25 Years Ago - The Way Things Were - Gossip From Beckindale 1983 - Part 1...

When Grandad Pearson was presented with fish fingers for dinner, he was not impressed. "I never thought I'd ever see them served up in this house!"

"Now you have," said Annie, rather sternly. "So eat up and stop blethering!"

"To tell you the truth, Annie, I don't know how to start eating 'em," said Grandad.

Jackie stuck in his four penn'orth: "Oh, that's easy - you just pick 'em up and put 'em in your mouth."

Sam was most unhappy: "This is not the way the Lord made fish, lad - that's all I'm saying. I know how to eat fish."

Pat had bought the fish fingers because Sandie liked them, but Sam was adamant...

... fresh fish - and indeed fresh food in general - was best. "That's nowt like fresh food, is there, Annie, eh? It's got a kind of life to it."

Annie made a balancing comment - pointing out that the freezer did have its uses. But Sam was not convinced.

Emmerdale Farm 15th Anniversary Special, 1987

A 15th anniversary magazine published by Associated Magazines Ltd in 1987. Lots to read - including a "Who's Who", a farming year review, a range of recipes and even a Beckindale characters' astrology section. This is a great investment for all fans of 1980s Emmerdale Farm, or those interested in finding out more. Copies regularly turn up on eBay.

Relive some '80s storylines - remember the birth of Sam Skilbeck in 1982?

Enjoy some (now) nostalgic photographs...

Old scandal - Joe Sugden and Barbara Peters had the village agog in 1983 and caused much distress for Barbara's father, the Reverend Donald Hinton, vicar of Beckindale.

Joe helped Beckindale win in 1986!

Jackie Merrick fell down a disused mine shaft in 1987. The fall gave him time to ponder the recent past and prepare for his end. This time he survived, however fate decreed that he wouldn't make it out of the 1980s.

Make Seth's cap!

Ian Sharrock

Back to the '70s - far grimmer and far more stagnant than recent chortlings and hype would have you believe. Thinking back, and reading through '70s newspapers, I always wonder what on earth the BBC was playing at with their I Love 1970s series, as quite a lot of the pop culture featured crops up in the wrong years and, on about eight separate occasions, in the wrong decade! The series mercilessly plundered the 1960s and 1980s. Anyway, here's Ian Sharrock featured in the Sun, December 13, 1975 - about to appear on BBC1 in the pop operetta Smike - previously shown on BBC2.

And here's Ian as Jackie Merrick, at home on the farm, in the 1980s.

Jackie and Sita

From the TV Times, 10-16 August 1985.

Emmerdale Farm was "still enjoying a popularity boom in the ratings". In the storyline, Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) was having a relationship with young Indian nurse Sita Sharma (Mamta Kash). He met her during his lengthy period of hospitalisation, after he was knocked down by Alan Turner's car.

Caring Dolly, Seth And Mr Turner - The Saga Continues, And Jackie Home From Hospital...

Jean Rogers, modelling knitwear as Dolly Skilbeck in 1983.

TV Times, 22-28 June 1985.

The week's big event was the return of Jackie Merrick to Emmerdale Farm after his long stay in hospital. The poor bloke had been in an accident involving a certain Mr Alan Turner's car....

Meanwhile, the Tuesday episode synopsis shows that the aforementioned Mr Turner was not without problems. And, as was so often the case, Seth Armstrong was involved!

Jackie Merrick - Heart Throb of Beckindale...

Ian Sharrock in 1983. Ian starred as Jackie Merrick, long-lost son of Jack Sugden in Emmerdale Farm, from 1980 to 1989.

From the Sunday Mirror, September 4, 1983.

Margaret Forwood's TV column in the Sun, October 20, 1983. And tucked away is an amazing snippet about Emmerdale Farm! Don't worry, although the show got racier during the 1980s, I'm sure Jackie's nakedness was only inferred! There's no doubt that Ian Sharrock's presence in the show added some romantic appeal, but he could also act. I thought the Jackie Merrick years were good ones for Emmerdale Farm. The character was killed off in a shotgun accident in 1989.