A look back at Emmerdale's 50 golden years

Emmerdale has come a long way from the farmhouse kitchen table in sleepy Beckindale where the soap started its life in Yorkshire 50 years ago. Susan Griffin looks back at the rural dramas and iconic characters that have made the show such the success it is today

October marks Emmerdale’s 50th anniversary, an achievement that’s all the more incredible given it was never intended to air beyond a few months.

Created by Kevin Laffan, a playwright from an impoverished background, the soap was initially written as a 26-part series.

'Kevin said he wanted it to be like a Charles Dickens novel, in that it would have a beginning, middle and end, and an earthiness to it, so the viewer would see as much of the farming aspect on screen as possible, down to the farmers coming in and washing their hands before a meal,' reveals Tom Parfitt, 32, an oracle on British soaps, as well as Emmerdale’s archivist, who’s written a book called 50 Years of Emmerdale in honour of the landmark anniversary.

Launching as Emmerdale Farm on October 16, 1972, in a bi-weekly daytime spot, the long-running drama didn’t receive a simultaneous network transmission until 1988, and it was 1990 before it moved to the evening spot. Today, it’s on every weeknight.

'Emmerdale aired regionally to start with, and when it was first on in London, they did this big push of advertising on the tube that said: Country Breaks, Twice a Week. With all its beautiful imagery, it was billed as a little escape for people who perhaps didn’t see countryside,' explains Parfitt who’s from south Wales but now lives in Leeds, not far from the soap’s extensive set.

Farm matriarch Annie Sugden was played by Sheila Mercier in Emmerdale Farm, first broadcast on 16 October 1972 and produced by ITV Yorkshire (Image: Copyright (c) 1976 Shutterstock. No use without permission.)'It’s very easy to dismiss the first 20-odd years of the show as being very sleepy, where nothing much happened bar Annie Sugden (played by the late Sheila Mercier) baking scones, and sheep escaping from the top field. But they were actually doing hard-hitting stories, such as a brutal rape and murder storyline in episode 30. A few years later, they had twin toddlers killed on a level crossing,' says Parfitt who believes there are notable reasons for the common misconception.

'Aside from the name, lunchtime slot and bucolic imagery, there was the theme tune, which is the same arrangement but about five times slower, and admittedly, some of the cliff-hangers, compared to today, are rather tame, such as Annie’s best teapot being broken. It was a nostalgia fest, and I think that’s how Emmerdale was perceived for a good while.'
That changed in the early nineties. First, there was the epic plane crash storyline in 1993, 'a big, powerful set piece, which cost something like a million pounds, a huge amount of money back then,' says Parfitt.

The following year, the word ‘Farm’ was dropped from the show’s title, the village of Beckindale was renamed Emmerdale, and the world began to open up.

'In the early days, the Sugdens, who represented the farming folk of the Dales, were the focal family with a few characters on the periphery, such as Amos Brearly and Henry Wilks. More characters were introduced in the 1980s. Then, in 1989, the Tates, this nouveau riche family, moved into Home Farm, followed by the brash Dingles, and the Windsors, a working-class family from London. Suddenly, you had a greater diversity of characters that’s carried to grow over the last 30 years,' notes Parfitt.

Storylines escalated, too. There had been affairs in the past, but now there were literal rolls in the hay.

'Farming was always in the backdrop, but more issue-led stories were introduced; a character like Aaron Dingle, for instance, who came out (as gay) in 2008 with a four-year arc of him exploring his sexuality, that also filtered into an assisted suicide story in 2011. Suddenly we’re telling really ambitious and controversial stories, being outspoken, and pulling it off.'

Other families were ushered, such as a new farming clan, the Bartons, as well as the Wyldes at Home Farm, and the business savvy Sharmas.

'That gave it a bit of a refresh as we headed towards the 40th anniversary. From then really, we’ve just gone bigger- bigger stories, bigger stunts, bigger diversity - that’s been a conscious push in the last few years, definitely,” says Parfitt who’s hopeful for the soap’s future despite the change in people’s viewing habits.

'Soaps as a genre has to be sustainable, and we’re doing all we can to keep it as fresh, relevant, and contemporary as ever, through the characters and the stories we give them and the messages we’re sending to our audiences - without being preachy. We’ve got to be entertaining, funny, relevant, and innovative, too, to find new ways to hook the viewer in. It’s why we’re constantly coming up with new ways to tell a story, whether its flashbacks, flashforwards, or single perspective episodes. But I think there will always be a place for Emmerdale. Viewers appreciate the history of the show, as well as the easy familiarity.'

Location, location, location

Today's Emmerdale village is filmed close to Harewood: the 300-acre Harewood estate was leased and planning permission for an entire village set was granted (Image: ITV)Through his research, Parfitt noted a consistent response when asking cast, crew or fans what it is they love about Emmerdale-it’s the setting. As he notes, unlike other soaps constrained to a square or street, Emmerdale’s location is beautiful and vast.

'I’ve been on all the soap sets and it’s the one I find most realistic. I catch myself looking to cross the road because you forget you’re not in a real village. They are proper buildings, proper infrastructure,' says Parfitt who highlights there have been various locations used over the years.

'When Emmerdale first began filming, the village of Arncliffe in the Yorkshire Dales was used, then Esholt, just outside Shipley from 1976 to 1997. Production moved back to the Yorkshire Television Studios in 2010 for the majority of the interior shots. Meanwhile, the 300-acre Harewood estate was leased and planning permission for an entire village set was granted. Driving into that is something else, especially on a glorious day.'

What makes Emmerdale so special?

James Hooton, 49, who plays Sam Dingle
'It’s a life-changing experience to work with such a good ensemble team. There are still people involved in the show that I was with on the first day, there are no airs and graces, no one’s above anyone else-it’s the best formula for getting the job done.'

