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.

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...

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...

Viewers' Confusion - Taking Fiction For Fact...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1989: Beckindale Gets Knitting - Again...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Link Between Kim Tate And Alexis Colby Of Dynasty...

Kim Tate (Claire King) and Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) - they had certain similarities!

I get lots of enquiries about the Tate family and in particular the legendary Kim Tate (Claire King). Weren't the doings of this incredible soap bitch more fascinating than Alan Turner being quietly ridiculed by Mrs Bates from 1984-1988, Amos getting an allotment in 1980, or Walter getting told off for eating the peanuts on The Woolpack bar in 1983, the enquirers ask?

And as the blog covers the 1980s and Kim Tate debuted in the 1980s, why isn't she featured more?

Well, being a lover of Turner, Mrs Bates, Walter, Amos, etc, I don't agree that Kim's doings were more interesting. Just different. And yes, she did debut in the 1980s, but in November of 1989, near the end of the decade - and the Tates were originally quite an ordinary cash-rich family. Quite nice, it seemed. Kim's Alexis Colby-style doings took place in the 1990s, when the days of Mr Turner and Mrs Bates at Home Farm were long past.

However, as a nod to Kim's '80s origins, and to hopefully please all those who have made enquiries about the Bugle's sparse collection of Kim material, I have found a fascinating article on Claire King...

Here's what Ms King says about Kim's elevation to soap bitch:

"It was the time of Dynasty and Dallas and I thought English soaps could do with a good old feisty cowbag. They're just such great characters. Everybody loved Alexis Colby, whether they loved or hated her, they loved the character because she was so entertaining."

Read the whole article here.

Right, that's it for now. I'd better be off. I think Seth Armstrong's donkey's on the loose again...

Emmerdale Farm - The Novels!

I've had a couple of enquiries about the Emmerdale Farm novels. These were published from 1977-1989, and written first by Lee Mackenzie and then by James Ferguson. The first novel was called The Legacy, and the last Wives And Lovers.

Additions to the series were usually advertised on ITV directly after an episode of Emmerdale Farm: "The latest Emmerdale Farm novel, Wives And Lovers [and so on], is now available." The screen capture above is from 1989.

1989: The Death Of Jackie Merrick

Advertised on TV in 1989 - Ian Sharrock as Jackie Merrick was featured on the cover of the last of the original "Emmerdale Farm" novels, "Wives And Lovers", by James Ferguson.

The arrival of the Merrick family in Beckindale in 1980 had me becoming a confirmed fan of Emmerdale Farm. I'd liked the show since I was little, but there had been no permanent characters I could really identify with at peer group level. Jackie and Sandie Merrick were very much youngsters of the era, having experienced childhood in the miserable, militant and increasingly cynical '70s, they were now experiencing teenagehood in what seemed set to be another grim decade.

Okay, sometimes they listened to Shakin' Stevens and wore "fogey" clothes that your average early '80s youngster would not have been seen dead in (the Emmerdale Farm wardrobe department had never been hip and funky) but that aside they were mixed up enough and stroppy enough to have fitted in with me and my pals. They seemed pretty real.

The Merrick family had originally appeared in the show during its first season in 1972, but at that time Jackie and Sandie were small children. Both child and adult members of the family were portrayed by different actors and actresses. Tom Merrick was portrayed by David Hill, Edward Peel and Jack Carr during his occasional appearances in the '70s and '80s. In 1980, Helen Weir, Ian Sharrock and Jane Hutcheson made the roles of Pat, Jackie and Sandie their own. There were other changes: in season one, Pat's Christian name had been Ruth and she had been the mother of three children.

Jackie, as we know, was the (at first secret) son of Jack Sugden. He matured, settled down to farming, married young Kathy Bates and then, in 1989, was suddenly killed off.

His mother, Pat, had already been killed off in a car crash storyline in 1986, and sister Sandie and step father Tom (who, although only an occasional visitor, had made a lot of waves) had left the scene. So Emmerdale Farm, which had been full to the brim of Merrick storylines from 1980 to 1989 was suddenly almost Merrickless. Only Jackie's widow, Kathy, retained the name. But not for long.

