Wednesday 9 July 2008
Mrs Bates
Mrs Bates, who arrived in Beckindale in 1984, had a broken marriage, two teenage children and a nightmare boss in Alan Turner at NY Estates. But she coped. The character's amusement at Alan's various acts of stupidity and her quiet, caring nature added a great deal of "must watch" factor to Emmerdale Farm.
Mrs Bates was not originally intended to be a major character, but Diana Davies added something to the role which ensured that she was. Richard Thorp (Alan Turner) recalls:
"Oh, Alan was an absolute stinker in the beginning, he rubbed everyone up the wrong way. The major influence on him was Mrs Bates who was played by Diana Davies. In the very first scene we did together I was losing my temper, ranting and raving, so she sent me up and it came across when we did the scene."
The Alan Turner/Mrs Bates NY Estates scenes were terrific to watch.
Mrs Bates ranks as one of my all-time favourite Beckindalers.
Diana Davies autograph from the 1980s.
From "Wilks" To "Mr Wilks" - Credit Where It's Due!
From 1972 until the early 1980s, the character of Henry Wilks, portrayed by Arthur Pentelow, was always listed in the closing credits as "Wilks". Initially, Henry, a retired businessman, was seen moving to Beckindale and was very much an outsider.
But that changed.
In the 1980s, Henry's partnership with Amos Brearly at the Woolpack Inn was in its golden era, and the popularity of that partnership - and the character of Henry Wilks - was acknowledged by altering "Wilks" to "Mr Wilks" (which, of course, Amos always called him) in the programme's end credits early in the decade.
A lovely and thoroughly English quirk (such formality!) which was later echoed by the listing of Caroline Bates (Diana Davies), Alan Turner's long suffering secretary at NY Estates, as "Mrs Bates" in the closing credits. In the NY days, this was the title Alan always used, and, even after the character's Christian name was revealed, "Mrs Bates" remained in the closing credits.
"Emmerdale Farm" closing credits from 1980 - "Wilks"!
Spot the difference - "Emmerdale Farm" closing credits from 1983 - "Mr Wilks"!
Eric Pollard 1988
Actor Chris Chittell has got used to being the man they love to hate in "Emmerdale Farm", but he has no sympathy for the rogue he plays.
As the disgraced antiques dealer, Eric Pollard, he has terrorised Sandie Merrick, hatched a series of shady deals, and has even been suspected of having shot Henry Wilks' son-in-law, Paolo.
Chris has good reason to disapprove of the dealer's underhand way of doing business.
He says: "Pollard has shown himself to be the worst kind of conman - preying on old folk to try to trick them out of valuable items of furniture.
"My grandmother has had several experiences of men like Pollard calling round and trying to buy antiques from her. One man had his eye on her Louis XIV cabinet in gilt and marble. So many old people have things they think they must get rid of because they've had them for years. They can be so trusting."
Chris says a common ploy is to agree on a price for the item, then the furniture is taken away. The conman then returns the following day offering less money than earlier agreed.
Fortunately, Chris' grandma wasn't fooled by the trick. But Chris hopes that Pollard's bad habits will alert Emmerdale's audience to the dangers of selling on spec to a respectable-looking character.
If Chris looks at home among all those antiques, it's not surprising. For the 39-year-old is a keen collector in real life.
He spends much of his spare time hunting down bargains in junk shops around his home in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
Sunday 6 July 2008
The Wonderful World Of Amos And Mr Wilks
Actually there were TWO Woolpacks. The first was declared unsafe due to subsidence in 1976, so the pair relocated to premises elsewhere in the village.
Mr Wilks was a warm hearted retired businessman. Amos was... well... erm... it's not easy to summarise Amos. He was childish. Pompous. Usually rigidly formal. Given to rapid fads and enthusiasms. He was also naive and very good hearted. Underneath it all.
The character of Amos evolved. When he became Beckindale correspondent on the Hotten Courier, he puffed himself up like a peacock. But it took until the early 1980s before the character was refined and honed to perfection. Watch any 1970s episode of Emmerdale Farm, and I think you might agree that Amos was quieter, more restrained and dour than in the 1980s - when he was gloriously potty, pursuing fad after fad in quick succession, bridling at Mr Wilks' attempts to bring him down to earth and generally being a wonderful nuisance.
