1981: Jackie Merrick With A Gun!

Summer 1981, and young Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) seemed to be settling into his new job as assistant to NY Estates gamekeeper, Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards).

Seth began inducting Jackie into the safe art of using a gun, and things seemed to be going well - until Jackie showed off a little in front of a couple of his mates - one of these being Seth's son, Fred.

Things got a little out of hand, the gun went off, and shot out a window of the Merricks' caravan. No harm was done, there was no great drama - although, as was made plain to Jackie, things could have been very different - particularly as his sister Sandie and her boyfriend were inside the caravan at the time.

Seth was furious with the daft young lad. Jackie bemoaned his stupidity. Word spread to his boss, Joe Sugden, who covered for him with Richard Anstey. But it was made plain by both Joe and Seth that Jackie was now barred from using the NY guns.

Perhaps Jackie should have stayed away from guns for good. In 1989, a tired act of clumsiness with a gun would result in his death.

Friends again - Seth and Jackie - Stan Richards and Ian Sharrock - at the corner shop in Esholt. Jackie had a black eye - all part of the story-line - the lad had almost got into a punch-up at the local disco, and sustained slight damage. This photograph was taken by the Esholt shop's proprietor in 1983 and sold as postcards for some years afterwards.

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Jackie Merrick must have been one of the most out of date teenagers in England in the early 1980s!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.

Dark Side Of 1980...

It wasn't all daft fishing contests and horticultural shows in 1980. There was family life in a grotty caravan for Pat Merrick and her kids for a start...

Never mind. In November 1980 Walter, who had only been on-screen for a couple of months, got a snazzy new cap. Great! But who's that coming through the door behind him?

Oh no - it's Tom Merrick - just in time for Christmas!!

But the nasties weren't all earth bound...

... strange moving lights in the sky terrified Amos Brearly... was it aliens? Or bogles?

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Oh yes, there was certainly a dark side to 1980 down Beckindale way...

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We'll be taking a closer look soon.

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?"

Some Beckindale Cast And Characters - September 1984

Some of the cast and character details from the Hotten Courier, Yorkshire TV's publicity pamphlet for Emmerdale Farm, September 30, 1984. Did you know that Hugh Manning (the Rev Donald Hinton) also starred in the highly successful 1960s series Mrs Thursday? That Arthur Pentelow (Mr Wilks) was a keen birdwatcher, just like his character? That Al Dixon (Walter) hoped his character would never speak? Or that Sheila Mercier (Annie Sugden) is the sister of Brian Rix?

Also from The Courier, Al Dixon, who played the second Woolpack Walter, and contributed so much to the pub's atmosphere, celebrated four years at the bar in 1984, having debuted in September 1980. Mr Dixon suffered a stroke in late 1985, but continued to appear on-screen until Christmas, when he had a small role in the village play, Toad Of Toad Hall. The play sequence, plus another scene with Walter knocking on the door of the Woolpack at opening time, to be admitted by Amos, had been filmed on location in Esholt before the actor fell ill.

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In early 1986, Walter departed from Beckindale to stay with his sister in Worthing. It was hoped that Al Dixon would recover from his stroke and return to the show, but he died not long afterwards.

Tell Us Your Favourite 1980s Emmerdale Farm Storylines!

One of my very favourite Emmerdale Farm storylines of the 1980s began in 1980 itself with the return to the Beckindale fold of Jack Sugden (albeit played by a different actor - Clive Hornby took over from Andrew Burt).

Later in the year, Jack's ex-lover, Pat Merrick (Helen Weir), returned to the village with her teenage offspring, Jackie (Ian Sharrock) and Sandie (Jane Hutcheson). Retreating from her awful husband, Tom, Pat struggled to keep her kids on the right track, living in a grotty caravan and doing whatever work she could find.

But, of course, young Jackie was Jack Sugden's son - unknown to Jackie himself, and the romantic flame between Pat and Jack was soon re-ignited...