Jackie was killed whilst out hunting a troublesome fox. He had a £10 bet with Pete Whiteley that he could kill the fox, which was causing problems around Home Farm. Unfortunately, Jackie's shotgun trigger snagged as he left his vehicle to pursue the fox, and the gun went off...

The story of Jackie's sudden end was played absolutely "straight", but there was a hint of 1980s tongue-in-cheekness about one of the songs playing on the car radio as the poor lad lay either dying or dead: What Have I Done To Deserve This? by the Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield!

The car battery ran down, the headlights and the music faded, and that was that.

Seth Armstrong found his young friend's body and took the news to Emmerdale Farm. Joe Sugden went to Demdyke Row to break the news to young Kathy that she was now a widow.

"What have I done to deserve this?"

1989: Denis Rigg

Businessman Mr Wilks knew Denis Rigg's type - and told him so.

1989 saw local businessman Denis Rigg causing many problems for the Sugden family. He wanted to buy Emmerdale Farm and turn the land into an open quarry, and stooped to various devious means to get his way.

Annie told Joe that she wouldn't settle anywhere else - she wanted to see out her days at the farm. Joe was opposed to Denis' plans anyway, and told him so - the farm was expanding, not being sold off to become a quarry.

Denis thought that Mr Wilks might be an ally, and called on him at The Woolpack. But Mr W was having none of it - a former businessman himself, he knew Denis' type and told him so.

Denis' next port of call on that fateful July afternoon was to Emmerdale Farm - where he found Joe tending to his prize bull in one of the outbuildings. Denis started off with promises to make Joe wealthy if he sold the farm, but ended up furious at Joe's continued refusals. The bull became distressed by the angry human, and Denis ended up crushed against the wall.

The visit to Emmerdale Farm was the last visit Denis Rigg ever made.

1989: Annie Sugden's Tranquilliser Adiction...

"These last few days I've felt like staying in bed. Not getting up, not ever...."

I frowned upon the Emmerdale Farm storyline which portrayed the serial's sensible matriarch, Annie Sugden, being hooked on tranquillisers and going through agonies to break the habit.

I didn't like soap folk behaving out of character, it didn't seem true to life. Nowadays I rarely view soaps, but I have learnt a lot more about life and have come to the conclusion that real people often behave out of character. And aren't soaps supposed to reflect reality? Well, at least that was the intention back in 1989!

Annie had endured lashings of heartache: her husband, daughter and two grandchildren had died in the 1970s, and her father and daughter-in-law in the 1980s (after the tranquilliser addiction storyline, Annie would face further heartache with the death of her grandson, Jackie).

So, perhaps the tranquilliser storyline was not that unlikely at all.

The Tates In 1989

Tibbles has been in touch again to ask if I have a piccy of the Tates in 1989? This is one of the original publicity shots from that year.

From left to right they are: Frank Tate (Norman Bowler), Kim Tate (Claire King), Chris Tate (Peter Amory) and Zoe Tate (Leah Bracknell).

Note Kim's incredibly 1980s cardigan!

1989: The Final Episode Of Emmerdale Farm...

9 November 1989, and the countdown is progressing to the final episode of Emmerdale Farm - episode number 1402.

The old opening pictures had a timeless, blurry, retro quality - even at the time of their first appearance... summer days of hard work, glorious countryside, and lovely sunsets. All very Cider With Rosie...

It was generally accepted that the farmhouse in the famous sunset scene (I found it odd that the show always began with a sunset!) was Emmerdale. But it certainly wasn't Lindley Farm, the real life location. The range of outbuildings attached to the house is missing and there appears to be a smaller house/bungalow to the left. Does anybody know where this footage was shot?

Scene One, and at the Woolpack, Amos Brearly and Henry Wilks are in a state of high anxiety: they are waiting for news of Jack Sugden and Mr Wilk's daughter, Marian. Mr Wilks is hoping that she is coming back from Italy to live in England.

Says Henry, who has been trying to phone Annie Sugden, but has found the line engaged: "Think I'll go up to Emmerdale - might as well wait there as anywhere else."

At Emmerdale, Annie is trying to contact Jack: "I must've rung him twenty times today! Where is he?" she asks Kate.

"I'm sure he must've been delayed, that's all," says Kate.

"I don't know what to think!" says Annie.

Kate advises her to put the phone down: "He might be trying to contact you."

