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Bonus ep: an interview with Alex Skerratt
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We chat to Alex Skerratt, a friend of Lizzie’s who not only writes the Sooty and Sweep show, but whose life has been intertwined with Emmerdale since the 80s! From growing up in real-life Hotten to living with an Emmerdale scriptwriter, Alex shares his Emmerdale memories, as well as behind-the-scenes insights into the writing process and how the show has changed over time.
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Transcript
Introduction of Hosts and Guest
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey everybody and welcome to, well I don't know what we're going to call this. I don't know if it's an episode or a segment. It's one of the two. But Simon and I are joined by a good friend of mine called Alex. um Because Simon often remarks to me that my life has a fair few crossovers with Emmerdale, whether it's knowing people who know people who are in the show or just living nearby or running into people who are on Emmerdale and every time he says that I always think this is nothing compared to my friend Alec. So Alec do you want introduce yourself give us a bit of yeah an insight into who you are and then we can talk about your many many links with Emmerdale.
Alex's Early Emmerdale Connections
00:00:46
Speaker
Sure. Yes. Hello, Lizzie. Hello, Simon. Hello, everybody listening. Yes. How incredibly surreal. is I was saying just before we came on the podcast that Emmerdale has followed me all my life. I'm 38 now and I was meeting cast members before I was even old enough to know it. And I've crossed paths with Emmerdale so many times in so many different spheres. It's really, really weird, especially for someone who's not a regular watcher of the show. But yeah, certainly the number of stories and the number of times I've come into contact with it. You probably could write a book on it, maybe a very short book or maybe even a short podcast. I don't know. Maybe we'll find out. Yeah. Might publish a book when you can do 15 minutes on a podcast is what I always say. Yeah, yeah, sure. No, I've encountered Emmerdale so many times, so many times. So good. Yeah. I was going to say, when did your Emmerdale journey begin? But that makes it sound like you're still watching or indeed remotely interested in Emmerdale. One of the things I love about this is that it's sort of been thrust upon you, but the you you don't really watch Emmerdale. But give us a bit of a background into where um where that's come from. Well, I think, and maybe a bit like you, Lizzie, by virtue of the fact that we live in Leeds and Emmerdale is filmed in Leeds. They've got the set on the Harewood estate now, haven't they? Which is a stone's throw from where we are. But yeah back in the early nineties, they filmed a lot of it in town called Otley, which was where I was born and raised. And in those days, it was filmed in a tiny village called Eschalt, which is about three miles from Otley. And so I think it mixture of two things. One, just being exposed to the cast and the production aspect of it going on around us all
Revisiting Emmerdale Locations
00:02:29
Speaker
the time. And the fact that my mum and my sisters...
00:02:32
Speaker
were avid viewers, not so much these days, but they were then when I was younger in the early nineties. So I got a lot of exposure that way, seeing it on the TV when we sat down to watch it as a family.
00:02:43
Speaker
And then we used to go to Esholt quite a lot as well as a trip because it was really cool. It was like going around a film set and actually you were going around the film set because I know these days people pay to go down Coronation Street, don't and they? Or to go around the Emmerdale set in Harewood.
00:02:58
Speaker
But for us, we could just rock up at Eshel to look around and we were looking at the Woolpack pub and all the places that were identical to how they were on TV. And that was just really, really cool because I was fascinated in TV production anyway. My sister was involved in TV in those days, which maybe we can talk about some other time. But yeah, it was it was just very, very cool. I was fascinated that I could actually go around and and walk around the Emmerdale village and and see you where the program was filmed.
00:03:27
Speaker
I actually went there last week. I went to Esholt for the first time. Wow. I've not been since I was seven or eight, but many, many years. Gorgeous little village. Yeah, it's gorgeous little place. We should go back and you can tell me how it's changed. But i um I found it really interesting because Simon and I went on the tour of the actual set on the Harewood Estate.
00:03:46
Speaker
But then, yeah, got to go inside the original wall pack, which was quite fun. Yeah, very different different vibes to the kind of newer set, but got that kind of
Real vs. Fictional Emmerdale
00:03:57
Speaker
village feel. And I just love the fact that they were filming there when...
00:04:01
Speaker
Like people were just trying to live their lives. Yeah. I don't know how the the ah citizens of Esholt felt about it. i i guess from a production point of view, it's easier if you have your own set, isn't it? Like Coronation Street, they've got their own street. And I've never been on the Harewood one. I would love to see it. I don't know how big it is. Does it feel village sized or is it much smaller? People always say things are smaller in reality than they seem on TV. Well, Simon, you live in a village. Do you want to how it compares to the village? Yeah, I mean, it it's the size of a small hamlet, I guess, but with the amenities of a large village, because, you know, my village has got 250 people in it. We do not have a shop or a we've got one pub. We don't have like a hairdresser or wedding planners or any of these, you know, the many and various places that, I guess, unlike Emmerdale, people in my village are able to get full-time jobs outside the village. Everyone in Emmerdale seems to have to do their work within five metres of their home. But um but yeah the actual buildings did feel smaller I think that as you say things look smaller when you actually get to them you look at the outside and think I I if this were actually a full house I don't think you'd be able to get a family of five into it it's clearly like one room of upstairs and one room downstairs or something but um you walk around and it does feel like a real you know it feels like a real street even though a lot of the houses either are just frontages with a bit behind them or just used for storage like they're not actually real buildings there they film all that somewhere else but for the most part but um Yeah, I mean, it's really fun to go and have a wander around. i think probably more fun if you watch Emmerdale, but if you have ever ever watched Emmerdale, I think is it is fun. Wow. Yeah, so they were filming, like before they had that set, they were filming... all of the scenes of Echolte. Oh gosh, I'm trying to say Emmerdale and Beckindale at the same time. e and um
00:05:48
Speaker
Yeah, before they built the set, they were filming all the scenes of Emmerdale or Beckindale as it was in Echolte. But then were you saying, Al, that where was Otley supposed to be? Was that a different place? I don't know whether this is still true in terms of Emmerdale lore, if I can call it that. But back in the 90s, it was called Hotton. So every time any characters went to Hotton, Otley, most of the time, if not all of the time, stood in for Hotton. They still go to Hotton, but we know but we never see Hotton. Yeah, they talk about Hotton, but we don't ever to actually see it on screen. That's ah that's a shame. Well, yeah, but in in those days, yes, Otley was Hotton. And so we had the double fun of of spotting on Otley landmarks on screen as well. And you would be sitting in your living room in Otley looking at things on TV that were just a few yards down the road. I remember there was one episode where they used the Jubilee clock, which is in Otley Marketplace.
