The Truth About Walter...

Early 1980: Geoffrey Hooper's Walter chats to Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill).

Late 1980: Al Dixon's Walter says nowt.

This blog has some amazing fans! No sooner had I posted the previous article on the three Walters (one and the same character?) than I got this e-mail from Sheila:

I well remember Geoffrey Hooper as Walter and liked him a great deal. When Al Dixon became the new Walter in the early '80s, I couldn't accept him as the same character because he was so silent and odd. He was nothing like the previous version. Around 1981, when it became obvious that Al Dixon's version was not going to speak, I wrote to the production team asking if the two Walters were meant to be the same character, because they seemed so different. Clive Hornby and Jean Rogers had been cast as Jack Sugden and Dolly Skilbeck in 1980, but they resembled the previous actors and the characters were the same. The reply stated that the production team, headed by Anne W Gibbons, the producer, liked the tradition of a Walter at the Woolpack, but in casting Al Dixon, they had no intention of adhering to the character of the previous Walter. They wanted to create something fresh and original and so the idea came about that he would be silent.

The letter said that viewers could use their imaginations as to whether he was the same person as the previous Walter or not, so I decided that Amos, depressed by the death of his old regular Walter, had been happy when a new Walter turned up in Beckindale (Walter was a common name amongst aged men in those days) and had taken him under his wing, not at first realising how odd he was.

I wrote to the cast and production team several times in those days and have some lovely souvenirs. I'd be happy to scan some for you. I really enjoy reading your site and am always on the lookout for updates, which are all too rare!

Thanks for that, Sheila! It's amazing!  Thanks for your compliments, too. I'm a great fan of Al Dixon's highly distinctive Walter - he was the only SILENT Walter - and I'd love to see your souvenirs! I'll be in touch.

E-Mails - The Walters And Some Praise...

Terry writes:

Were the Walters in Emmerdale Farm supposed to be the same person in real life? I know there were three and they were very different, and it is the silent Walter played by Al Dixon from 1980-1985 who is the best remembered, but were they the same person in the program?

I'm not sure about Meadows White, but the other two Walters were definitely linked. Geoffrey Hooper's Walter was a Woolpack regular who spoke. It was a lovely piece of character acting, but Walter was not a fully-fledged character in those days - more background. Geoffrey Hooper's Walter last appeared in early 1980. The actor died, but Anne W Gibbons and the production team liked the tradition of having a Walter at the Woolpack and decided to play with the concept. The new Walter was very different - the one and only silent Walter - and achieved a cult following. Some confusion followed with some people thinking that Geoffrey Hooper's Walter had been silent, but that, of course, was not true.

I tend to think of them more in terms of separate characters because they were so different and because Al Dixon's Walter became such a cult. I think the Emmerdale production team expected its audience to be somewhat sophisticated and accept the fact that the new Walter was very different from the old and leave as a mystery whether they were the same character or not (were there two Walters in Beckindale? It was perfectly possible. If so, what was their history?) and just concentrate on Al Dixon as the "Silent One".

I must say that as viewer of Emmerdale Farm from the very early days, the only Walter that registered in my memory was the Al Dixon version. I was surprised to discover later that there had been others.

I recall a friend of mine some years uploading some late '70s Emmerdale Farm onto YouTube with Geoffrey Hooper as the non-silent Walter and us all being surprised that it was not the Walter we all remembered.

In the end, no definite explanation was ever offered - so if you like to believe that Emmerdale Farm was real life you can list the Walters as the same person (despite looking different and having different personalities) or as separate locals in Beckindale. Or you can accept what was going on behind the scenes and just enjoy the Walter tradition, whether your favourite is Meadows White, Geoffrey Hooper or Al Dixon!

And an e-mail from Sandra from March - sorry it's taken me so long to publish it!

Love this blog. It's well thought out, and well written. You really are a gifted writer because you make the old stories live and you have great understanding of the characters. The article you wrote about Jackie and Jack and the difficulties they experienced in finding a way of getting on together showed so much insight. I hope that a DVD company releases many more episodes. In the meantime, I hope you keep this blog going!

Sandra you are really kind. Thank you! The blog is updated infrequently because I'm tied up with other blogs and my work and I'm shortly about to go into hospital, but it will update at times - I promise. Thank you again.

We have an exciting update on this topic - see it here.

STOP PRESS: GEOFFREY HOOPER - A TALKATIVE FIRST WALTER!

1980: Geoffrey Hooper's Walter chats to Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill) in The Woolpack.

Sometimes people ask me: "Why have you dedicated your blog to Emmerdale in the 1980s? Why the 1980s in particular?"

The fact is that was when I enjoyed the show most.

