Annie Sugden And Sheila Mercier

From the Emmerdale Farm Celebration Edition 1000 Episodes Magazine, 1985.

Annie Sugden

Ever since she was widowed thirteen years ago, Annie Sugden has felt responsible for Emmerdale Farm and the Sugden family. Life has not been easy for her, coping with financial crises, warring sons and the loss of her only daughter. But she has faced the problems courageously. She's a strong, level headed woman, loyal to her family but not blind to their weaknesses, and she speaks her mind when she feels it's called for. Annie's honesty is usually appreciated and people often turn to her for advice, but the years haven't dulled her sense of humour. She enjoys a joke as much as anyone in the family.

Sheila Mercier

"Annie Sugden has changed a great deal over the years," said Sheila Mercier. "At the beginning she was very terse. She was the head of the family and let everyone know it. She ruled with a rod of iron. She'd had a tough life. She'd had a rough ride with Jacob, who used to drink the money away and sit in the Woolpack until all hours. Jack didn't live at home then and it was Annie who kept the farm together. Until Henry Wilks came along they were poor farmers, living hand-to-mouth.

"But now things are different. Jack has made a success of Emmerdale and Henry's interest in the farm and Annie herself has made her relax. She's mellower now."

Sheila Mercier enjoys playing Annie and has learned to live with the fame it brings her.

"People often stop you in the street and say 'Oh. I'm sorry I thought I knew you.' Or they call out 'Oi! Are you Annie Sugden?' Others write to Annie asking her to solve their problems."

Ocasionally though, the attention is unwelcome.

"I do think it's rude when people interrupt your meal to ask for autographs," said Sheila. "And once a woman with a bag of fish and chips ran after me shouting 'Oi! Oi! Annie! Sign this fish and chip paper for me!' "

Sheila has been interested in acting for as long as she can remember. Her whole family was in love with the threatre. Her mother had a beautiful singing voice and spent a great deal of time organising shows to raise money for the church.

"My brother Brian Rix and I used to hide under the piano and listen to them rewhearsing," said Sheila. "My father was a ship owner and he didn't go on stage himself, but he used to make all the scenery. We had a little cottage in the grounds of our house where he kept all his stuff and he was always sawing and hammering and painting. He loved it."

When her mother wasn't putting on shows, she was throwing lively parties at which everyone did his party piece. Sheila's speciality was the dramatic poem.

"My favourite poem was called 'Ojistoh", about a Mohican woman who is captured by another tribe. It's quite exciting," said Sheila. "I learned it at elocution lessons when I was eleven, and when I recited it the mistress said 'That girl will be an actress.'

"The funny thing is, years later when I was in the airforce I was asked to do something for a concert. I couldn't think of anything to do until I remembered 'Ojistoh'. Anyway, in the audience that night were some tough Glaswegian boys from the Argyll and Sutherland Regiment and when I launched into 'Ojistoh' they started to laugh and they laughed me off stage!" It was Sheila's worst theatrical disaster.

Spotted at drama school by Sir Donald Wolfitt, she was invited to join his company and spent a great deal of time staying in seedy digs while they toured the country.

"The funny thing is when you're young you don't seem to mind," said Sheila, "and the landladies could be kind. In Norwich one of the other girls and I were staying with a Mrs Pigani who discovered that we liked Welsh Rarebit. It turned out to be her husband's speciality and we had it for supper every night!"

Since then Sheila has worked in countless productions, including comedies with her brother Brian Rix. These days, however, she's happy to swap the irregular hours of the theatre for the more settled life of television.

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 1980s - Amos Brearly's Golden Decade

Amos and Alan Turner in 1983

An e-mail from Lizzie:

I've just watched some Emmerdale Farm episodes from 1975 and 1978. Is it me, or was Amos more restrained in the 1970s? He seemed pretty potty but not half as potty and oddball as he did in some episodes I have from 1983! I loved this character, but I think the 1980s was probably his heyday.

I agree, Lizzie - Amos was always great, but the character was refined and honed to perfection by the early 1980s. Like a fine wine, the character was all the better for maturing. I always hail the 1980s as the golden era of Amos and Mr Wilks!

You Love 1986

Thanks to everybody who voted in my recent poll. Your favourite '80s year of Emmerdale Farm action appears to be 1986 - the year of Meg Armstrong, Harry Mowlam, Eric Pollard, Walter's departure and Pat's death. The year Seth Armstrong cheated at the Woolpack Vs Malt Shovel Dominoes Tournament and Joe Sugden had an affair with Karen Moore. The year Sandie Merrick began her affair with Phil Pearce and Jackie Merrick lost Sita Sharma.

The results are:

1986 - 18 votes

1984 - 16 votes

1989 - 14 votes

1980 and 1987 - both had 8 votes

1988 - 6 votes

1985 - 5 votes

1982 - 4 votes

1981 and 1983 - 1 vote each!