00:06:43
Speaker
Yeah, Otley was a real magnet for TV production because in those days, again, early 90s, we had a show called Heartbeat being filmed there as well, which isn't on and anymore, but that was all filmed around here and they filmed extensively in Otley. Yes, there was lots going on. So we had Heartbeat going on and we had Emmerdale going on.
00:07:01
Speaker
And yeah, it it really was a hive for TV
Alex's School and Cast Interactions
00:07:05
Speaker
production. It was fascinating. Yeah, that's so cool. So what kind of stuff did you see when you were in Otley? Was it quite regular that roads would close and stuff for filming or was life just like carrying on around it?
00:07:16
Speaker
Yeah, I mean both. Yes, filming, it wouldn't be unusual for roads to be closed off and filming to be going on. They did film in my school at one time and it would have been towards the end of my time at that primary school, which is a school, All Saints Middle School.
00:07:34
Speaker
It's closed now, it was sold off by the council, but yeah, right in the center of Otley, 1998, 1999. kind of time. And I've no idea what they were filming, but I know that some of the Dingles were there. There was Lisa Riley. And I can't remember what Dingle character she played. I don't know if she's still in the show. She's, she's called Mandy.
00:07:54
Speaker
She left for about 25 years and then she came, or maybe not quite that long, but she left for a long time. And then she came back a few years ago. oh my word. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah, Lisa Riley. I remember bumping into her in the car park outside the school. I was walking past her. I was just on my way into school as a 10 year old boy as I was and looked to my left and then did a double take in what must've been quite a comedic way and saw Lisa Riley and we locked eyes. She was walking slowly towards me.
00:08:20
Speaker
Bit of strut actually. It's very, very theatrical, a bit like a model on a catwalk. And she grinned and gave me this huge wink And my heart fluttered a little bit. I got a weird little from Randy Dingle. Yeah, I remember that. And I remember um there was a big kerfuffle at the end of the day because they were still filming. So they must have been filming all through the school day, which doesn't make much sense. But it it was the end of the school day. And I remember we couldn't get out of the gate because it had all been cordoned off. And I remember seeing Viv...
00:08:51
Speaker
Was her surname Windsor? I can't remember. She was married to Windsor. At Warburg Windsor, later Hope, yes. Okay, so Viv was there. And I remember my teacher, Miss Kirk, getting very grouchy with the production team because she was trying to leave the school site. And they were saying, no, no, you've got to go around, you've got to go around. And she said, oh, don't be so silly. And just walked all the way through them, right through the middle of the production. So, I mean, the cameras weren't rolling at the time. So as far as I know, Miss Kirk didn't make it onto the screen. But yes, they were there.
00:09:22
Speaker
And apparently, i mean, back in the very, very early 90s, or it might even have been in the late 80s when they were filming, I met Sally Nivett, who played a character called Kate Sugden, who was married to another character played by Fraser Hines.
00:09:38
Speaker
called Jo. And I don't remember that. I've got her autograph, but I don't really remember meeting her because I was too young. But it was a very important family anecdote for me because Sally Nivet became one of my all-time favorite actors because she was in a science fiction series that I loved called Blake Seven, which I still love. So I got to meet Sally Nivet properly much later as a nerdy teenager at a convention. Yeah. when I could shake her hand and take my Blake seven DVDs to be signed and all that kind of stuff. So I did get to chat to her more at length then. And my dad who was with me told her how she'd met me as a two year old or a little toddler or something.
Impactful Emmerdale Storylines
00:10:14
Speaker
wakes me up And we'd posed for a photo, but alas, I don't remember that, but I do have vague memories of her character being in the show because Kate Sugden, you might be able to correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know how far back your memories go, but I believe she, her character was sent to prison. for being involved in a hit and run. She knocked somebody over by accident and she drove away did about that.
00:10:38
Speaker
Yeah, that's sort of my memory. And I remember seeing that on TV. It must have been late 80s, already 90s. I've got a memory of it. So... Yes. So it's a little bit blurry when I think of Sally and Yvette, but I can say I met her as a child when she was filming in Otley.
00:10:54
Speaker
and And Fraser Hines as well, i think, because I think he was there also. Oh, in fact no, he was there. Sorry, I'm remembering as I speak. He was because my sister has a photo of him. He let her get on his tractor and they got hooked up together. So nice. I don't know who Fraser Hines is. but do you know who he played?
00:11:12
Speaker
He played Joe Sugden. And he was in the very, very, very first episode. So when the series started in whatever it would have been, 1970 or 73 kind of time. Something like that, yeah. um He was part of the OG, can I call it that? The OG cast, Joe. And he was in it for donkey's years. I think he left in the mid 90s. So he was one of the original cast members. And then he got married to Kate and he famously survived the plane crash when they wiped ah out half the rest of the cast. But...
00:11:41
Speaker
yeah Joe somehow survived. um Yeah, so I must have met him at the same time, which you know is doubly cool for me again, because he was in Doctor Who, another science fiction series that i love. So, yes, those are my early memories of meeting the Emmerdale cast.
00:11:55
Speaker
this There is still suddenly Sugden at the centre of the show now. So, um yes, it'll the longevity of the Sugden family. Yeah, absolutely. Because her mum was called Annie, was was she? I don't even you remember. annie so Annie was the major actor. I've only been watching on and off since 2010, but you know you hear tell the major Sugglands. And in fact, Uncle Joe was mentioned only...