"Maybe you're right," Annie agrees, replacing the receiver.

-

Jack isn't in Italy. He's in Beckindale, at Kathy Merrick's house in Demdyke Row with his son Robert. Marian is not with him. As is so often the case, Jack seems oblivious to the concerns of his family and friends.

Having established that he is back for good ("Looks like it," says Jack) Kathy suggests that he phones Annie or Henry.

"Yeah, I know I should, but I'd sooner see them face to face," Jack replies.

"They went to the airport you know, they're not going to be very happy with you," Kathy tells him.

"Well, maybe that's where they were when I tried to phone them," says Jack. He says he'll go round soon.

Kathy tells Jack she can look after Robert whilst he does that - she has to help her mother pack.

"Pack? What for?" asks Jack. "Eh, it's not the honeymoon, is it?"

-

It's a sad day for Caroline Bates as she packs to leave for Scarborough with her mother.

Alan Turner wants to help, but only succeeds in irritating Alice, Caroline's mother.

"Why don't you go to work, Alan?" suggests Mrs Bates. "We're not going to be leaving until five 0'clock."

Alan agrees, and asks if there's any chance of Caroline meeting him for a "bite of lunch".

"I'll try, but I doubt it," says Caroline.

"I feel sorry for him in a way," she tells her mother after Alan has left. Alice is more concerned about finding her second pair of slippers.

-

At Emmerdale Farm, Kate and Joe Sugden spot Rachel Hughes just leaving for school. After recent upsets, Kate asks her if she's sure she's all right to go. Rachel says that she is. Joe offers her a driving lesson after school, but she says she's going to tea with her father at Home Farm.

"When did she see her dad?" Joe asks Kate.

"Yesterday," Kate replies.

Joe does not sound happy: "You never said!"

Rounding the corner of the farmhouse garden wall, Rachel sees Matt Skilbeck with Pete Whiteley. She steels herself and walks towards them.

-

Joe points out that he's supposed to be using the land rover but Kate tells him she has to get up to Crossgill - the organic mustard she is growing is full of slugs.

Joe is amused at the idea of Kate digging them out. He offers to give her a lift to Crossgill, but says that's all he can offer in the way of help!

Matt Skilbeck and Pete Whiteley are discussing an ailing sheep. Matt goes to get a thermometer.

Rachel is left to face Pete.

"Why did you run off like that yesterday?" asks Pete.

"How can I be friends with you and Lynn after...?" Rachel replies.

"It doesn't mean to say we have to avoid each other," says Pete.

After an uneasy silence, Pete asks Rachel if she wants a lift to school. Rachel refuses and walks away.

-

At Crossgill, Joe watches as Kate digs through the soil: "Oh look - it's totally infested!"

Joe suggests that she cuts her losses and starts again in the spring. Kate refuses, and Joe tells her: "You won't get rid of them without pellets!"

"Look, I've started off organic and that's the way I'm going to stay!" says Kate.

Joe tells her she's wasting her time. "We'll see!" Kate replies. Joe wishes her good luck and leaves her to it.

Joe hasn't walked far when he sees David Hughes, Kate's ex-husband, approaching. There is a strained atmosphere between the two men, who wish each other good morning.

"Come to see Kate, have you?" asks Joe.

"Is that all right with you?" replies David.

"Fine by me," says Joe.

David asks Kate what she's doing: "I'm trying to get these wretched slugs out of my organic vegetables."

-

"Why don't you just poison them?" asks David.

"It's organic, David, you've got to dig them out by hand," says Kate.

Kate asks if David will help her: "Joe thinks I'm wasting my time!"

"Well, I would, but... er..." David can't think of a reason - but he doesn't help.

Kate and David discuss Rachel. Kate tells him it looks like she's involved with "some bloke".

When David questions her further, she tells him she doesn't know anything.

"Look, Kate, I don't want some village idiot mucking up her chances of going to college," says David.

Kate tells him she's tried to talk to Rachel, but it's difficult without upsetting her. David says it looks like he'll have to talk to her, and Kate tells him to "go easy on her".

David asks when he's ever upset Rachel? "Now look, we used to be close. I'd like it to be like that again."

Kate looks sceptical.