1980 was an absolutely pivotal year for the Amos character - with Seth Armstrong leaving The Malt Shovel bar to become a regular at The Woolpack, and Al Dixon joining the cast as Walter, Amos became more animated, fad-ridden and bizarre than ever before!
The '80s were a truly splendid era during which Amos and Mr Wilks story lines abounded, as the show became an all-year-round soap.
Do you remember the time when Amos got into transcendental meditation? The time he went "upwardly mobile" and took up golf with Alan Turner? The time he turned to bee keeping? The time he baked a cake? The time he was cursed by a gypsy? The time...
If all these sound like Amos-only story lines, rest assured that Mr Wilks was always there, advising, trying to moderate his friend's behaviour, and generally suffering!
Fortunately, Mr Wilks had friends elsewhere or he would, no doubt, have gone insane!
Amos and Mr Wilks have a disagreement in 1980...
Saturday 5 July 2008
25 Years Ago - The Way Things Were - Gossip From Beckindale 1983 - Part 4
Mr Wilks took his concerns to Alan Turner, who put pressure on the Estate workers to clear the Dingle of debris. Unfortunately, he rubbed them all up the wrong way - refusing to recognise their positions as skilled workers (their contracts stated that they were all "labourers") and also refusing them overtime.
NY Estates Union rep John Tuplin discussed the situation with his colleagues in the Woolpack one lunchtime - and things got a little noisy. The men were thoroughly fed up with Alan's high handed bullying. Disturbed by the noise, Amos Brearly scolded them all, telling them:
"I'm surprised at you lot. You call yourselves grown men and 'ere you are you behaving like... like a rabble! Do you want my honest opinion?"
"I think we're gonna get it!" said Daniel, amidst sniggers from the men.
Amos was undeterred: "Mr Turner's an educated gentleman - a born leader doing a difficult job in difficult times. And if he wants you to do a job I reckon you should behave like true Britishers and get stuck in!"
"And that's your honest opinion?" asked John Tuplin.
"It is!" said Amos, head held high.
"Right, lads!" And the men got up and left the pub.
Amos moved back to the bar. "That's the way to handle industrial relations, Mr Wilks! One word from me and they're off to Primrose Dingle. The voice of reason - that's all were needed!"
Voice of reason? Mr Wilks was not convinced.
The Woolpack was boycotted by the NY Estates men, and other villagers joined them. Mr Wilks had hoped that as Amos grew older he might become a little easier to live with. But it was not to be. The 1980s saw Amos becoming more fad obsessed and downright oddball than ever before. 1983 had barely started, but already Amos had competed with Sam Pearson to try and win a cruise in a competition, gone in for transcendental meditation and philosophy, and tried to get the Woolpack visited by Eric Birdwick, the hostelry reviewer on The Hotten Courier.
On the first night of the great NY Estates walkout, still hoping for a visit from Mr Birdwick, Amos had banked up a blazing fire - it was so hot that Walter, the pub's only customer did a previously unheard of thing - he took off his cap and loosened his tie. Peanuts laid out on the bar caused acrimony when Amos caught Walter eating them, and, finally, Walter walked out. Amos was devastated: "Walter! You can't!" But, flinging one last disdainful look over his shoulder, Walter did.
"What are we going to do, Mr Wilks?!" groaned Amos.
The next day, Amos refused to believe Mr Wilks when he said that Walter had joined the rest of the Woolpack regulars at the bar of the Malt Shovel.
"Nay, I'll never believe that!"
"Amos, you can't go around playing at God, laying down the law as you do, without upsetting some people. Nay, most people. Nay, all the people!"
Alan Turner came in, commenting: "Bit sparse in here today, isn't it?"
The story of the row with the NY Estates men came out and Alan was very impressed by this show of support.
Amos and Alan got chatting under Mr Wilks' disapproving eye, and Alan invited Amos to play golf with him the following day and to have lunch at Hotten Golf Club. Amos had never played golf before, but did not admit it. An invitation to the golf club just suited his upwardly mobile mood.