00:12:14
Speaker
um recently wasn't he Lizzie so yeah he's yeah he still gets occasional mentions on the show oh that's cool you're so relevant Alex more than you realize for who hasn't watched the show since 1995 um yeah yes I'm piecing together from your other references that I can see why Emmerdale wouldn't necessarily be your taste in television. yet Science fiction fan, but we were a very soapy family. yeah Blake, whatever that was, Blake Seven, whatever you said, and Doctor were not things I would watch. So yes, maybe there is not massive overlap. But having said that, there are characters who love their sci-fi. Paddy and Marlon have sci-fi conventions sometimes. So true. Marlon's still in it as well, is he? I remember Marlon. He's still there. I remember him starting.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah. That's a good thing about soaps. Or one good thing about soaps is that characters do tend to stay there for a very long time. so you can, you know, if you, even if you've not watched for 25 years, there'll be a handful your records.
00:13:12
Speaker
And a great thing if you're an actor, of course, because of that regular work and especially if you're Marlon who would have arrived in the late nineties, I think, or early noughties. So he. Yeah, straight from Cadphile.
00:13:23
Speaker
in my days yeah are you gonna try and reference cad file in everything we do now simon that's a personal um personal request that i've made to myself i love that so alex you mentioned that your family watched emmerdale lot when you're growing up were there like certain episodes that even though i guess you're quite young that stood out to you that you remember well Yeah, very much. And we it was strange in those days, because and and'm still true true today, I guess, that soaps don't get commercially released on DVD or video, really. But in in the early 90s, there was a bit of a flurry of Emmerdale being released on VHS. So we had one of the tapes we had was...
00:14:08
Speaker
and And again, i'm trying to remember, but I think it was a 30th anniversary celebration video, which would have made sense if it was the early 90s. And that had the very, very first episode of Emmerdale on it. So I've seen that quite a few times. And then it was sort of a mixture of interviews with the then cast and loads of clips that went all the way through the 30-year history of the show. And I do remember they had the scene where...
00:14:33
Speaker
Kate sucked and ran over that person in the hit and run incident. The very first episode, and and in fact, I think the very first scene of the first episode begins with a funeral of all things. So, and I can't remember who died, but that was the very first. Yeah, have seen that.
00:14:51
Speaker
Because that first ever episode is on ITV player. You can go right back. They've got like one or two episodes from like a few seasons each decade. um So if you wanted to jog your memory at any point and have ah have a nostalgic rewatch, um that is online. But I would love to find that sort of 30th anniversary tape with these key scenes. That could be a really interesting like overview of what Emmerdale was like back then.
00:15:16
Speaker
Yeah, it must be available on eBay or something. You could probably pick it up for $250. But of course, finding a way to play it these days is another challenge, isn't it? Yeah, I think my parents have a video player somewhere.
00:15:27
Speaker
have work out how to link that up to something. Crucial. Amazing. It was a great take because we watched it many times. i really enjoyed it. I think again, because it went into the production aspect of things, which always fascinated me. So yeah, I remember the first episode and I remember the the wonderfully haunting version of the theme tune they had then that lasted for what it felt like. is sinister. Yeah, it was ominous. and it went on for about two minutes. And I remember these bleak panoramas of like the Yorkshire Dales and it was just going on and on and on. Yeah, haunting in in a way that the casualty theme tune kind of gives me the shivers. The Emmerdale theme tune did in those days. So, yeah, I remember that and those clips. And of course, probably the most famous one, the Emmerdale plane crash, which I have seen many, many times. Again, i mean, I watched it live when it was broadcast because it really was event television.
00:16:15
Speaker
We did do a special episode, yes, looking because neither of us are watching Emmerdale then, but we watched it on ITV. player and did a special episode where not particularly hot takes yeah so that's probably one of the few episodes that we've all seen those episodes are on the itv player yeah they do like classic emmerdale and there's maybe like one or two episodes per year that they've they've put on there that you can go back and love to go back and watch those. Because they released four of the episodes that covered the main arc of the airplane crash. There were four episodes that were cut together into a movie and released on video, and it was called Emmerdale the Rescue.
00:16:52
Speaker
and In fact, I think my sister still has that tape. somewhere but we we watched it a lot mean it sounds quite morbid but I guess in a way it was just like watching a very gripping movie so remember watching it live remember watching the video and as I say it it was a really big deal and I can't remember if that was the exact moment that it switched over from Emmerdale Farm to just being Emmerdale it was certainly around that time period I don't know if plane crash was the moment that really cemented it in. But it was a big deal because they were having a little bit of a reset and killing off huge swathes of the cast. And I remember Elizabeth Pollard went and there was guy called Archie who also got killed. Yes. One of the few lines in the second half of the episode was just one person going, Archie, Archie. Yeah, his name was Nick. I remember that. The character's name was Nick.
00:17:44
Speaker
I can't remember what his surname was, but they were walking. For some reason, they were out on the hills in the dead of night. No idea why. But Nick was going, Archer, Archer. And a glass or something comes down from the sky and there's a fireball. Yeah.
00:17:59
Speaker
So, yeah, I remember that. And i I did watch it about eight years ago on YouTube, a very grainy version. And one thing that struck me was...
00:18:10
Speaker
I remember Eric Pollard's character walking around very aimlessly and quite pathetically really going, has anyone seen my wife, Elizabeth Pollard? And as a child, I just thought, oh, what a tragic man. He's searching for his missing wife. But rewatching it as an adult, I saw this whole other dimension that I'd missed as a kid where I thought, oh gosh, did he actually kill her off? Because they had this big fight, right?
00:18:35
Speaker
they she was meant to be babysitting someone's child and they had an argument and he stormed, no, she stormed out of the living room and he followed. And the next thing you know, he's wandering around the village going, has anyone seen my wife? And yeah as I say, re-watching it as a grownup, I thought, ooh, there's another layer there. It's kind of implied that he might have rubbed her out. You'll be pleased to know they revisited that storyline circa 2011 and it was finally revealed that he did not kill her.