-

Jack strolls into the sunlit farmyard at Emmerdale.

"Don't worry, love - he's bound to get in touch soon!" Henry tells Annie in the farmhouse as he prepares to leave.

"I hope so!" says Annie.

Out in the yard, Annie and Henry discover Jack. Mother and son embrace. "Where the hell have you been?" asks Henry. "Where's Marian and Nicolo?"

"We waited hours at the airport - we were worried stiff," says Annie.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't have enough money for the shuttle flight," Jack explains.

Jack tells Henry that Marian won't be returning.

"Why, what's happened?" asks Henry.

"Let's go inside, shall we?" says Jack.

-

In the farmhouse, Henry is puzzled: "She said in her letter, she definitely said, she'd be coming home!"

Jack is temporarily sidetracked and exclaims at the decorating which is underway: "Joe been spending some of his money then?"

"For heaven's sake, Jack, never mind about this - what's happened?" asks Annie.

Jack explains that he gave Marian an ultimatum: he'd borrowed money from his landlord and booked tickets for the day before and told her that if she didn't turn up he was returning home without her.

"She wrote to me!" says Henry.

Jack says that he was surprised about that - "For a moment I really thought she was going to leave Paolo. Anyway, she didn't show up."

"So you left her!" Henry accuses.

"No - I didn't, Henry!" says Jack. "I decided to give her a chance to make the second flight. She didn't show up for that either. There was no answer at the villa. By this time I was getting a bit fed up. Eventually I flew into Manchester and then got a train. I'm sorry, Henry!"

Henry says he'll phone Marian and give her a piece of his mind. Jack says there's no point, he's been in touch with the nanny - and Marian, Paolo and the children are holidaying in Capri.

"Well, that's that then," says a devastated Henry. He adds that he'll take care of Jack's expenses - "You did your best, lad!" - and leaves.

-

Annie asks Jack what he'll do now. Jack says that Kathy is putting him up at Demdyke Row for a day or two, but after that he doesn't know.

-

Annie tells Jack that she's sorry things haven't worked out for him, then embraces him: "Welcome home!"

And the ad break commences...

Part two, and Caroline meets Alan in the Woolpack. Alan asks her what she's going to do for money and tells her he won't let her go short. Caroline says she can't very well keep drawing money if she's not working. "Let's just see how it goes, shall we?" says Alan.

Caroline says she really doesn't see how she can go on being a partner in the business. Alan tells her no one can foretell the future. He suggests that in a few months she might be back and everything back to normal.

"I doubt it," says Caroline. "I was expecting to be married by Christmas."

Alan tells her that just because she'll be in Scarborough doesn't mean that they shouldn't see each other and one day maybe think of setting the date.

"We were doing a little bit more than think about it, weren't we?" asks Caroline.

Somewhat bitter, she leaves him. "I'd better get back. And don't worry if you're not there to say goodbye - it won't matter."

-

At Demdyke Row, Jack and Kathy talk.

“Is Annie upset?” asks Kathy.

“Oh, you know Ma - she copes. It’s Henry that’s choked. There’s nothing he wants more than to have Marian and the kids over here.”

Jack tells Kathy he’s given up on Marian. “There’s been times these past three months I didn’t know what I was doing. Especially after Jackie…”

Jack struggles to explain his feelings: “Sounds like I’m blaming him. But I don’t mean that.”

Kathy is puzzled: “Blaming him?”

“After the funeral all I wanted to do was to get home. Back to Beckindale. I think I might’ve put too much pressure on Marian - pushing her to come back. It’s funny, but I wanted to see you before I saw Ma and the others. Because of Jackie.”

Kathy is touched. “I’m glad you did. Do you think you'd ever try with Marian again?”

“She’s lived the good life too long, You don’t understand how she lives over there. Servants, flashy cars, swimming pool. She has everything. Doesn’t have to lift a finger. No, it’s finished.”

Jack picks Robert up and tells him it’s time for him to have a nap. Kathy tells Jack she’s seen Sarah Connolly and that she’s been asking after him.

“I think she’d be pleased to see you.”

Jack grins: “Don’t you ever give up?”

At Emmerdale Farm, Annie is dishing up dinner and talking with Joe about Jack’s return. Annie tells him that Jack is staying at Demdyke temporarily.