And all my regular visitors (bless you both!) know that I was a particular fan of Al Dixon - he played Woolpack Walter, from 1980 to 1985.

But regular visitors also know that there were two Walters - Geoffrey Hooper being the first.

Geoffrey Hooper appeared in the show from around 1974 to, I originally thought, 1979. Al Dixon became Walter around September 1980.

Indications were that Geoffrey Hooper's Walter was not always silent - he sometimes spoke. But I imagined him as being very like the Al Dixon Walter, and thought that in his later years he was silent.

Watching some episodes from February 1980 today, I was startled to see Geoffrey Hooper on-screen as Walter at the start of the new decade. Al Dixon's debut was still months away.

I must be honest - although I remember the first Jack Sugden and the first Dolly Acaster/Skilbeck, I don't remember the first Walter at all, so I was fascinated to see him - and to note the fact that he bore no resemblance to Al Dixon.

There he was, in early 1980, with Amos chuntering away to him and about to pull him a pint...

And then it happened!

"'I'll just 'ave an 'arf, Amos," said Geoffrey Hooper's Walter.

"But you never drink 'arfs, Walter!" cried Amos.

"Well, 'appen it does no 'arm to cut down," said Mr Hooper's Walter.

And there it was. Geoffrey Hooper was speaking in a way I could not imagine the 1980s Al Dixon creation speaking.

In his early days, I think I heard Mr Dixon mutter "Thank you," once when Mr Wilks served him. And he laughed out loud when Amos got into a twist over an attempt at DIY plumbing in 1981. But apart from that - silence. In the Al Dixon Walter years of 1980 to 1985, it appeared that the character never spoke - in fact it became something of an in-joke, with viewers in 1983 campaigning for him to speak.

Occasionally, other characters reported things that Mr Dixon's Walter had said, but he never uttered a word on-screen.

However, Geoffrey Hooper's Walter did speak - just how rare an occurrence it was I don't know, but he did speak!

And I've heard him!

And I'm flabbergasted!

I'm also surprised at just how different the two Walters were from each other facially.

I have to say, in my humble opinion, that apart from the way they dressed and their name, it is as though they were two completely different characters.

And if they were regulars in a real boozer, there is no way you would mistake one for the other.

I'll be up-dating the rest of this blog's Walter info over the next few weeks.

What's On Your Mind?

The early 1980s: Joe confides in Mr Wilks at The Woolpack.

A lot of e-mails/comments in my absence. There's a few, with answers, here...

"Sandie Merrick" writes:

The feminist fight seems pretty rampant in 80's media. Do you think Annie Sugden was a positive image for women, tied to the Aga all day long? Or, as you're a man, do you think feminism is all a load of clap trap?

As a blokey type bloke I daresay I shouldn't venture an opinion, Sandie, but yes, I think Annie was fine. She was the rock, the person who kept the farm and family together. She was also a prominent figure in Beckindale - with her work as a churchwarden and on the WI.

No, I don't think feminism is a "load of clap trap" - but I must say I think gender issues are far more complex than feminism allows. The biggest influence pushing me towards a traditional working class English male stereotype personality when I was a child was my mother's! What is it they say? "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world"!

From Mark:

Your Walter stuff is most excellent. Do you think Geoffrey Hooper and Al Dixon were playing the same character, because they seemed so different?

A friend of mine recently asked me the same question, Mark. Geoffrey Hooper was originally simply an extra in Woolpack scenes, and the production team later decided to name him and bring him forward a little.

I think Geoffrey Hooper's Walter was more of a prop than a character - on-screen for Amos to chunter to. He looked far more ordinary too - he was seen in the background in Woolpack scenes, interacting with other regulars and talking!

Al Dixon's Walter looked strikingly different and was far more prominent and silent. It was in the Al Dixon era (1980-1985) that Walter became a cult. Mr Dixon was actually recruited to play Walter as a character.

Al Dixon's Walter was not recruited to resemble Geoffrey Hooper's version, and producer Anne W Gibbons simply stated that there had been a tradition of having a Walter in The Woolpack. She seemed keen to expand on that tradition and flesh it out. I believe that the two Walters were linked, one based on the tradition established by the other, but not actually intended to be the same person.

I think Walter was a fun gimmick.

For ease of reference, I personally refer to the two Walters as Walter Hooper and Walter Dixon!

These are simply my opinions - but if you watch a Geoffrey Hooper episode of Emmerdale Farm, then an Al Dixon episode, it is evident that Al Dixon was not trying to imitate his predecessor. And Walter was quite a common Christian name amongst elderly men in those days.

From Sara P:

Can we have some more late 1980's stuff on here? Lately you seem to be favouring the first few years!

LOL, Sara! Up until recently comments were telling me I was favouring the last few years of the '80s! Coming up is more info on 1981 and 1982, then I intend to move on up the decade to 1986!