00:19:03
Speaker
He went out intending to kill her but the plane crash do it for him first gosh wow they put to bear to that mystery you've held for all these years well i'm kind of glad for that that he's he's been redeemed and and how wonderful to have such a solid continuity reference like that he's still there he's still on the show yeah he's still there and actually that was one of the things i thought when i was watching the plane crash episode because I didn't even think, oh, I wonder if he's tried to kill her. I just thought, I wonder if this man has like dementia and ever no one is really helping him. to like He seemed like disproportionately confused and like, yeah, I don't know. And I was like, oh gosh, there's something going on there. But then only this year he celebrated his 80th birthday, which means that when this happened, he was only about sort of 50, but he seemed ancient. Yeah, he did.
Character Evolution and Longevity
00:19:52
Speaker
And he seemed, people do seem old. I mean, to my young eyes at that time, he did seem as old as God. No offence to Eric Pollard, but... No offence to God. Yeah, when you said he's still in the show, my reaction is, wow. I mean, good for him. yeah I mean, he doesn't look healthy, it's fair to say, but like he's not like, he's got Parkinson's in the show, not in reality. And and he... um
00:20:16
Speaker
And yes, he certainly looks like his moments from death at all times, but he's ploughin' on. Okay, well, fascinating. I guess maybe not quite as sprightly as Ken Barlow from Coronation Street, who to get younger. Who could be? Who could be? The last time I saw him. But good for him. And actually, this is one thing that's really exciting me as I speak to you both, just hearing about these cast members that I still remember, like Marlon and Mandy Dingle and Eric Pollard, that are still there. I think... Kim Tate's there. You're a new Kim Tate, I'm sure. Kim Tate, yes. And actually, I hadn't even mentioned that to Lizzie, but I remember the Kim Tate, she had a very bizarre character arc because she's in the Plane Crash episode as this very lovely, horse-loving woman.
00:21:00
Speaker
And then my if my memory's right, she got into a relationship with a character called Frank? i want to call him Frank. Yeah. He lived in this manor house. And then she began this transformation into this psychopath.
00:21:14
Speaker
And she was seemingly killed off when her car plunged into a lake or drove off a cliff or something. And she disappeared. And then she came back from the dead a few weeks or a few months later. And to torment Frank... And he either went into like a diabetic coma or he collapsed or had a heart attack or something. Heart attack, heart attack. Heart attack, okay. And she walked off and left him to die.
00:21:37
Speaker
And that was the last I remember seeing her. her So she's still in the show now? Yes, I mean, she left for quite a while. There was that very infamously in that moment, she used her pocket mirror to see whether or not he was breathing by holding it in his mouth and then used the same mirror to apply lipstick to herself as she as she walked off, which was... Beautifully done by the writers. verse yeah I remember that because I remember watching that as a child and not quite understanding what she was doing.
00:22:03
Speaker
that yeah And she's still living in that house. So she left for a long time and she came back few years ago, but she's ah she's a multimillionaire businesswoman in unspecified business. And she she lives in still on the home farm.
00:22:14
Speaker
So is she a goodie or a baddie? Or is she a bit of enigma? She oscillates, yeah. I think it's funny because having only really watched for about 18 months, I've always seen her as like, she's a bit of a villain, but also she's showing her good side a lot at the moment. And I think, yeah, but the actress who I've just forgotten the name of, I do know her name. Yes, Claire King has apparently said that she really loves being like this villain character. And she's a bit annoyed, basically, that the writers are making Kim a bit softer these days. And we're seeing her like kinder side. And she's like, oh, I think it's a lot more fun when I get to be a villain. and Granted, she did say that mere mia episodes after she'd buried her husband alive, but sure. Yeah, that's true. But yeah, so i I found it quite funny watching those plane crash episodes because I've only ever really seen her as a very rich businesswoman, lives at home farm in this enormous house, um has loads of money and can be quite cold and insensitive. And then, yeah, seeing her in the plane crash episode, I was like, oh, wow, you're just this like quite friendly, horsey young woman who's just like, yeah. Yeah, she's had a real character development, like you said, real arc.
00:23:24
Speaker
It's so weird. Yeah, but fun. Yeah, and um that's actually what I was thinking as you were talking. I think I would feel like that as an actor too. I think villains are just so much more fun to play, I think.
00:23:34
Speaker
Yeah, she's got any number of grandchildren now, so she's often unpickered. sort of turning up in a like supportive grandmotherly role yeah which doesn't really suit her she doesn't seem to relate well to the children they're just sort of around her yeah I mean also who can keep count of them or indeed recognize them yeah we have a running joke on our podcast about the fact that like there are a lot of children in but you barely ever see any of them which obviously because like having children on sets and stuff is like difficult and requires lots of rules around how much they can work. But it's just really funny how many times the actors are like, and where is Thomas?
00:24:11
Speaker
He's upstairs. He's with Claudette. He's always with Claudette. He's always at nursery. like We never see them. And then when anything happens and the actors are like, this is so out character for him. You're like, how would you know what's in character for him? You never see him. And now that Claudette is living with a a criminal who is being in rehabilitation program because he's terminally ill. Will the children still flock though? We don't know.
00:24:36
Speaker
Hopefully not because I do doubt he's DBS checked. Yeah. I mean, the DBS wouldn't have to look far to be like you were in prison last week. True. Yeah. Soap logic. Yeah. Yeah.
Recent Connections with Emmerdale
00:24:51
Speaker
So what's your more more recent connection with Emmerdale, Alex?
00:24:56
Speaker
Well, there's a few. I mean, my sister worked at ITV until recently, so she wasn't working on Emmerdale, but there were quite a few times when she was on the set for various reasons. i mean, obviously she wasn't able to tell me what was going on or send me pictures or anything, but that was just sort of burning in the background. I suppose one of the more interesting tidbits is that I lived with one of the scriptwriters for a time, This was between 2017 and 2018. My friend Jess, who came over here from Australia, she'd been script writer on Neighbours, a show again that I hadn't seen since the nineteen so I still love Neighbours, so she's covering my big two.