“He’s coming back, though?” Joe is anxious.

“We’ve got to offer him a place, Joe,” says Annie.

“Is he going to work here?” asks Joe.

-
“I don’t know. Not sure he will,” replies Annie.

-
“I don’t know, he goes off, leaves everybody in the lurch, then comes swanning back, expecting everything to be normal.” sighs Joe.

-

“I wish you wouldn’t talk like that - he is your brother,“ says Annie.

Joe harks back to the start of the decade, when Jack suddenly turned up and “turfed me off of this place”.

“He won’t do that!” Annie exclaims.

“What will he do?” asks Joe: “Spend a month here then go flying back to Marian?”

He explains to his mother that he is concerned that Jack will “pick holes” in all the changes he has made at Emmerdale. “From the beef herd to whatever. He won’t see this as a business. And he’s got to from now on because me and Kate are trying for a baby of our own.”

Annie is delighted at the prospect, but Joe tells her it’s early days yet and there’ll be no room for a baby with Jack and Robert coming back.

"That's as may be. But he is family. He's had a bad time. We've got to make him welcome in his own home"

Joe says no more, but he is clearly very unhappy.

Alan calls on Caroline. Alice is resting and they are alone together. “Do we have to be like this?” Alan asks.

“Like what?” asks Caroline in return.

“So stiff and formal.”

“Sorry. It’s the way I feel today,” says Caroline, coldly.

In Alan and Caroline’s old office at Home Farm, Rachel and David are settling down to a meal of hot pot. It’s a little on the dry side. “Don’t they teach you to put extra water in hot pot in the army, Dad?” Rachel teases.

“Hey, I’ve told you - I’m out the Army now - that’s all in the past!” says David.

Rachel asks him if he’s glad he’s out - “I should’ve left years ago!” says David.

“What, then you and Mum might not’ve split up?” asks Rachel.

Rachel doesn’t understand why he didn’t leave when Kate needed him to. David explains that he was “signed up” for twenty years - “Everything depended on it. My pension for one thing. And maybe I was a bit scared. Scared of what it’d be like. You don’t have to make your own hotpot in the Army! You don’t have to sign on the dole or look for jobs either. It’s all taken care of. I just got my timing a bit wrong though, didn’t I? She married Joe Sugden. I didn’t count on that.”

Rachel is startled: “Were you thinking of getting back with Mum?”

“Well, yeah!” says David. “It was so damned quick. I don’t know how Sugden managed it.”

Rachel thinks she now sees all: “Is that why you’re in Beckindale then?”

“Don’t be daft! I’m here because I want to be near you and Mark! Tell me what you've been up to, eh? It's a real treat for me having you here.”

Rachel smiles but is not convinced.

Kathy goes to see Archie Brooks in his makeshift home and finds him packing to leave. Kathy is surprised, and finds a statement daubed on the wall: “Archie Brooks wishes to inform all his friends of a change of address…”

The new address is 25, Belgrave Square.

“Are you moving to London?” asks Kathy.

“No,” says Archie: “I’m going to stay with my mother and her new boyfriend in Hotten. You’ve no idea how cold it is up here at night.”

The notice is a ruse - designed to put off official bodies trying to trace Archie - the Government, DHSS, Inland Revenue: 25 Belgrave Square is the address of the Norwegian Embassy. “I’d like to see the look on the Ambassador’s face when he gets my Poll Tax form!”

Archie doesn’t envisage being away that long - he’s already upset his mother’s new boyfriend: “I put all his records on a train to Penzance. There’s only so much Barry Manilow a man can take!”

Back at Caroline’s, Alan Turner tells her he knows he’s let her down: “Will you accept my very, very sincere apology?”

Caroline accepts.

“I’d hate us to part as enemies,” says Alan.

“Me too,” Caroline agrees.

The frosty atmosphere thaws and the couple smile and briefly hold hands.

They talk about their doubts - Alan says he’s always functioned better alone, Caroline tells him he hasn’t really let her down - she too was never really certain that they were doing the right thing.

“You will pop into Beckindale from time to time?” asks Alan.

Caroline says she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to with her mother as she is, but he’ll always be welcome in Scarborough.

