged trousers post-1980. But to be fair, Jackie was mainly using the flares for work at that time. Meanwhile, Sandie seemed to be making an effort at fashion by late 1981 - and, let's face it, flares were still very common in 1980. They had been cutting edge in the late 1960s, stagnated in the 1970s, and there wasn't much dosh around for splashing out on new gear in the early 1980s.

A pal of mine recently watched a documentary about the football scene in 1980. Included was footage of fans queuing for a match and my friend tells me it looked like "Attack Of The Flaredy People"!! The queue was literally knee-deep in them!

Pat was financially hard-pressed, as you say, and the Emmerdale Farm wardrobe department was not exactly up-to-date (teenager Rosemary Kendall was not exactly a thrilling dresser in the mid-1970s). I was just glad to see some permanent teens in the show. And, hey, Jackie was making a bit of an effort for his courting of Angie Richards in 1983 - he took her for a drink at the ultra-trendy Woolpack and actually pushed up his coat sleeves - a very fashionable thing to do!

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.

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.