00:25:36
Speaker
Well, um maybe I can put you in touch with Jess at some point, but she had been writing Neighbours and i she came and we were in a house share together. ah got on really, really well. i mean, it was such a happy time of my life. i mean, not just because she was a fellow writer, but just a really, really nice, fun person and and great fun to live with. But yeah, so she was working on Emmerdale as one of the script writers. You'll be frustrated to hear maybe. I don't know. I never asked her anything about Emmerdale. I think partly because I just assumed she wouldn't be able to tell me anything anyway because, or even if she did and said, oh, Brian is having an affair with Kathy or whoever. i don't know if those are real people, but it wouldn't have meant anything to me anyway. i think who is Brian? Who is Kathy?
00:26:18
Speaker
Although I guess she must have written some characters that I would have known given that it sounds like a number things still around. But yeah, so that was going on and she would, and I don't mean this in a negative way, she would take over the living room. And I'm a writer to myself for TV on a show quite different from Emmerdale, but it was just fascinating watching her process because she was different from me, the kind of writer with about 10 different pens of all different colors, all spread across the room, lots of little index cards and storyboards, a very, very, very dynamic, thoughtful writer with a very intense process. And so she would just go in there and that'd be a day's work for her and turn it into ah kind of a writing office. We did talk a lot about writing in general because I was writing at the same time. and there were these hilarious moments when it was quite an ITV flat where I was sitting in one room writing the Sooty Show of all things. And she was sitting in the next room writing Emmerdale
00:27:13
Speaker
And we just chatted our lunch breaks or in those moments where we collide in the kitchen to get a cuppa. So we talked about writing a huge amount and and comparing our different approaches. And obviously writing the Sooty show is quite different from writing Emmerdale, I imagine. It's sad that we missed a chance there for a crossover. That would have been wonderful. Well, we'd say that I do actually have a photo of Sooty on the Emmerdale set that maybe I can send you at some point. We should use that as our episode image. You're very welcome. I'll send it to you. I've no idea.
00:27:43
Speaker
Why? Because Sooty, when he sent it to me, never gave me any context, but I've got picture of Sooty outside. He's never very talkative, is he? say No, he's the silent type. So, yeah, Sooty has been on the Emmerdale set, but we're still waiting for the crossover.
00:27:57
Speaker
So, I lived with one of the scriptwriters, and in 2010, twenty ten 2011, 2012 kind of time, I worked in the co-op in a village called Menston, which is right on the doorstep of Esholt. Although of course they weren't filming there this time, but a lot the Emmerdale cast did live nearby or passing through.
00:28:19
Speaker
So I must've served quite a few of them that i just didn't know or recognize. There were two actors that I did serve and recognize Duncan Preston. Now, did he play a character called Doug?
00:28:31
Speaker
Yeah, he was Laurel's dad. Okay. Duncan Preston and and i always Billy... oh like his surname has gone from my mind. Billy Hartman. Billy Hartman. He played a character called Terry, who I remember Terry because he came in in in the 90s. And I think he left.
00:28:50
Speaker
if I can't remember when he left, but I know he stuck around for quite a while. and don' um understand Yeah, he died in a fire with Viv, in fact, you mentioned earlier. Oh, they died in the same fire. Yeah. in the same fire that was set by an arsonist boyfriend of, in fact, Katie Sugden, not Katie Sugden, who she was married to Andy Sugden. um Yes, I mean, so I think it must have been 2010, 2011, because I didn't see Terry very long and he didn't really have anything to do before dying. So I think his days of having storylines had been... were long behind him paul side of watching him. No, I remember serving them. And I've got to say, i didn't like my job the co-op. So I can't say I was very, very excited about the fact they were there. And I'm not saying I was right to feel this, but in my grumpier moments when I had...
00:29:36
Speaker
been at work serving the Emmerdale cast and everyone else who came in for their bread and their bananas. I went home very, very grumpily and it put on an episode of Randall and Hopkirk to try and unwind to. And there was Duncan Preston's face staring back at me from the screen. And I thought, you know, I can't even escape the customers, even when I'm at home trying to relax. These days, I hope that I would take a different view and I would actually embrace more of the community aspect of working in a shop like that. How wonderful that the people that you work alongside, you might pass in the street or even see on TV. I think that's quite cool. But in those days when I was younger and more bitter and twisted and a bit grumpier, if I wasn't excited about seeing Duncan
Noteworthy Actor Contributions
00:30:14
Speaker
Preston's face staring back at me. No offense to Duncan Preston, he was a lovely customer. He was fine, but I just wanted to escape them. I was done. Yeah, I found it strange when he was in the show that because, you know, he was, they didn't, they often don't give the older characters as many storylines. They often supporting main characters. And I think this Duncan Preston. He was like, he worked with Victoria Wood for years and years and he's such a like respected comic and non-comic actor. And yet you join a cast like Emmerdale.
00:30:38
Speaker
And you'll part you like you're you're getting fewer storylines than some 16-year-old who's never even been to acting school. and Yeah, i I don't know how he felt about it. it's probably just a nice pension for him. but um Maybe. I mean, i did this is something I feel very strongly about. And i this is probably a podcast for another day, but it really matters to me that older actors get work. I think I'm not saying this is necessarily true of Emmerdale because i I don't watch it regularly or at all, in fact. No offense, listeners. But...
00:31:05
Speaker
Certainly the the ageism that that does exist to a degree and in the TV and and film industry. When you do have a lot of talent there, it's a shame when it's not utilized. And yeah, Duncan Preston, what incredible career. But he did Acorn Antiques and Dinner Ladies, as you say, wea go with Victoria Wood and then Emmerdale. And I love it when soaps do actually cast...
