Emmerdale Farm in 1980

1980 was Emmerdale's 9th year. Storylines included Joe Sugden's appointment as Assistant Manager at Home Farm, Jack Sugden's return to the village, along with the return of Pat, Jackie and Sandie Merrick and Dolly Skilbeck's miscarriage. 86 episodes were broadcast this year.

Production

Emmerdale 1980 cast photo

The 1979 ITV Strike ended on 24th October 1979, though Emmerdale Farm did not return until 8th January 1980. When it did, as with Coronation Street and Crossroads when they had returned from the strike, a monologue read by Sheila Mercier as Annie Sugden appeared over the introduction of the first episode. Rather than attempt to fill in the gaps for viewers however, the first six episodes of the programme from Episode 543 through to Episode 548 were set in the summer of 1979 using footage already filmed from before the strike. Episode 549 began with another monologue from Sheila as Annie, this time setting the scene in the present time.

Jack Sugden returns to Beckindale, now played by Clive Hornby.

By the time episodes began to air again, Anne W. Gibbons had taken over as producer. Anne felt that the strength of the programme lay in the serial element and she set about replacing the shorter stories that featured temporary cast members and characters with longer arcs featuring permanent characters. As a result, characters were re-introduced with Stan Richards being promoted to a regular cast member as Seth Armstrong and former characters returning, albeit with new faces. Jack Sugden, Ruth Merrick, Jackie Merrick and Sandie Merrick all came back to Beckindale, now played by Clive Hornby, Helen Weir, Ian Sharrock and Jane Hutcheson respectively. Ruth Merrick had also received a new name as well as a new face - now to be known as Pat Merrick forever more. Interestingly, the first Emmerdale Farm novel penned by James Ferguson in 1977 also saw Ruth's name change to Pat - three years before this was written into the series. When she had last appeared, Ruth had also had a third child - Tommy Merrick, but upon her return as Pat, there was no mention of this second son and he was never referred to again. As Pat's husband, Tom Merrick, also returned to the programme later in the year, now played by Edward Peel, it was left to Hornby, Weir and Peel to build on foundations previously laid by other actors in order to make their recasts realistic. As more permanent characters were introduced, this meant more scenes away from Annie Sugden's kitchen and the Emmerdale farmhouse and, though few and far between at this point, shifting focus onto other characters would go on to play a vital role in the show later in the decade and into the 1990s.

Another character to receive a makeover was Dolly Skilbeck as Jean Rogers took over the role from the Southern-based Katharine Barker who left the programme in order to spend more time with her husband and teenage son. Wanting to make a particular effort to make the transition as smooth as possible, crew members kept Dolly off air until April and hoped that when Rogers appeared on screen, the similarity between the actresses would mean that she would sneak in unnoticed with viewers unable to tell the change in casting. Needless to say, regular viewers did notice and Rogers would later refer to this period of the role as a challenge.

The programme once again took a summer break lasting from mid-July until September.