Christopher says:

I'm told Emmerdale was all about sheep in the 1980's. Was it?

No! But there were a lot about. I was watching a 1986 episode whilst eating my dinner a few months back and was not terribly keen to see Matt Skilbeck actually delivering a lamb - in full detail! But '80s Emmerdale Farm was also about Matt and Dolly, and Annie and Sam, and Amos and Mr Wilks, and Walter and Seth, and Archie and Nick, and Alan Turner and Mrs Bates, and Kathy and Jackie, and Sandie and Phil, and Jack and Pat, and Joe and Barbara, and the Rev Donald Hinton and Harry Mowlam, and...

More comments answered very soon! Thanks for all the e-mails!

Walter Altered - And Others Too!

I always thought that a change of actor was preferable to a death in Beckindale. Because of actors and actresses leaving, we saw several tragedies in the '70s and '80s which began to make the Sugdens seem just a little too tragic!

In 1972, the show began with the funeral of Jacob Sugden, and the following year his daughter, Peggy, died suddenly - as actress Jo Kendall had decided to leave the show. Recasting would have been perfectly acceptable in this fledgling serial, but it was not something English TV soaps were very "into" at that time - Coronation Street appeared to have set the standard there! The Skilbeck twins, Sam and Sally, were killed off in 1976 in a most appalling manner - killed in an accident at a level crossing, which was obviously a way of doing away with a loose thread from the Peggy/Matt marriage, and winning viewers.

In the 1980s, both Pat Sugden and Jackie Merrick died tragically when the actors playing the roles left the show.

And so the Sugdens built up a grim saga of tragedy - for purely off-screen reasons.

Sometimes, central characters were recast - although very rarely were they residents of Emmerdale Farm itself. But in 1980, the improbable happened twice...

From the Yorkshire Evening Post supplement Emmerdale Farm 1,000! - 1985.

HELLO DOLLYS

"Emmerdale" has had four "doubles" in the cast, but the mos startling lookalikes have been Jean Rogers, the present Dolly, and Katharine Barker, the original one.

Dolly Skilbeck is expecting her second youngster - much to the delight of Jean Rogers, who plays Matt's pretty wife.

Jean just loves kids. She's a proud off-screen mum to Jeremy, 17, and Justin, 14.

And on screen, it's difficult to believe that she's not the real mother of Benjamin Whitehead, the little boy who takes the part of Dolly's son, Sam.

It's a relationship which Jean has worked hard at ever since three-year-old Ben joined the series as a baby.

One of her secrets was getting to know Ben's parents, Richard and Susan Whitehead, who own a butcher's shop in Otley.

And the Whiteheads took to Jean so much they asked her to become Ben's godmother.

Jean, who is divorced, goes to playgroup with Ben and his real mum and has become deeply involved in promoting the Pre-school Playgroups Association.

"Ben and I know each other well so now he acts perfectly naturally when he's in a scene with me," says Jean.

"The rest of the cast, too, make an effort to know him and win his confidence, which makes filming a lot easier."

Ben is so relaxed, that unlike some children, he doesn't mind if his mum isn't around on the set.

She goes off into another room and watches her son in action on a monitor.

Viewers can look forward to some authentic scenes when the new addition to the Skilbeck family comes along.

Sam's arrival was heralded as a great acting achievement for Jean, who said she just relied on her unforgettable experiences while giving birth to her own children.

"I think I gave the acting performance of my life that day," says Jean. "I let my mind go back to my own children's births and practically lived through them again.

"At the end I was quite exhausted. The nurse said I'd been so convincing she felt she should be handing me a new-born baby.

"And one cameraman was so overcome by my gasps, straining and cries, he felt ill and had to rush off for a glass of water!"

[Andy's note: Actress Helen Weir, Pat Sugden in Emmerdale Farm, became pregnant in real life at the time of the Dolly pregnancy storyline. Helen's pregnancy was written into the plot, and, sadly, there was room for only one baby on set, so Dolly's screen pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.]

A PAIR OF JACKS

The original Jack Sugden was played by Andrew Burt. The call of literature led to Jack cutting his ties with Emmerdale Farm and floating off to Rome to write a book of poetry.

However, Annie Sugden's elder son returned to the fold in the shape of Clive Hornby and revived his interest in the land... only to land the family with a few problems born of Jack's single-mindedness.

Andrew Burt, after leaving the series, went on to play many other TV roles.

So, two of the central characters up at the farm were boldly recast in 1980! Around and about the village, the Yorkshire Evening Post Emmerdale Farm 1,000th episode supplement noted a couple of other face changes...