Lisa Riley, 46, who plays Mandy Dingle
'The root of Emmerdale is brilliant families, like a crochet blanket. We’ve had these family driven characters for so long, and viewers care – they want to know what they’re doing, because we’re in their household night after night. That’s what makes it so terrific. I honestly feel like I’m part of the heart of the programme, and that fills me with pride.'

Mark Charnock, 53, who plays Marlon Dingle
'It’s been a gift, all the way through. I can honestly say, 25 years later, I genuinely get excited to go in every day. It’s a support network, it’s a hotbed of creativity. I used to watch it when I was a little boy, with my grandparents. It’s a little piece of magic in the world.'

Claire King, 60, who plays Kim Tate
'It’s still got the best work ethic and it’s still the most down to earth place, and I know people always say, ‘Oh, it’s like a family’ but it really is. I think it’s because we’re the only one that has the greenery, the rural setting, the beautiful Dales, it just looks different from city soaps. And there’s such a variety of different people because of the setting; there are people from the city, there are country bumpkins and you wouldn’t normally get that on a soap.'

Samantha Giles, 51, who plays Bernice Blackstock
'It’s had an enormous impact on my life. I think there’s a tendency for people to be dismissive of soaps, but they are a huge part of many people’s lives. I feel very lucky that I’ve played a character that has been very popular.'

Tony Audenshaw, 58, who plays Bob Hope (2000-present)
'It’s a factory for making TV that people engage with. It’s a great job for me because I can do what I enjoy. I can do serious stuff, I can do a bit of comedy, I can sing a bit. It plays to my strengths as an actor, and I feel valued there. It’s not about giving people what they want all the time, so we’re not just making the audience happy, we’re annoying them, you want to keep them watching and you want to take them on a journey. Characters are taken out of their comfort zones and do something bad and go on a curve of redemption.'

(Credit: Emmerdale at 50)

Emmerdale legends

Archivist and author Tom Parfitt reveals his top five characters

1.Kim Tate (Claire King)
'She came in as the attractive, much younger wife of Frank Tate, who had this affair and suddenly it was like, what can we do with this feisty character? Kim wasn’t just slapping people in the street though, she was trying to get a seat in the boardroom, the money, the men. And then those legendary scenes, like Frank dying and her checking his breath with her compact and touching up her make-up, before fleeing in a helicopter. Now Kim’s back, and we see he with her with grandchildren, and forging new relationships. Her vulnerable side is key. She doesn’t always get what she wants.'

2. Jack Sugden (Clive Hornby)
'When you think of Emmerdale, you think of Jack. An original cast member, he came in as a very different character to the one we came to know. He was living this sort of playboy life but returned home having been left this farm, and ultimately knuckled down and got on with it. He formed his own family, married three times, had three kids and an adopted son, and outlived many of the Sugdens. He was the standard bearer for the original characters and of that traditional farming show that people had fallen in love. When Clive Hornby passed away in 2009, it was a big blow.'

3.Seth Armstrong and Betty Eagleton (Stan Richards and Paula Tilbrook)
'Seth arrived in in the 1970s. He sounded very Yorkshire, he was always trying to get free pints in the Woolpack and got on people’s nerves, and then you had Betty who’s your quintessential village gossip. To put the two together was great, especially for it to be steeped in the backstory that they’d been lovers before the war and were reuniting in their latter years. Though the actors have passed away, their legacy is these wonderful characters they created.'

4.Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley)
'He’s the good-looking bad boy character who arrived in 2000 and was outright unpleasant to everybody but became this villain you love. He’s toned down over the years, but he’s still cool, he’s got the leather jacket, an Everyman who appeals to men and women.'

5.Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell)

Chris Chittel plays Eric Pollard, - in the show for 36 years and is the longest serving cast member (Image: AMY BRAMMALL)'Chris has been in the show for 36 years and is the longest serving cast member. Another great character that’s changed and morphed over the years. He came in a bit of a wideboy bachelor, a social-climbing ladies’ man who was always up for a scam, and trying to con people. He went a good 20 years playing that role in the village and then they brought in this long-lost son David, and his stepson Jacob, and he got together with Val, and suddenly, he’s a family man. There’s always Pollard the rogue, but he’s now part of this generational family with these lovely scenes and so identifiable.'

Celebrity cameos

Some of the unexpected faces who’ve popped by the Dales over the years…

1993: Spice Girl Mel B popped up as an extra at Leeds station, and in a three-legged drinking race with Angela Griffin of Coronation Street fame, and again at Leeds station in 1994.

1995: Cricketer Ian Botham appeared as celebrity guest at the opening ceremony of the newly refurbished Woolpack.

In 2001 with a little 'help' the villagers bid farewell to Kathy. Pictured: (L-R) Tricia Fisher (Sheree Murphy), Marti Pellow and Kathy Glover Malandra Burrows (Image: YTV)

2001: Wet Wet Wet singer Marti Pellow surprised Kathy Glover at her leaving do

In May 2007 Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) is delighted to meet the mystery celebrity at the village's 500 years old pageant, Katherine Jenkins. Photographer: Robert Day (Digital) This photograph is (C) ITV Plc and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned above, or ITV. Once made available by ITV Plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the TX date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Plc Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditions are available on the website www.itvpictures.com (Image: Robert Day ITV Plc)2007: Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins performed at an anniversary fete

2014: Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton dropped into Home Farm in 2014 as the celebrity guest at the estate’s relaunch

(Credit Emmerdale at 50)

50 Years of Emmerdale by Tom Parfitt is published by Cassell, £20 octopusbooks.co.uk