00:31:25
Speaker
people that you know from those kinds of backgrounds in slightly different roles and contexts. i remember when Shane Ritchie went over to Coronation Street, I thought that was very cool. And people like Bonnie Langford and people that you know from. Yes, we had Pauline Quirk for a while in Emmerdale. Pauline Quirk, yes. I love it when... when So producers throw those kind of curve balls and and cast people in roles that you might not necessarily expect. And for the older actor, they kind of get second wind. And I must mention, actually, while I'm saying this, another actor, Paul Darrow, who appeared again, I think around the 2011 kind of time, he played a character, a biker character called Eddie Fox, who was friends with another long running character who I believe is dead now. And in fact, the actor might be dead. I'm not sure. Alan Turner.
00:32:11
Speaker
and Eddie Fox. Oh yes, both dead now, yes. Alas, well I remember yeah him coming in. Paul Darrow, I'm sorry to say it again, maybe this is my CAD file, but Blake Seven. Paul Darrow is in Blake Seven, is my all-time favourite actor. And he came into Emmerdale playing this wonderful, over-the-top caricature of this biker in these leathers and and giving such ah an almost pantomimic performance that I just love. And it's the kind of thing that Paul Darrow does so well. And I remember him trundling into the village going, good morning, guys. How is it treating you? And it just being, that's him. That's him. That's Eddie Fox. Paul Darrow now also dead, alas, but I did get to meet Paul Darrow at the same time that I met Sally Nevette, in fact, and he was wonderful. But when he turned up in Emmerdale, I did actually watch because I wanted to see him because I could watch
00:32:59
Speaker
Paul Darrow painting a wall and watch the paint dry and I would have a wonderful film. I love Paul Darrow. And he gave such a great performance in Emmerdale. It's so wonderful to see him. And I'm sure he wasn't cast because he was a famous science fiction actor. I don't think the Emmerdale producers are necessarily going around picking up people from Doctor Who and Blake 7, but it was just so wonderful to see him. You never know. I just looked up it's 2009, just why I'm not ringing any bells or it's not ringing any bells of me because it was before I started watching. Maybe I'll go and try and find those episodes. Well, if you can find any clips of Paul Darrow as Eddie Fox, it is, oh you can have a great time. 11 episodes he did. How many is that?
00:33:37
Speaker
Gosh. Now, I remember he burst into the the canteen ah or something. you know the The door crashes open and he swoops in and goes, ah, give me a bacon the sandwich. No tomatoes. They're the devil's fruit. And I thought, it's so ridiculous to be over the top. I just love it. I'm a sucker for all that stuff. Well, here's a fun fact about him. i'm just looking on his...
00:33:57
Speaker
emmerdalefandom.com page he also played Zoe Tate's boyfriend for a couple of months in 91, 92. Oh, I didn't know that. I remember Zoe. Yeah. And I think the actor who played Zoe is also, this is quite morbid, isn't it? But did she pass away quite recently? Yeah, she was crowdfunding for experimental cancer treatment. remember that. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't know he played her boyfriend. Wow. Patrick, yes. I mean, that's another thing with soap. You'll often get characters who've played various actors who've played various characters. over the years because it's like guess a small pool of people, particularly in regional television. but Yeah.
00:34:32
Speaker
That's really cool. Yeah, it is cool. Alex, did you mention as well that you had a friend who is in the show? Yes. Yes. It's not a fascinating anecdote, but yes, my friend... It's an anecdote nonetheless. It is nonetheless another another point on the graph of the the of the fact that Emmerdale has been following me around my entire life. Yeah, my friend Bob Mallow was...
00:34:55
Speaker
What a great name. Bob Mallow. Yeah. And he's a great actor, Bob Mallow. He appeared in an episode of Emmerdale playing a solicitor. He wasn't my friend beforehand. What happened was I was making a radio production, which was actually about a soap opera. It was a, it was a drama. No, it was a comedy about a soap. There we go. And, okay Bob Mallow came and can't remember if he auditioned for me or if I just looked at his CV and offered him the part or what, but I remember him referencing the fact he'd been in Emmerdale and then I went and looked at his showreel and watched the scene and I cast him because he was a good actor and also the fact that he had been in Emmerdale when I was making comedy about a soap. I thought that was a nice little Lincoln. Yeah. a reference. So I should say I didn't just cast him because of that. I cast him because of his performance. He's a great actor and still is. But yeah, so I worked with Bob and then sort of became a friend. I've not spoken to him in a while, but a lovely man. If you ever get a chance to, I don't know, interview Bob Mallow about his one scene he did. Well, I'm just looking him up and it turns out he did one episode in 2005, two episodes in 2008. Both characters called Jeffrey, but with different surnames. So... So he's been in it more than I realized. That's so cool. God bless the internet that we can put people's names in and find
Soap Opera Trends and Crossovers
00:36:20
Speaker
out. But yeah, I remember watching, some character had died and I think he was reading out their will or something. I just remember him sitting at a kitchen table and reading from some document. But yeah, that's my connection with Bob. I mean, maybe he can come back and play another Jeffrey. I don't know if he needs to. Complete the Trinity.
00:36:43
Speaker
And now, of course, you're a friend who co-hosts the foremost Emmerdale podcast. So it's all of us. The connections keep coming. ah Well, yeah. I mean, what's the next stage after that? I don't know. Am I going to stumble onto the Emmerdale set when they're filming? I'm not sure. i mean, probably not. Yes, assume you'll be cast. Yeah, I feel like surely you should be in Emmerdale some point. You've done acting work before. You're a good actor. Surely they owe it to you because you've been part of their lives for so long. They just don't know it yet.
00:37:11
Speaker
Maybe, or you know maybe, as we were saying before, we can get the Sooty-Emmerdale crossover going. Yes, yes. i mean, start a petition, change.org. Yeah, they're currently working on a Coronation Street-Emmerdale crossover, which i would be I'd be much more interested in the Sooty one, to be honest. so Wow, that is cool, i didn't know that.
00:37:33
Speaker
gosh i mean January, it's coming. One episode in January. curdale i do like that. I mean, and you know Coronation Street, it's a bit like Emmerdale and Neighbours in that, again, going back to that time period of the early 90s, as I said, we were a very, very soapy family. So those things were always on.
