Does anyone think Mr. Metcalfe may have a relation to David Metcalfe? Possibly Lydia Metcalfe's father or something?
Danielroxheaps (talk) 06:10, July 20, 2017 (UTC)
I don't think so. Lydia was married as Lydia Metcastle. Her first name used to be Halliwell (I think!) before she was married. (Ednasharon24534)
Ironic that Eric Pollard had scenes with Mr Metcalfe, and years later he found he had an illegitimate son called David Metcalfe. I doubt David's stepfather (Lydia's husband) is related to the 1987 character as Mr Metcalfe had 1 son who died aged 30 prior to 1988 and Metcalfe is a common surname in Yorkshire. Benny1982 (talk) 23:08, November 5, 2018 (UTC)
- Was it mentioned that Mr. Metcalfe only had one son? Or if Mr. Metcalfe had any siblings? He might have had a brother that had a son that married Lydia? - Danielroxheaps 23:23, November 5, 2018 (UTC)
I am rewatching the Metcalfe episodes. When he (Metcalfe) died, Ian MacArthur said he could have nieces and nephews claiming his estate but it turned out he had no relatives left. But I guess it was no known relatives. It was suggested he may have had nieces and nephews, meaning he had siblings.
I think the 1974 minor character Pickard Annersley was related to 1978 character David Annersley but this was never stated for certain, same as Fred Anstey in 1973/1974 being related to Richard. Annersley is a rare name. It is a possibility that Mr Metcalfe's son who died before 1988 was Lydia's husband. Maybe Lydia married when David was a baby and her hubby then died soon after. Benny1982 (talk) 23:33, November 5, 2018 (UTC)
- I found an Anstey family tree online and it said Janet, Richard, Fred (and one more, can't remember her name) were all related. However they did say Fred appeared in early 1980s. Also I'm pretty sure Lydia's other children are also by a Mr Metcalfe too. If Eric did try con Mr Metcalfe it seems likely Eric would have known about him. - Danielroxheaps 23:49, November 5, 2018 (UTC)
Just watching some 1987 eps, I am sure Mr Metcalfe said "Bairn my son" which may have been "Ben" but he pronounced it different due to his accent. Also he says his wife was 31 when she died in 1946 so she was born c1915 same as him. Benny1982 (talk) 02:11, November 6, 2018 (UTC)
- Which episode was his son's name mentioned? - Danielroxheaps 02:23, November 6, 2018 (UTC)
I think this one, Episode 1191 (8th October 1987) Benny1982 (talk) 12:37, November 6, 2018 (UTC)
- Yes it sounds like Bairn to me rather than Ben. But watching that episode, I'm glad that Mary's cause of death was revealed but I never expected it to be him beating her to death! (Whilst telling Matt the story, he said how she was going to leave, then he whacked his leg hard, and said how she didn't wake up) - Danielroxheaps 08:53, November 7, 2018 (UTC)
Ooh so it looks like he beat her to death, so was a killer. Benny1982 (talk) 12:39, November 7, 2018 (UTC) They said Emmerdale Farm was just a sleepy peaceful farming show, eh? Is it just me or is the show rather dark in 1987? You have the council deciding to put nuclear waste in the village, psycho 11 year old Francesca (the actress was absolutely brilliant, was almost like a horror movie) that hid a gun under her baby brother in her cot, and then you have recluse farmer Mr Metcalfe who killed his wife and died of a heart attack two months after confessing the truth? However I cannot deny Michael Glynn's reign as producer was fantastic and I'm glad I've got access to pretty much every EDF episode from April-December 1987. Just wish a few of Richard Handford's ('83-'86) episodes were available, he was a great producer on The Bill and London's Burning (although it was obvious he was more of a soap opera producer rather than a drama producer) and from what I've heard, Emmerdale Farm was also very interesting. - Danielroxheaps 23:32, November 7, 2018 (UTC)
Emmerdale was never a quiet farming show apart from mid 1973-1976. It got gritter from 1976 onwards. Lots of guest characters seemed to have a dark secret. Charlie Nelson, Harry Moore, Mr Metcalfe - all elderly villagers who were responsible or partly responsible for their wives deaths, although not sure if we ever 100% found out that Harry Moore drowned his wife. I noticed on your user page that one of your least fave characters was Jackie Merrick. He was horrible, and was quite a bad boy as well. Emmerdale during the Farm era was about a farming family rather than about farming. Benny1982 (talk) 13:37, November 8, 2018 (UTC)
- Yes the main reason I hated Jackie was because he shot Bundle in May 1984 - in front of schoolchildren!!! I didn't like Mr Wilks either too much in the mid-late 1973 episodes either. It might come up in the 1984/5 episodes when they (hopefully) become available whether Harry killed his wife, but Harry was a great villain and Godfrey James played him so well. I thought Dennis Blanch also made a great Derek Warner and I see why they brought him back to play Jim Latimer in 1991. - Danielroxheaps 20:20, November 8, 2018 (UTC)
