Emmerdale Farm in 1981

1981 was Emmerdale Farm's 10th year. Production was overseen by producer Anne W. Gibbons.

68 episodes were broadcast during the year. Major storylines included Pat Merrick's divorce from Tom Merrick and her growing relationship with Jack Sugden, a break-in at Emmerdale Farm with the burgular accidentally fatally running over sheepdog Snip, Amos Brearly being sacked from the Hotten Courier and setting up rival newspaper the Beckindale Bugle and Richard Anstey's affair with his boss' wife, Virginia Lattimore. 

Production

Cast photo from 1981

Anne W. Gibbons continued as producer for her second year onscreen. Her only notable addition to the cast this year was Drew Dawson as NY Estates workman Jock MacDonald who, while only appearing in two episodes this year, would go on to appear consistently through the remainder of the decade.

A dispute at Yorkshire Television called a halt to filming in October as seventy electrician staff went on strike, in response to four workers being suspended. The strike lasted from the 1st October through to the 29th. The programme only had enough episodes banked to air until Episode 696 which aired on 5th November and, as a result, was pulled from the schedule a month early, with repeats going out in the afternoon to keep the show in the public eye. Shooting began for the next block once the dispute was resolved but these would not be seen on screen until January 1982, beginning with Episode 703. As a result of the strike, Episode 697 to Episode 702 never made it to the screen and though Lance Parkin's 30 Years of Emmerdale book notes that the episodes were "made but never transmitted", there is no evidence to suggest that when production resumed these episodes were filmed.

Sleeve of Stan Richards' single 'Grandad's Motto' released in November.

In November 1981, Stan Richards (as Stan & The Gang) released a single on 7" vinyl titled 'Grandad's Motto'. The song was based on a Yorkshireman's advice to his son and captured the essence of Seth Armstrong's character ("See all, hear all, say nowt. Eat all, sup all, pay nowt!"). The track was written by Geoff Ashford and released on the Spy 80 label.

The programme once again took a summer break, this time remaining off air over July and August.