Was Emmerdale Farm Really Modelled On The Riordans?

An interesting e-mail from Stu:

I've just read on Wikipedia that "Emmerdale Farm" was modelled on the Irish soap "The Riordans". This is not evident from any Emmerdale material I have from the 1970s or 1980s. Although the production team may have visited "The Riordans" set and location to gain insight into filming in a farming location, isn't "modelled on" a bit strong? After all, "The Archers", the BBC radio soap based on a farming family and a village, has been running since 1951. So the basic idea can hardly be said to have come about via "The Riordans".

I really don't know, Stu. I hadn't read that information until recent years on Wikipedia. If anybody has any further insights, please drop me a line and I'll pass it on to Stu.

Incidentally, I recall The Riordans being shown briefly in my ITV area years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed what I saw of it.

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.

The 1980s - Did Emmerdale Farm REALLY Become "Dallas With Dung" Or The "Dynasty Of The Dales"?

Thanks to Anonymous for a very interesting e-mail.

Anoymous is interested in the idea that Emmerdale Farm may have become rather "Dallas/Dynastified" in the 1980s. Surely, he/she asks, if Les Dawson was dubbing it "Dallas with dung" in 1984 and the Sunday People "The Dynasty of the Dales" in 1985, this is an indication that the show had gone '80s era American soap style glitzy/sensationalist?

Er, no, not really. You must remember that Les Dawson was a comedian - a champion of the witty remark! Story lines of 1984 included a water shortage, Mrs Bates beginning work at NY Estates and the shooting of her dog for sheep worrying, Amos being annoyed by Ernie Shuttleworth's attempts to put The Woolpack in the shade, and the death of Grandad Sam Pearson

Dallas and Dynasty did make their mark on the English soaps in the 1980s - and, indeed, the Scots soap Take The High Road: Alan Turner, Eric Pollard, Dirty Den and Davie Sneddon, amongst others, were all "bad guy" characters - clearly created on the back of the public's fascination with JR Ewing of Dallas.

But Emmerdale Farm stayed down-to-earth and was, in fact, at times very gritty in the 1980s.

That's not to say that glitzy 1980s fashions were not featured - of course they were. You didn't need to be able to afford "designer" gear as Dolly Miami Vice Skilbeck shows in the 1989 photograph above. Shoulder pads were available at C & A! And then there was Nick's mullet, Archie's clobber and many other clues to the era to be found around Beckindale.

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In 1980, the country was flooded with "Who Shot JR?" mania. The soap "bad guy" character concept, featured on a permanent basis, then went wide - and was leapt on by our home grown soaps, including Emmerdale Farm. Alan Turner turned up as boss at NY Estates' Beckindale outfit in 1982, and was supposed to be a real swine. But he ended up a wally and a bit of a sweety. Whilst newspapers of the era still dubbed him the "JR of Beckindale", by about 1986 Alan was actually Beckindale's adored twit. A bit selfish, an occasional git, but basically a darling. Inadequate more than anything else.

In 1986, Eric Pollard entered the fray and proved to be a long-staying swine. Perhaps he wasn't just a swine, but he was certainly more of one than Alan had ever been and became Emmerdale Farm's enjoyable pantomime villain - deliciously camp, narrowing his eyes (one could almost imagine him twirling his moustache) and going after whatever he wanted, blackmailing, stealing and cheating along the way. Other 1980s villains included the terrifying Harry Mowlam and his sidekick (and later murderer) Derek Warner - far too gritty to be Dallas influenced, and hard hearted businessman Denis Rigg, who perhaps was a little.

So, whilst Emmerdale Farm was certainly influenced by the American soaps, it was actually simply fun to declare it "Dallas with dung" or "The Dynasty of the Dales". Tongues were firmly in cheeks. And when Hilary Kingsley described the character of Angela Channing in Falcon Crest as looking like an "upmarket Annie Sugden - but without the ironing board" I roared with laughter.

Hilary Kingsley also wrote about the "growing wealth and influence" of the Sugden family in 1988, but I'm not sure that this was actually reflected on screen at all. True, Joe worked for NY Estates for a time, but the financial situation at Emmerdale Farm never seemed that brilliant - and in 1989 Joe was talking to his mother about the difficulties of having Jack back living and working at the farm, and the fact that it must be regarded as a business if it was to continue to support the family. The place was undergoing some much needed refurbishment in 1989, after apparently "making do" since the start of the series!

So, no real glitz and gloss - just a few chain store shoulder pads, dodgy hairstyles and other 1980s fashion horrors, a certain JR influence, but no Alexis, and what about the story lines?

The American soaps tended to have outrageously silly story lines. Remember Blake Carrington and the poisoned paint? Alexis posing as a nun? Pam's dream? The Moldavian Massacre? There were murders, plane crashes, fires and explosions galore.

Emmerdale Farm wasn't like that in the 1980s.