"I must be off - collect you about ten," said Alan. He left. Mr Wilks eyed Amos: "Lee Trevino, I presume?"
Amos was suddenly worried at the situation he'd landed himself in: "What am I going to wear, Mr Wilks? I mean, it's plus fours and spikes as I remember rightly."
"Plus fours!" said Mr Wilks, derisively.
"Only it's a long time since I trod greens," continued Amos.
"A long time, Amos?"
"Aye, well..." Amos squirmed.
"A very long time? Would it be more accurate to say never?"
Amos nodded.
"Then you've only yourself to blame!" said Mr Wilks.
However, Mr Wilks was a good friend. He made it plain that he did not approve of Amos' liaison with Alan Turner, but stated that he did not want to see him in a mess. He presented Amos with his own golfing equipment and clothes. Amos also approached Seth Armstrong asking him for any golfing paraphernalia he could provide in return for "good money".
Amos liked Tufty. Back at the club house restaurant, Alan and The Major excused themselves to use the Gents, and Amos insisted on buying Tufty a pint. It was then he discovered that he had left his wallet in the changing room. Going to retrieve it, Amos heard Alan and The Major talking at the urinal...
"A relief, you mean," said The Major. "Glad to see the back of the fellow. Are you going to get me a drink then?"
"Yes, yes, of course - G&T?"
"And then I'll let you buy me lunch," The Major smugly toyed with his cigarette holder.
Alan was momentarily aback. "Oh will you?" Then he slid back into crawler mode. "Yes. Yes, it'll be a pleasure."
Friday 4 July 2008
Clive Hornby
I am saddened to hear of the death of actor Clive Hornby, Jack Sugden in Emmerdale Farm.
Mr Hornby was the second actor to play Jack and first appeared in the role on 19 February 1980.
Down to earth Jack was much-loved, Mr Hornby stamped his own warm and natural acting style on the character, which had formerly been portrayed as a bit of an outsider and trendy bohemian in the show's early days.
My sympathies to Mr Hornby's family.
As a tribute to Clive Hornby, I am declaring August at Back To Beckindale "1980 Month". We shall then return to the year of Mr Hornby's debut in Beckindale to look at the events and characters of the time - including, of course, the return of Jack Sugden.
Thursday 3 July 2008
Richard Handford And Stuart Doughty - Two Producers Of 1980s Emmerdale Farm
Anne W. Gibbons (1979 to 1983)
Richard Handford (1983 to 1986)
Michael Russell (1986 to 1988)
Stuart Doughty (1988 to 1991)
Here we present the views of two Emmerdale Farm producers of the 1980s - Richard Handford is first, in an article from the Yorkshire Evening Post 1985 supplement, Emmerdale Farm 1,000!
IT’S NOT A SOAP OPERA IT’S DRAMA - SAYS THE PRODUCER
“Emmerdale Farm” is more than just another time-consuming soap opera. Ever since its conception by time-honoured writer Kevin Laffan, the series has had a message to give to its millions of fans.
That message, says producer Richard Handford, latest in 13 years to wear the mantle, is that it should always be “warm and caring.”
“Most of the characters,” he says, “adhere to moral values. And it’s bound to stay that way.”
Richard, who read English at Cambridge and spent nearly every night at the cinema, is the sixth producer of “Emmerdale” and has been responsible for 200 of the 1,000 episodes.
He admits that there has been a hardening of the storylines from the cosy fireside yarns and sheep shearing shots that introduced Beckindale to a nation obviously gasping for a breath of fresh country air.
“At one time everybody was good,” he says. “Now we are challenging traditional values.”
Challenging these values has meant introducing such modern traits which obviously effect both urban and rural communities, as extra-marital affairs. The sort of thing that makes Annie Sugden clank her pans on the solid-fuel kitchen range.
But it’s only done to reflect life as it really is, Richard insists.
“I don’t do it to pull in viewers,” he says. “Jack’s affair was a good story that we could deal with well. And I wanted to show that life isn’t all that easy
“It can happen to anyone. It’s just that some of us are lucky, but we can’t hide away from the fact that some aren’t.”
