Emmerdale [10/10/91] (Emmerdale)
Beckindale bids farewell to a village regular.
The funeral of Beckindale regular Henry Wilkes (Arthur Pentelow) casts a sombre shadow over this episode of the ITV television soap Emmerdale. Following the sudden death of actor Arthur Pentelow in August 1991, viewers said goodbye to Henry Wilkes on screen two months later. In an episode paying tribute to both actor and character, we see the return of Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill), with whom Wilkes formed a double act as shared owners of the Woolpack village pub. As the characters reminisce about Henry, audiences are offered reminders with clips from previous episodes, including the very first episode in 1972. The reading given by Amos at the funeral is moving as both audience and cast reflect on the loss of a beloved character.
Following TV soap's typical mix of narrative light and shade, other storylines in this episode include the growing romance between Chris and Kathy and the troubles between young couple Nick and Elsa.
Created in 1972 by playwright Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale is a long-running rural soap opera broadcast on ITV. Originally named Emmerdale Farm, it began as a lunchtime drama concerned with the lives of the Sugden family who lived and worked on Emmerdale Farm. The programme became Emmerdale in 1989, expanding to include the nearby village and its large cast of varied characters. The fictional village at the centre of the soap was previously known as Beckindale until a dramatic plane crash in 1993, after which it was renamed Emmerdale. The drama continues to be broadcast on weekday evenings on ITV.
Amos reads the lesson at Wilk's funeral service while Nick discovers the truth about Elsa's night away from home.
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TV Soap: Selection Box
Continuing drama on the small screen: explore how TV soap has changed over the decades.
The UK is a nation of soap addicts, with programmes commanding audiences of millions every week. Since they first appeared on British television in the 1950s, British soaps have given us hundreds of memorably distinctive characters in many different settings. But while they take many forms, there are some common characteristics.
Where in the US soaps tend to favour glamour and frothy fantasy, here they typically centre on relatable communities and families and reflect life in (usually) contemporary Britain, exploring sometimes thorny social issues and attitudes to class, race, gender, sexuality and more. While originally steeped in real-life domestic conflict, soap marched into the new millennium with hard-hitting storylines, sensationalist plots and issue-driven narratives highlighting pressing matters of the day.
This collection showcases a variety of soaps; rural or urban, north or south and everything in between. Some were shortlived and are much missed, while others are longstanding favourites embedded in our collective memory.
So settle in and prepare for drama!
24 videos in this collection
1
2
General Hospital [19/10/72]
3
Garnock Way [01/04/76]
4
Emmerdale Farm [05/04/76]
5
A Stitch in Time
6
Coronation Street [14/11/77]
7
Crossroads (Promotion)
8
Pat Phoenix &Tony Booth (Live from Two)
9
Mary Whitehouse Reacts to Brookside Scenes
10
Emmerdale Farm [14/05/85]
11
Coronation Street[01/11/1961]
12
Crossroads [23/05/85]
13
Albion Market
14
Coronation Street [13/08/86]
15
Yorkshire Television
16
Brookside [13/04/87]
17
Families [14/01/91]
18
Family Pride [08/09/91]
19
Emmerdale [10/10/91]
20
Coronation Street [06/07/92]
21
Sus
22
Machair
23
Sus
24