00:37:50
Speaker
And not so much me, but I mean, I just watched them because my mum and my sisters were watching them. So my memories of Neighbours and Coronation Street and Emmerdale, they all kind of blend into one. And I certainly remember around that time, there was an escalation as things became a little bit more sensationalist, not just in Emmerdale, but in Coronation Street as well. I remember they had a storyline where one of the characters came back as a ghost of all things. And just in that time period, things were getting a bit ridiculous. And this was actually the the time that my mum stopped watching Emmerdale.
00:38:24
Speaker
And shortly after the plane crash, and I don't think it was actually that long after, there was a raid on the post office and Viv, Windsor, as she was then, and and and another character, Shirley, whose name I can't remember. She might've been married to Frank.
00:38:42
Speaker
I know there was some kind of connection there, but Viv and Shirley were in the post office for whatever reason. It got raided by these balaclava thugs. And I've no idea why, but they thought it would be a good idea to kidnap Viv and Shirley and then blow up the post office as you do. I think they expect to raid the so i'm not sure I may be doing the script a disservice. Maybe it was a little more involved than that. but They raided the post office and they took away Viv and Shirley and they turned on the gas on the Hobbs before they left. and The post office blew up and Vic...
00:39:18
Speaker
who was Viv's husband at the time. I remember when the episode ended with him going, Viv, Viv! And he charges war towards the post office and it explodes in a fireball and the camera goes close on his anguished face as the the flames tear through the building. And I remember my mum being not very impressed with that. And then the storyline escalated further and I think Viv and Shirley were whisked away I think to Frank's Manor House, which doesn't make sense, but that's sort of my memory. I think they were in Frank's Manor House and um things were coming to a head and the police had arrived and the police raided it to try and rescue Viv and Shirley. And in the scuffle, the police opened fire and Shirley got struck. And I remember there was this close-up shot of of Shirley's face as the life ebbed from her and she'd groaned and slipped out of the frame. Like a...
00:40:12
Speaker
like that and I remember it because I mean partly because it was a very striking image for a six-year-old to witness but also because my mum yeah and my mum's reaction was oh for goodness sake that's what she said I remember my mum going oh for goodness sake as Shirley slipped out of the frame because and I had those two things going on in my mind and do remember was thinking wow this is quite traumatizing but also my mum being so dismissive and being like oh how ridiculous how stupid I don't think my mum really watched it after that because I think it was just far too sensationalist for her. But then at the same time, it begs the question of what do you watch a soap for? Because I guess it has to be a slightly heightened version of reality. Otherwise, you'd never tune in, would you, if people were just... sitting around doing their jobs and talking about the weather i don't imagine it well it's he's always saying she wants an episode of just people having a lot of time yeah i do find it quite grating how everything is going wrong for everybody all the time like they would all be in a lot of forms of therapy because of the trauma they're going through and i just would love i'd love a few characters just to be having a nice time for nice things to happen i would tune into that i think i would enjoy that For context, Lizzie, that Shirley just mentioned if remember the plane crash episode, the sort of saucy barmaid who spoke with the exact same intonation as Charity. That is Shirley. Interesting. Who's apparently married to Alan, which seems awful because they're like 40 years different, age different, surely. that's slightly different, but sure. I remember she dressed up as Nell Gwynn in the... Yes, indeed. In the plane crash episode. And Alan was appalled because it was meant to be a Dickensian evening that he was hosting at the pub. And he said, why have you come as Nell Gwynn? I remember that. Again, just these strange things that... The things that stay with you in the child. Yeah, she was in this kind of barmaid's outfit.
00:41:56
Speaker
Yeah. And um as I'm talking to you now, i'll have to I really want to go back and look this up because the things I'm describing sound so illogical, but i would I would swear blind that they happened. Now I'm looking at the storyline that does seem to be F. they Reg the is the person who did it and apparently Viv's ex-husband is the one who does the rave.
00:42:16
Speaker
The rage, rather. The rave? A quick rave. And then takes them to home farm and Reg goes to shoot Viv but Shirley performs an act of bravery and jumps in front of her and she dies. she saves Viv's life.
00:42:27
Speaker
Only temporarily. She would, of course, die in different fire later but she had a reprieve of at least 10 years. Oh, so she didn't die at that point. 10 years of no fire. So, Shirley did not die then, but viv would or indeed in the explosion, but Viv would later die in
Dramatic Soap Storylines
00:42:41
Speaker
sacrifice. Got it. But Shirley died, did she? Shirley did die in an act of bravery, the emmerdalefoundernoch.com tells me. Yeah. Wow. i'm Alex, I'm really impressed with your memory that you kind of saw this as a child, not really since, and this is all kind of accurate. No, I mean, my long-term memory is generally quite good. i mean mean, particularly with things like that, which are quite emotionally striking. And I certainly haven't seen that episode since it was broadcast. So if I could ever find it on YouTube, I would be fascinated to see just how well I've remembered it. But what i do remember was it was...
00:43:12
Speaker
Well, I think what I think I remember anyway, was that this event did happen very, very close to the plane crash. And I think that was part of my mom's beef with it, that all these over the top absurd things were happening so regularly and they were so ridiculous. And it just seemed like they were just blowing things up. And I feel like the rovers in Coronation Street caught fire around the same time. And I don't know if I'm misremembering, but My my whole memory of that time period, when they blew up the bar in Neighbours at the same time as well, it's called the Waterhole. i don't know if it's still called that but that. It's been called many things and it's gone back to being called that, yes. Oh, cool. But i remember that blew up in a gas explosion and then the post office blew Irregularly, yes. The Rovers' return caught fire, planes were falling out of the sky. and I don't remember my mum watching soaps after that.
00:44:02
Speaker
And of course, it's usually just because they want to do up the set. And it's just, how can we do up the set in a way that makes sense in the world? you guess we'll blow it up you know also i mean, I understand this you know from a writer's point of view. I mean, we don't blow up too many things on the Sooty show, but it gets ratings, doesn't it? If you could say, oh, there's going to be a plane crash and who's going to survive, or we're going to blow up the waterhole. It is more dramatic than seeing people sit around talking about the weather and their cancelled trains and all that kind of everyday stuff. So so i I do get it And I don't mean that as any criticism of...