Episodes

#	Ep. No.	Date	Writer	Director	Viewing Figures	Chart Position
1	629	Tuesday 6th January	Douglas Watkinson	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
2	630	Thursday 8th January	Douglas Watkinson	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
3	631	Tuesday 13th January	Douglas Watkinson	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
4	632	Thursday 15th January	Douglas Watkinson	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
5	633	Tuesday 20th January	Douglas Watkinson	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
6	634	Thursday 22nd January	Douglas Watkinson	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
7	635	Tuesday 27th January	Chris Barlas	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
8	636	Thursday 29th January	Chris Barlas	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
9	637	Tuesday 3rd February	Chris Barlas	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
10	638	Thursday 5th February	Chris Barlas	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
11	639	Tuesday 10th February	Chris Barlas	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
12	640	Thursday 12th February	Chris Barlas	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
13	641	Tuesday 17th February	Ken Blakeson	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
14	642	Thursday 19th February	Ken Blakeson	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
15	643	Tuesday 24th February	Alan James	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
16	644	Thursday 26th February	Alan James	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
17	645	Tuesday 3rd March	Alan James	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
18	646	Thursday 5th March	Alan James	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
19	647	Tuesday 10th March	Alan James	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
20	648	Thursday 12th March	Alan James	Richard Handford	n/k	n/k
21	649	Tuesday 17th March	Kevin Laffan	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
22	650	Thursday 19th March	Kevin Laffan	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
23	651	Tuesday 24th March	Kevin Laffan	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
24	652	Thursday 26th March	Kevin Laffan	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
25	653	Tuesday 31st March	Kevin Laffan	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
26	654	Thursday 2nd April	Kevin Laffan	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
27	655	Tuesday 7th April	Michael Russell	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
28	656	Thursday 9th April	Michael Russell	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
29	657	Tuesday 14th April	Michael Russell	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
30	658	Thursday 16th April	Michael Russell	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
31	659	Tuesday 21st April	Michael Russell	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
32	660	Thursday 23rd April	Michael Russell	Philip Draycott	n/k	n/k
33	661	Tuesday 28th April	Freda Kelsall	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
34	662	Thursday 30th April	Freda Kelsall	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
35	663	Tuesday 5th May	Freda Kelsall	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
36	664	Thursday 7th May	Freda Kelsall	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
37	665	Tuesday 12th May	Freda Kelsall	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
38	666	Thursday 14th May	Freda Kelsall	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
39	667	Tuesday 19th May	Tim Vaughan	John Michael Phillips	n/k	n/k
40	668	Thursday 21st May	Tim Vaughan	John Michael Phillips	n/k	n/k
41	669	Tuesday 26th May	Alan Downer	John Michael Phillips	n/k	n/k
42	670	Thursday 28th May	Alan Downer	John Michael Phillips	n/k	n/k
43	671	Tuesday 2nd June	Alan Downer	John Michael Phillips	n/k	n/k
44	672	Thursday 4th June	Alan Downer	John Michael Phillips	n/k	n/k
45	673	Tuesday 9th June	Peter Whitbread	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
46	674	Thursday 11th June	Peter Whitbread	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
47	675	Tuesday 16th June	Peter Whitbread	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
48	676	Thursday 18th June	Peter Whitbread	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
49	677	Tuesday 23rd June	Peter Whitbread	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
50	678	Thursday 25th June	Peter Whitbread	Darrol Blake	n/k	n/k
51	679	Tuesday 8th September	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
52	680	Thursday 10th September	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
53	681	Tuesday 15th September	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
54	682	Thursday 17th September	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
55	683	Tuesday 22nd September	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
56	684	Thursday 24th September	Kevin Laffan	Len Lurcock	n/k	n/k
57	685	Tuesday 29th September	Freda Kelsall	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
58	686	Thursday 1st October	Freda Kelsall	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
59	687	Tuesday 6th October	Freda Kelsall	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
60	688	Thursday 8th October	Freda Kelsall	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
61	689	Tuesday 13th October	Freda Kelsall	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
62	690	Thursday 15th October	Freda Kelsall	Mike Gibbon	n/k	n/k
63	691	Tuesday 20th October	Tim Vaughan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
64	692	Thursday 22nd October	Tim Vaughan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
65	693	Tuesday 27th October	Tim Vaughan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
66	694	Thursday 29th October	Tim Vaughan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
67	695	Tuesday 3rd November	Tim Vaughan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k
68	696	Thursday 5th November	Tim Vaughan	Mervyn Cumming	n/k	n/k

Main Cast

Ranking	Character	Played by	Duration	Number of Episodes	Running total	Previous year's ranking
1	Henry Wilks	Arthur Pentelow	Full year	68	666	1
1	Matt Skilbeck	Frederick Pyne	Full year	68	664	3
1	Joe Sugden	Frazer Hines	Full year	68	653	7
1	Dolly Skilbeck	Jean Rogers	Full year	68	295	7
1	Jack Sugden	Clive Hornby	Full year	68	246	6
6	Amos Brearly	Ronald Magill	Full year	66	663	1
6	Seth Armstrong	Stan Richards	Full year	66	130	11
8	Richard Anstey	Carl Rigg	Full year	62	111	10
8	Pat Merrick	Helen Weir	Full year	62	102	13
10	Sandie Merrick	Jane Hutcheson	Full year	61	79	14
11	Jackie Merrick	Ian Sharrock	Full year	60	78	14
12	Annie Sugden	Sheila Mercier	Full year except February	54	654	5
12	Sam Pearson	Toke Townley	Full year except March	54	614	4
14	Donald Hinton	Hugh Manning	Until February, April to September	40	189	12
15	Tom Merrick	Edward Peel	January to April	12	24	17
16	Jock MacDonald	Drew Dawson	November only	2	2	-

Storylines

to be added

Who lives where

to be added

Awards and Nominations

to be added