TOM TOM

The two actors who played the roguish Tom Merrick have also portrayed characters on the right side of the law. Edward Peel, the first Tom, is now to be seen as Chief Inspector Perrin in "Juliet Bravo", and Jack Carr, the second Tom Merrick who did a stretch in jail, played a police sergeant in "Coronation Street".

Merrick, who has disappeared again, probably to the oil rigs, is the father of Sandie and for a long time thought he was Jackie's Dad until it was revealed Jack Sugden had sired him in a long-ago affair with Pat.

[Andy's note: Tom was also played by actor David Hill in the show's early days. ]

Walter altered

Another "double", of course, was the two Walters....

Geoffrey Hooper was the original silent*, bar-propping regular at the Woolpack, but sadly, he died some time ago, and he was replaced by the present Walter, former music hall entertainer Al Dixon.

*In actual fact, Geoffrey Hooper's Walter often spoke.

Al Dixon As Silent Walter Of The Woolpack...

Here's Walter, the silent Woolpack regular, played by Al Dixon from episode 597, broadcast in September 1980. The character last appeared onscreen in December 1985. Mr Dixon had previously posed as Jacob Sugden with Sheila Mercier for a "props" photograph of Annie and her husband, Jacob, used in the original farmhouse set back in the show's early days.

During the 1,000th episode celebration programme in 1985, Al Dixon, who attended the celebration despite being in very poor health, was interviewed by Richard Whiteley who made reference to Mr Dixon never having spoken in 13 years in the show! This may have been an error, or a slightly confusing reference to Al's two silent Emmerdale incarnations - as Jacob Sugden in the photograph on the mantelpiece at the farm in the early days, and as Walter from 1980 onwards.

Sheila Mercier states in her autobiography, Annie's Song (1994), that she was unhappy with the choice of Al for her photographic husband. She wrote: "I thought that Annie should have a great lion of a man for a husband".

"Sunday Mirror", June 1983 - "I'd be out of 'Emmerdale' if I ever spoke any lines."

Al Dixon was the not the first actor to play a Woolpack Walter. Both Amos and Mr Wilks are seen chatting to a very different-looking Walter in episode clips from 1977 recently featured on YouTube and I have recently seen episodes from early 1980 featuring this "other Walter".

-

Actor Geoffrey Hooper was the first Woolpack Walter and, although various publications published since his reign proclaim him as being "silent", he did actually speak - quite often. From examples of episodes avalable to me and my readers, he broke the news to The Woolpack that there had been a train crash at the junction in 1976, and I'm reliably informed he told Annie Sugden at a village dance that he'd rather be having a drink with Amos. In an episode broadcast in early 1980 he told Amos he'd have a half pint of beer, not his usual pint! When Geoffrey Hooper died, The Woolpack was Walter-less for several months, before producer Anne W Gibbons decided that a new version was needed, as there was a tradition of having a Walter at the pub.

The Al (short for Albert) Dixon version debuted in September 1980 and was, of course, usually absolutely silent. I heard him mutter "Thank you" once in his very early days and he laughed out loud at Amos' plans to undertake some plumbing at The Woolpack in 1981 - but apart from that! Fans petitioned for him to speak, but Al Dixon thought it best not - or the character wouldn't be a novelty any more.

A clipping from the 1985 "Yorkshire Evening Post" "Emmerdale Farm 1,000!" supplement. Geoffrey Hooper's Walter was known to break his silence!

1983: Amos (Ronald Magill) was Walter's genial host.

-

Amos and his business partner Mr Wilks (Arthur Pentelow) with Walter - another shot from 1983.

Although Al Dixon's version of Walter hardly ever spoke, he had a highly expressive face and was one of my favourite Emmerdale Farm characters - one of Beckindale's unsung heroes of the 1980s. Sitting at the bar, supping his pint whilst the action went on all round him, he was absolutely priceless!

-

So, to sum up, Geoffrey Hooper was the Woolpack Walter of the mid-1970s to 1980, and Al Dixon was the Woolpack Walter of September 1980 to December 1985. There was another Walter in Emmerdale Farm, and he was on-screen earlier than either of the bar-propping Walters. Meadows White played a Beckindale Walter in episode seventeen in 1972, and in one or two subsequent early episodes. That particular Walter wasn't in the Woolpack, nor particularly quiet!

As Mr Dixon had such a distinctive face and was usually so absolutely silent, it is hard to know if he was supposed to be a continuation of Geoffrey Hooper's Walter character or simply another Woolpack regular with the same name. And the delightful thing was, as the two Walters were not fully-fledged characters whose lives were detailed in the show, you could believe what you liked!

-

"Daily Mirror", 23 May, 1985.

A TV TIMES tribute to Mr Dixon, published after his death in 1986. He had been in showbusiness for 74 years.