00:44:32
Speaker
the writers because obviously what I write on the Slutty Show is nothing close to reality. So I can't really point at them and say, you're being ridiculous when I'm doing custard pie jokes. So um I just remember my mum's distaste for at the time and she stopped watching. My sisters carried on. They were always more into Neighbours than they were into Emmerdale and Corrie. But yeah, we did continue to be at a
Alex's Viewing Habits and Future Plans
00:44:53
Speaker
soapy household. And Brookside, of course, I remember that was always on. And what would it take for you, Alex, to become a watcher again?
00:45:00
Speaker
That's a very, very good question. For one thing, I don't have a TV license, so we'd have to find a way around. It's on YouTube. They release it on YouTube every day now. Really? 7.30 AM, m it's on YouTube. Well, there we go then. So I don't have that excuse. I'm going to keep passing them out the way until you're obliged to become a viewer.
00:45:19
Speaker
I always say to people, you know because even though i do I do love science fiction, I will watch anything. i will I will turn up for a good story. So I'm not really constrained by genre. And my all-time favorite movie is The Devil Wears Prada because i just think it's so wonderfully written. So for me I wouldn't say, oh, it's not to my taste.
00:45:35
Speaker
I think I would definitely struggle to keep up with something with that regularity and trying to always tune in. There is a lot of it Yeah. And I think practically, I mean, back in, back in my day, you know, it was only on three times a week and is it, is it nightly now?
00:45:51
Speaker
ah Every weeknight, yeah. And twice on Thursdays. Oh my days. I mean, I admire that. I think that's admirable from a production point of view, but I would certainly struggle to keep on top of the volume of that. I think most people my age, you know, they've got their commitments with their children. Now, you know, for me, I don't have my own children, but I i live with you know, 13 of them in ah in a boarding school and I work till late and this will sound quite pathetic, but my problem now is I always try and watch something before bed because I work till about 10 o'clock and and though I want to at least unwind and switch off before I go to sleep. But i fall asleep in front of whatever I'm watching. I struggle, actually, it sounds ridiculous, but I struggle to stay conscious whenever I put on. So, I mean, there'll be that problem. And I'm sure we've all been there, maybe, you know, when you start watching something and you think you're awake, but then suddenly your head jerks and you look up and it's the credits and you realize you've got no idea what has happened or what you watched. So there would be that danger to circumvent. I guess I'd probably have to watch them all en masse on a Saturday morning, which is my little window of time off that...
00:46:51
Speaker
I get it. Or maybe you could wait until um the school holidays and then just... Blitz months worth, yeah. Watch sort of three months worth of Emmerdale. I mean, Lizzie did go from someone who had absolutely no interest in Emmerdale to running an Emmerdale podcast in the space space of a year. It could happen to you. It could happen to anyone. Yeah, I mean, because I didn't know Lizzie even watched Emmerdale until she told me she hosted a podcast. and then she told me the story because yeah it had never come up in all my time of of knowing Lizzie. So I figured it must be a relatively recent thing. Well, I'm just quite sad that I wasn't friends with you when you were living with Jess, the scriptwriter, because know that I wasn't watching Emmerdale at that time because I would have been i definitely went to your flat during that time. I maybe even met Jess, but i just had no idea. And is Jess still writing for Emmerdale? No. So because she was from Australia, she was only here for a very limited time and her visa ran out. So she went.
00:47:44
Speaker
back to Australia in 2018. And I think she rejoined neighbors for a while, but I've not spoken to her since 2020. So I'm not entirely sure what she's doing now. I'm not for any sinister reason, but we just, I've cut her out. With her being at the other side of the world, it's quite difficult to maintain her as a long time friendship. yeah So no, I'm not sure what she's up to now. I think she went back to Neighbours for a bit and obviously Neighbours has finished now, hasn't it? So I'm not sure what she's up to, but she must still be writing because she was such a good writer and so passionate. And I think in another universe, me and her would have written a thing.
00:48:21
Speaker
together because certainly during the times when we were bouncing ideas off each other and discussing stuff, uh, oh gosh, we could talk for hours. She was wonderful. I think the soap people were very, very lucky to have her. Yeah. really yeah Very cool. So yes, lizzie you would have met her. I'm almost certain you would have done at the times when I was hosting house groups and things at my home. You, you definitely came during the era when she was there. Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:44
Speaker
Gosh, if only I could go back on a different timeline and ask her all my questions. they Presumably she wouldn't be allowed to answer any of them anyway. so I don't know, probably not, but no, still cool. Still cool. Yeah, absolutely. Amazing. Well, thanks so much for sharing so much of your life with us and of your Emmerdale experience. Maybe I'll make it my aim to ah sit down with you and watch an episode. Or maybe we could re-watch the Post Office Blowing Up episode together while you're in Leeds. That would be fascinating. We should. You can see how your memories line up.
00:49:15
Speaker
I'll try and find it and we can sit down and do that. I would love that. I mean, obviously it's quite grim subject matter, isn't it? But i'm I'm convinced that I'm remembering it accurately. And I would just, because I can see the images so clearly in my mind. And would just be fascinated to see how that matches up to my memory because that would be 1994. And how long that? years?
00:49:35
Speaker
Yeah, 31. So yeah, if you can find it, please do let me know. I would love to do that. Yeah, I'll what I can do. And it's been really nostalgic and fun just actually remembering all this stuff out loud and things I just never talk about ever. But as we've been talking, they've come back to my mind and wow, so fascinating. And as I said, so cool to hear that so many of these characters are still there. I love that. I love that so many you are still in it.
00:49:59
Speaker
Well, thanks so much. Yeah, please do. And ah my absolute pleasure. I never thought I would be on an Emmerdale podcast, but it's been wonderful to be here. Thank you for inviting me on and for listening to my my rambling memories of the show.
00:50:13
Speaker
No, thanks for being here. Bye. Goodbye. Bye.