So Mowlam may have been married then? I do find the recurring/minor characters can be memorable. Such as Mr Metcalfe here. His first name was never revealed in the episodes, though, just "Mr Metcalfe". Bernard Kay was only 59 in 1987 but Metcalfe was 72, in a common case of actors playing older characters. Walter Sparrow born in 1927 played Harry Moore who was about 20 years older than himBenny1982 (talk) 20:55, November 8, 2018 (UTC) Sorry I meant Harry Moore. Ths'ts really interesting about the characters being older than the actors. But the thing with the minor characters is that they have major stories but they don't end when the character stops appearing - the Mr Metcalfe storyline really ended when Phil accidentally blew up Crossgill in May 1988. - Danielroxheaps 21:02, November 8, 2018 (UTC)
I feel outside Crossgill that 1988 was pretty quaint compared to 1986 and 1987. Benny1982 (talk) 21:47, November 8, 2018 (UTC)
Yes with Mr Doughty previously being a Brookside producer and had many ground breaking storylines, I was surprised with his reign on Emmerdale/Emmerdale Farm. Basically the only very interesting moments (for me) were the Crossgill Fire, Pete's hit-and-run and Jim's return. I felt Jim's return and Jackie's death were anti-climactic - nothing groundbreaking appeared to happen. I do plan on going through the 1988 episodes when I get to them but hopefully 1989 ones become available as otherwise, Stuart didn't do as much in comparison to his predecessors leading back to Michael Glynn... - Danielroxheaps 21:56, November 8, 2018 (UTC)
Jan, Feb and March 1988 were action packed, especially Feb with Jackie's wedding, their honeymoon, Jock's mood swings, the Home Farm sale, Joe and Ruth's rollercoaster relationship, Jack and Barbara and him putting her before his family, uncertain jobs at Home Farm, and Sandie and Phil arguing which continued into March but April-late 1988 were slower. The first 3 months was action packed. Feb 1988 was more action packed than Feb 1986 which, while it had the aftermath of Mowlams murder, nothing much happened. February was 1988's most dramatic month I think. Benny1982 (talk) 22:41, November 8, 2018 (UTC)
Unfortunately I do think that a bit under half of the Emmerdale Farm era was quite dull. late-July 1973 - 1976 is a chore watching (hence why I haven't completed the plots nor locations on those episode pages and am prioritising everything else), and there's specific points in each year that just fail to keep my intention (March, May-July & November 1986 for example). However, I'm currently doing May 1982 episodes and they're really interesting with Sam's pneumonia and Jack's feud with NY arising, however I have a bad feeling about Barry Hill's intentions with Sandie. I would have loved to be a producer on Emmerdale Farm as you'd get more control over the storylines as if you are a producer on Emmerdale there's a whole process that takes months or even years. However I think I might have been a bit much for some viewers. - Danielroxheaps 00:46, November 9, 2018 (UTC)
The Harry Mowlam 1986 murder storyline was mentioned many times after Matt was cleared, and was referred to in 1988 a few times, 2 years later. And yet we had a similar story in 1987 when Mr Metcalfe said he beat his wife to death 40 years ago. I am sure one episode said she was pregnant at the time with their second child. Bairn must have been born c1940-1945 at best guess. I dont think it was said how long Mr and Mary Metcalfe had been wed by the time she died, but I guess 5 to 10 years. Benny1982 (talk) 16:12, November 17, 2018 (UTC)
- I've been watching some of the December 1983 episodes and you could certainly tell there was a change in producer jumping from the April episodes. I loved the change in directing style, it was less "showing" and more "telling a story". I also loved how you got the drama from the Sugdens and Mowlam, comedy from Mr. Wilks and Amos (Amos reminds me of Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory) and the extra bits from Jackie, Archie and Mike. I think if the show had kept this style and had more grittier storylines back then like what Handford did in the beginning, I think the show would have made it out fine without needing to have the revamps. There were plenty of big things like crashes and explosions throughout 83-86 too (8th December 1983 had the first explosion since 16th March 1978, and throughout 1984 and potentially 1985 there were plenty more too). One thing I would have done differently was set up the Harry Mowlam murder storyline as more of a whodunnit. I would have had the fight with Matt, then at the end of the episode have maybe Derek and Jack say they were going to confront Mowlam, Dolly goes with Jack to see if Matt's there and therefore there'd be 4 suspects. - Danielroxheaps 22:26, November 17, 2018 (UTC)
Derek Warner was evil with a capital E. He tried to kill a few people, and when he killed Mowlam he allowed Matt to take the blame for it. A truly nasty man he was. Mowlam was horrible but I am not sure if he had it in his to kill someone. Benny1982 (talk) 13:02, November 19, 2018 (UTC)