Alan gives her a document he was studying earlier and asks her to sign it: “It’s undated - it's just a formality. When the house is sold it will terminate your tenancy here.”

The atmosphere turns frosty again. “You’ll never change will you, Alan? Never,” says Caroline. She rips the document in two and goes to check on her mother who is still resting upstairs.

At Home Farm, Rachel tells her father that her problems at school are “nothing serious”.

David tells her that he just wants her and Mark to do well - “I don’t want you ending up like me!”

David asks if it’s true that she’s got herself involved with “some bloke”. Rachel initially denies it. But David is not to be put off - demanding to know who the bloke is. Rachel becomes overwrought as her father wears her down. “I just can’t tell you!”

“Well why can’t you tell me?”

“Because he’s married!”

At the Woolpack, Amos and Henry drink tea.

Amos asks if Henry has tried phoning Marian. Henry asks what can he say if he did? “I can’t tell her to leave her husband - even if that’s what I really want.”

“I were looking forward to young Nicolo running around,” says Amos.

“Not half as much as I was, Amos - not half as much,” sighs Henry.

Back at Home Farm, Rachel runs from her father’s questions into the kitchen. David pursues her and the atmosphere becomes charged with emotion. David insists that Rachel must tell him the identity of the man she is involved with so that he can be warned off if he comes bothering her again.

Rachel finally caves in: “Pete Whiteley!”

Rachel says she’s loves him. David is furious, telling her that Pete has used her, that he belongs to someone else, that he’s married.

“So’s my mother!” Rachel cries, and runs out of the back door, leaving a wide eyed David staring after her.

Caroline and Alice are ready to leave the house. They go out to the car, accompanied by Kathy and Alan.

Caroline is in tears as she embraces her daughter.

“Good luck, Caroline,” says Alan, rather awkwardly. He moves to kiss her, but Caroline, tears streaming down her face, moves away.

“And you, Alan.”

It’s woefully inadequate, but Alan says: “I’m sorry.”

Mrs Bates nods, turns from him and makes her way to the car, wiping away the tears. Final goodbyes, and the car moves away. Alan puts up his arm as if to wave, but then drops it.

“Bye, Alan,” mutters Kathy and walks away.

“Bye, Kathy,” murmurs Alan. He stands alone on the pavement for a moment, before slowly making his way back into the house.

The end of an era!

At this time the end credits scrolled upwards and disappeared into the silhouette of the farmhouse and tree.

EMMERDALE FARM, EPISODE 1402.

Cast:

Annie Sugden - Sheila Mercier

Matt Skilbeck - Frederick Pyne

Amos - Ronald Magill

Mr Wilks - Arthur Pentelow

Joe Sugden - Frazer Hines

Alan Turner - Richard Thorp

Mrs Bates - Diana Davies

Kathy Merrick - Malandra Burrows

Kate Sugden - Sally Knyvette

Rachel Hughes - Glenda McKay

Jack Sugden - Clive Hornby

Archie - Tony Pitts

Pete Whiteley - Jim Millea

David Hughes - Martyn Whitby

Alice - Olivia Jardith

Robert Sugden - Christopher Smith

Written by Barry Woodward

Producer: Stuart Doughty

Director: Terence Daw

After Thoughts:

An episode of endings: Jack’s relationship with Marian, which had been on-and-off since the very early episodes, finally seemed to be over - as did the relationship between Caroline and Alan. Archie was temporarily terminating his stay in the village.

Henry Wilks was stunned at the fact that his daughter would not be returning and his future relationship with her would undoubtedly be affected.

It was also an episode of suggested change, continuity and hints of fresh beginnings. There was redecoration going on both at Emmerdale Farm and Home Farm. At Emmerdale Farm, the long running saga of Joe and Jack seemed to be about to come to the simmer again; Home Farm was undergoing a transformation ready for its new owners.

The room which had been the NY Estates office shared by Alan Turner and Mrs Bates from 1984 to 1988 was already witnessing fresh dramas as the couple prepared to go their separate ways elsewhere.

Farming was still on the agenda - with Matt and Pete discussing sheep and Kate getting into growing trendy organic veg at Crossgill.

1990s Emmerdale, complete with plane crash, Dynasty style villainess, exploding post office and rapidly decreasing farming content could not be envisaged at this point.