For me, this storyline marked something of a departure for the show, with an attempt at realistically portraying late 20th Century teenagers and establishing two of them as major characters.

The days of Pat struggling to get by in the caravan, with truculent Jackie and wise-beyond-her-years Sandie (or so it seemed at first!), are fond memories of mine. Realistic story telling, great acting.

If you have any favourite Emmerdale '80s stories you'd like to recall and share with us here please feel free to use the "Comments" facility, or drop an e-mail to: actual80s@btinternet.com

1987: Kathy And Jackie - An Engagement Is Announced

TV Times, 14-20 November, 1987 - Kathy Bates and Jackie Merrick - young love!

Background storylines for the Jackie and Kathy engagement episodes included a break-in at the deserted Crossgill farmhouse, leading to Matt discovering the deceased owner's last will and testament - leaving the farm to him, and rumblings of concern as closure loomed at Hotten Market - NY Estates had decided to sell it. Auctioneer Sandie Merrick tried to placate angry farmers, but Eric Pollard grabbed the opportunity to do a little gentle stirring.

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Meanwhile, Annie Sugden organised a celebratory get-together for the Sugden and Bates families. Young Nick Bates did not take the engagement seriously, but his mother told him that she was taking it seriously and his sister needed his support.

Two page spread about love on the farm. Interesting reference to Joe's relationships with "upper class" women - from first wife Christine Sharp, to vicar's daughter Barbara Peters, to local vet Ruth Pennington, there seems to be some truth in it!

Conclusion of the article looking at love in Beckindale.

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To end on, do you know how actress Malandra Burrows (Kathy Bates/Merrick in Emmerdale Farm) came by her unusual and rather impressive christian name? Malandra revealed in an interview back in the early '90s that it was derived from her parents' names - Malcolm and Sandra!

25 Years Ago - The Way Things Were - Gossip From Beckindale 1983 - Part 2...

TV Times, 19-25 February 1983. The synopsis for the episode of Emmerdale Farm broadcast on 22/2/ reads:

Jackie Merrick seems keen to settle in at Emmerdale. But he soon realises he has much to learn.

What were the details of this storyline?

When Jackie found an old butter churn in one of the outbuildings at Emmerdale Farm, he thought it might make a nice ornament. But Dolly, who was already making her own wool, was fired with the ambition to use it...

Annie exclaimed at the find "It's Granny Sugden's old churn! Where'd you find that?"

She pointed out that if the churn was to be used, it would need a stand.

Jackie set to work without consulting Matt, who happened upon the lad working on the stand some time later. He expressed concern at the lack of proper carpentry joints, and the use of nails instead of screws. But Jackie shrugged Matt's doubts off.

That night at the farmhouse, Pat, Dolly and Matt assembled...

... for the grand entrance of the butter churn, complete with Jackie's new stand.

Jackie gave his audience a brief demonstration...

... and the stand fell apart.

Jackie was furious - after all his work! - but Matt offered to help him make a new stand.

And the following day that's just that what they did.

Unknown to Jackie and Matt, Jack happened upon the scene and was glad to see his son was finally settling in at the farm.

The Emmerdale Farm Knitting Book, 1983

A nice item from 1983 which sometimes turns up on eBay. Good addition to any Emmerdale Farm/Emmerdale collection.

Some interesting facts about the (then) cast are included.

Did you know that Ian Sharrock appeared with Danny Kaye in ATV's production of Peter Pan?

Clive Hornby, the second actor to play Jack Sugden, joined the cast in 1980. He said in 1983: "I knew nothing about farming when I joined the series - but I've learned a lot and realised what a hard life it is."

Cuddlesome Seth Armstrong. Stan Richards had previously appeared briefly in soapland as a councillor colleague of Alf Roberts and Len Fairclough in Coronation Street.

Frederick Pyne helped to raise £25,000 for two hospitals for the disabled, much of it through personal appearances by himself and through arranging them with other members of the cast.

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!