Episodes

#	Ep. No.	Date	Writer	Director	Viewing Figures	Chart Position
1	543	Tuesday 8th January	Kevin Laffan	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
2	544	Thursday 10th January	Kevin Laffan	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
3	545	Tuesday 15th January	Kevin Laffan	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
4	546	Thursday 17th January	Kevin Laffan	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
5	547	Tuesday 22nd January	Kevin Laffan	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
6	548	Thursday 24th January	Kevin Laffan	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
7	549	Tuesday 29th January	Michael Russell	Norman Stewart	n/k	n/k
8	550	Thursday 31st January	Michael Russell	Norman Stewart	n/k	n/k
9	551	Tuesday 5th February	Michael Russell	Norman Stewart	n/k	n/k
10	552	Thursday 7th February	Michael Russell	Norman Stewart	n/k	n/k
11	553	Tuesday 12th February	Michael Russell	Norman Stewart	n/k	n/k
12	554	Thursday 14th February	Michael Russell	Norman Stewart	n/k	n/k
13	555	Tuesday 19th February	Andy Baker	Peter Sykes	n/k	n/k
14	556	Thursday 21st February	Andy Baker	Peter Sykes	n/k	n/k
15	557	Tuesday 26th February	Andy Baker	Peter Sykes	n/k	n/k
16	558	Thursday 28th February	Andy Baker	Peter Sykes	n/k	n/k
17	559	Tuesday 4th March	Andy Baker	Peter Sykes	n/k	n/k
18	560	Thursday 6th March	Andy Baker	Peter Sykes	n/k	n/k
19	561	Monday 10th March	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
20	562	Thursday 13th March	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
21	563	Tuesday 18th March	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
22	564	Thursday 20th March	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
23	565	Tuesday 25th March	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
24	566	Thursday 27th March	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
25	567	Tuesday 1st April	Alan Janes	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
26	568	Thursday 3rd April	Alan Janes	Richard Handford	12,700,000	20
27	569	Tuesday 8th April	Alan Janes	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
28	570	Thursday 10th April	Alan Janes	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
29	571	Tuesday 15th April	Alan Janes	Richard Handford	12,250,000	15
30	572	Thursday 17th April	Alan Janes	Richard Handford	12,250,000	17
31	573	Tuesday 22nd April	Neville Siggs	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
32	574	Thursday 24th April	Neville Siggs	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
33	575	Tuesday 29th April	Neville Siggs	Len Lurcuck	11,550,000	16
34	576	Thursday 1st May	Neville Siggs	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
35	577	Tuesday 6th May	Neville Siggs	Len Lurcuck	12,550,000	12
36	578	Thursday 8th May	Neville Siggs	Len Lurcuck	11,250,000	16
37	579	Tuesday 13th May	Michael Russell	Mike Gibbon	9,800,000	20
38	580	Thursday 15th May	Michael Russell	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
39	581	Tuesday 20th May	Michael Russell	Mike Gibbon	11,150,000	14
40	582	Thursday 22nd May	Michael Russell	Mike Gibbon	10,600,000	18
41	583	Tuesday 27th May	Michael Russell	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
42	584	Thursday 29th May	Michael Russell	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
43	585	Tuesday 3rd June	Douglas Watkinson	Frank W. Smith	10,300,000	17
44	586	Thursday 5th June	Douglas Watkinson	Frank W. Smith	10,700,000	12
45	587	Tuesday 10th June	Douglas Watkinson	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
46	588	Thursday 19th June	Douglas Watkinson	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
47	589	Tuesday 24th June	Douglas Watkinson	Frank W. Smith	10,350,000	18
48	590	Thursday 26th June	Douglas Watkinson	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
49	591	Tuesday 1st July	Kevin Laffan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
50	592	Thursday 3rd July	Kevin Laffan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
51	593	Tuesday 8th July	Kevin Laffan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
52	594	Thursday 10th July	Kevin Laffan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
53	595	Tuesday 15th July	Kevin Laffan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
54	596	Thursday 17th July	Kevin Laffan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
55	597	Tuesday 2nd September	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
56	598	Thursday 4th September	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
57	599	Tuesday 9th September	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
58	600	Thursday 11th September	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
59	601	Tuesday 16th September	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
60	602	Thursday 18th September	Kevin Laffan	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
61	603	Tuesday 23rd September	Neville Siggs	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
62	604	Thursday 25th September	Neville Siggs	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
63	605	Tuesday 30th September	Neville Siggs	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
64	606	Thursday 2nd October	Neville Siggs	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
65	607	Tuesday 7th October	Neville Siggs	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
66	608	Thursday 9th October	Neville Siggs	Frank W. Smith	n/k	n/k
67	609	Tuesday 14th October	Alan Janes	Paddy Russell	n/k	n/k
68	610	Thursday 16th October	Alan Janes	Paddy Russell	n/k	n/k
69	611	Tuesday 21st October	Alan Janes	Paddy Russell	n/k	n/k
70	612	Thursday 23rd October	Alan Janes	Paddy Russell	n/k	n/k
71	613	Tuesday 28th October	Alan Janes	Paddy Russell	n/k	n/k
72	614	Thursday 30th October	Alan Janes	Paddy Russell	n/k	n/k
73	615	Tuesday 4th November	Alan Janes	Paddy Russell	n/k	n/k
74	616	Thursday 6th November	Alan Janes	Paddy Russell	n/k	n/k
75	617	Tuesday 11th November	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
76	618	Thursday 13th November	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
77	619	Tuesday 18th November	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
78	620	Thursday 20th November	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
79	621	Tuesday 25th November	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
80	622	Thursday 27th November	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcuck	n/k	n/k
81	623	Tuesday 2nd December	Michael Russell	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
82	624	Thursday 4th December	Michael Russell	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
83	625	Tuesday 9th December	Michael Russell	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
84	626	Thursday 11th December	Michael Russell	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
85	627	Tuesday 16th December	Michael Russell	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
86	628	Thursday 18th December	Michael Russell	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k

Main Cast

Ranking	Character	Played by	Duration	Number of Episodes	Running total	Previous year's ranking
1	Amos Brearly	Ronald Magill	Full year	86	598	1
1	Henry Wilks	Arthur Pentelow	Full year	86	598	1
3	Matt Skilbeck	Frederick Pyne	Full year	83	596	5
4	Sam Pearson	Toke Townley	Full year	77	560	6
5	Annie Sugden	Sheila Mercier	Full year except June	76	600	1
6	Jack Sugden	Clive Hornby	From February	74	178	-
7	Joe Sugden	Frazer Hines	Until March, from July	58	585	4
7	Dolly Skilbeck	Jean Rogers	From April	58	227	7
9	Judy Westrop	Jane Cussons	Until July	50	54	11
9	Richard Anstey	Carl Rigg	January to April, from September	50	50	-
11	Seth Armstrong	Stan Richards	April to May, from July	39	64	10
12	Donald Hinton	Hugh Manning	Full year except July	29	149	9
13	Pat Merrick	Helen Weir	From July	27	39	-
14	Jackie Merrick	Ian Sharrock	From September	17	18	-
14	Sandie Merrick	Jane Hutcheson	From September	17	18	-
16	Maurice Westrop	Edward Dentith	January, April to May	16	54	8
17	Tom Merrick	Edward Peel	December only	6	12	-

Storylines

to be added

Who lives where

to be added

Awards and Nominations

to be added