Jack’s little romp - a great departure for the clean-cut Sugdens - surprised the “Emmerdale” team by bringing “very few” compaints. “I think there were about twelve,” Richard recalls.
The changes in modern values must come through in the programme, he says. “For instance, nobody now expects their children to be virtous until marriage.
“Annie, who sets ther moral tone for her family, has had to be challenged with these problems.”
When Richard looks to the future, he says it would be impossible to predict what’s going to happen In the next 1,000 episodes. “Why change the tone for the sake of it,” he says.
But one thing is certain. It will always be a happy programme.
“It always has been, both on and off the set,” says Richard. “It shows in the way the artistes keep coming back for more.”
“People will bust a gut for the programme. They really believe in it, seriously and passionately.
“We’re not a soap opera. We believe we’re a long-running drama.”
And on to Stuart Doughty - an article from the Hotten Courier, Yorkshire Television's Emmerdale Farm programme publicity, summer 1988:
No big shake-up says the farm’s new boss
Former “Brookside” producer Stuart Doughty has crossed the Pennines to join Yorkshire Television’s top serial, “Emmerdale Farm”.
But Stuart, who took over the reins in January, has no wish to turn life down on the farm into a “rural ‘Brookside’”.
“I haven’t any plans to urbanise it and fill ‘Emmerdale’ full of social problems,” says Stuart.
During his two-and-a-half-year spell on the Channel 4 series, set in Liverpool, storylines included a fatal gun siege, rape, suicide and the first AIDS sufferer in a British soap.
But, though he won’t radically alter the formula that has made “Emmerdale Farm” a TV favourite, with a regular 12 million viewers per episode, Stuart admits he doesn’t want to see things standing still.
He sees the future as one of evolution rather than revolution. “Any serial has got to move with the times. If it stops it will become old-fashioned and out of touch with its viewers,” he says.
“Soaps must reflect life. They have to keep in touch with real life, otherwise viewers regard them as fantasy.”
He certainly believes it would be wrong for British soaps to become as escapist as “Dallas” or “Dynasty”, in which the characters are unbelievably rich and beautiful.
“British soaps tend to portray ordinary people in everyday situations,” he says.
Stuart, 38, has a varied broadcasting background. After university, he joined the BBC’s Overseas Service.
Then, after a brief spell as an actor - when he worked with Andrew Burt, who played the original Jack Sugden - he began supplying quiz questions for “University Challenge”.
This eventually led to a job with Granada as a researcher.
Moving on, Stuart became an associate producer at Granada, responsible for dramas like “Crown Court”, “A Kind Of Loving” and “The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes”. In 1985, he went to Mersey Television to become Bookside’s producer.
Now, Stuart believes he’s the first soap producer to make the move from one serial to another.
Wednesday 25 June 2008
Emmerdale Farm - Always A Soap...
I've just received an e-mail from Janine:
I've just read on a Crossroads Network Forum that Emmerdale Farm went downhill and became a soap in the mid-1980s. Did it? Or should I be taking notice of Crossroads fans?
In my opinion, Emmerdale Farm was always a soap (despite producer Richard Handford stating it wasn't in 1985), and I saw the series from its very early days. I recall the car crash involving Joe and Mr Wilks, the murder of Sharon Crossthwaite, the death of old Trash the tramp, the Vicar's son being charged with gun running, the death of Peggy Skilbeck - and the brutal way her children were despatched, the suicide of Jim Gimbel (he shot himself), and the gun hold-up storyline involving Amos, Mr Wilks and old Sam Pearson. There were lots of cliff hangers, lots of storylines designed to bring in viewers.
Soap was frowned upon in the 60s, 70s and 80s - and several soap producers refuted the claim that their shows were soaps, including Bill Podmore, producer of Coronation Street.
But Emmerdale Farm always adhered to a soap format - the show simply became pacier, grittier and more daring in the 1980s.
As for whether you should take notice of Crossroads viewers, I used to like it myself!
Saturday 21 June 2008
Annie Sugden And Sheila Mercier
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.
Wednesday 18 June 2008
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.
Monday 16 June 2008
1989: Annie Sugden's Tranquilliser Adiction...
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.