The English farming soap became grittier, the stories a little more explicit, but adultery, a security van robbery, a car accident, an accidental shooting, a couple of burglaries, a murder and a house fire (at Crossgill) can hardly be called OTT when spread over a period of ten years. The infamous badger baiting episodes were a fascinating glimpse into the underbelly of country life.

The soap also took on the issue of nuclear waste - a controversial modern day issue, and dealt with it admirably.

If anything, Emmerdale Farm was far more influenced by the new English soaps of the 1980s - Brookside and EastEnders - than the glossy American fantasy sagas.

We tuned in to see Archie the layabout and activist; Jackie the lovable clot with the disastrous love-life; Annie at her Aga; Matt and Dolly and lots of sheep; Amos, Mr Wilks and Walter at the Woolpack; Mrs Bates and Alan Turner; Seth (and occasionally Meg) Armstrong; and, later, Beckindale's very own Dick Dastardly, Eric Pollard.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Emmerdale has become more influenced by the 1980s era American soaps. Remember the plane crash of 1993? Kim Tate testing to see if her husband Frank was dead with her compact mirror in 1997 - and then pausing to repair her make up before leaving? So camp. Alexis would have been proud! There have been so many disasters - explosions, murders, shootings, rapes, a highly dramatic storm...

And a very bizarre (and ugly) story line about a coffin and a garbage crusher.

Was Emmerdale Farm in the 1980s the "Dynasty of the Dales"? I think this was said in response to some of the increasingly gritty story lines (although it was hardly appropriate to compare Dallas and Dynasty with grittier goings-on in Beckindale!) and mainly in fun. It was very amusing to compare Amos and co to Alexis and co! Certainly, Les Dawson made his "Dallas with dung" statement to make his audience laugh. Creating laughter was his trade.

Was/is Emmerdale in the 1990s and 21st Century the "Dynasty of the Dales"? I would say Definitely - and a whole more! And these days there isn't much dung, either!

Happy Birthday From Amos

Amos, hoping for a best-loved landlord award in 1985 - "Nay, Nay, Mr Wilks - 'Loveability' is my middle name."

Some years ago I received a birthday card from Mr Amos Brearly, proprietor of the Woolpack Inn, Beckindale. Well, actually, I received a birthday card from Mr Ronald Magill, the actor behind the Mr Brearly character but, as was his habit, he also signed it as Amos!

My wife organised the card with Mr Magill as a surprise - and it made that birthday particularly special. It remains a treasured souvenir of one of the all-time soap greats.

As Beckindale correspondent for the Hotten Courier, Amos was probably quite used to replying to fan mail!

1982 - Matt And Dolly On The Move (But Not Far!)

1982 was a happy time for Matt and Dolly Skilbeck - with the news that Dolly was pregnant, their move into the newly-built barn conversion cottage at Emmerdale Farm and, finally, the arrival of young Sam. Here we see the couple taking a break in preparing the cottage for occupation.

The Sun, October 26 1982: Matt and Dolly Skilbeck spend their first night in their new home.

New Poll - What's Your Favourite 1980s Emmerdale Farm Year?

1980 - the return of Jack Sugden (now played by Clive Hornby).

What was your favourite 1980s year of Emmerdale Farm action? Was it 1980, when Jack arrived back from Italy - and Pat Merrick brought Jackie and Sandie to the village?
Perhaps it was 1982 - a good year for Matt and Dolly - with the birth of their son, Sam.

1983 - Walter broke Seth's glasses...

And then there's 1984, when Jack was a bad lad with Karen Moore, Mrs Bates formed a fun working relationship with Alan Turner and dear old Grandad Pearson died...

Perhaps the gritty drama of 1986, with Harry Mowlam wreaking havoc before being brutally murdered, Eric Pollard first appearing at Hotten Market and Meg Armstrong imposing a strict regime at the Woolpack floats your boat?

1986: "I'm Eric Pollard!" - the devious one introduces himself; "That's quite enough out of you, poppet!" says Meg Armstrong; "I'm gonna break your bloody back!" says Harry Mowlam...

How about the struggle against a nuclear waste dump in 1987 - hailed as a major step forward in the politicisation of soap, or 1989 when Jackie died and the Tates arrived at Home Farm?

Lots of memories from a pivotal decade of Emmerdale history, which saw changes in pace, characters and name. The 1980s saw the serial celebrate ten years and was also the first full decade of the serial. Whichever 1980s year you choose, there was Emmerdale!

1987 - Say NO To The Beckindale Nuclear Dump!

1988 - Jackie and Kathy marry.

Eyes left for our Poll - hover your mouse over each year and you'll see a brief list of some of the events contained therein.

And then vote, vote, vote.

Talking of voting, remember when Amos wanted to become Member of Parliament for Halifax in 1982? Poor Halifax!

But what a great storyline...

1989 - the shock of the new - the Tates arrive at Home Farm...