Seth Armstrong
Encyclopedia
Archibald Seth Armstrong is a fictional character
in the ITV soap Emmerdale
, played by Stan Richards
from 1978 until 2003, when the actor's ill health forced him to leave the show for more than a year. The role of Seth began as a temporary "bit part", due to appear for just a few episodes, but proved so popular that further appearances were made until Seth became a full-time regular character in the summer of 1980 when he switched from the Malt Shovel to The Woolpack and continuously annoyed the landlord Amos Brearly
and latter Alan Turner
who took over in 1991 when Amos left who memorably often shouted "Get out Seth!".
In 1983 it was revealed that Seth was in fact his middle name as his NY Estates work records said A.S. Armstrong. Jackie Merrick asked him what the A stood for and Seth replied "Archibald". He was never known as Archibald and always used his middle name as his common name. Archibald Seth Armstrong was his full name,.
In August 1989 a fox was bothering Beckindale; Seth and Jackie went into the woods to shoot it but when Jackie found the fox he accidentally shot himself. Seth was devastated and felt it should had been him who died.
An amusing postscript occurred in 1991, when Alan Turner and Henry Wilks
read Amos Brearly's diaries and discovered that Seth was, in fact, an illegal descendant of the Verney family. But any possible claims to ownership of Home Farm had been obscured by NY's purchase and subsequent of the property to Frank Tate
.
In February 1993 Meg died and Seth's neighbours helped him out with the house work to help him overcome his grief. More trouble arose for him in December when his house was destroyed due to the Emmerdale plane crash. Alan feared Seth had been killed as he had thrown him out of the Woolpack just before the crash happened however he turned up fine. Things looked up for the widower in 1994 when he met old flame from the war, Betty Eagleton
, who had also recently being widowed. They planned to marry but eventually just decided to live together and made their relationship official in December 1994 with a 40s-themed night, moving into keepers cottage together a year later. Seth was also claimed a hero that year after accidentally shooting "the beast of Beckindale".
Seth was also good friends with Kim Tate
he tried to unsuccessfully defend her in January 1997 when her lover Dave Glover had died and the village had turned on her for her affair with Dave. He later gave her away when she married Steve Marchant
in 1998. Seth went to visit his sister in Worthing that year. In October 1998 after The Woolpack was burnt down Seth was chosen to officially reopen it and proudly did and got his own seat at the pub.
In March 2000 Seth was caught up in the bus crash and Betty feared he had been killed. However he was found alive and recovered in hospital. Things got worse for Seth in September when he won money on the horses but was later mugged by some young girls and briefly developed agoraphobia however the villagers helped bring him out of it. Later that year he celebrated his 74th birthday which the village had thought was his 75th and threw him a party in The Woolpack, however he decided not to tell them.
Seth got a computer in 2002 and had a webcam set up for him by Robert Sugden
which Seth used to show the village Betty's daily routine in the house getting himself free breakfast's at Cafe Hope in return. When friend Edna Birch told Betty what he was doing she was heartbroken and left Seth telling him via webcam however Seth apologized publicly and they reunited. Seth and Betty were separated again in December 2002 when Betty went to visit Kathy Brookman
in Australia who had recently given birth. She returned in March 2003 full of joys of how great Australia was. Seth was worried she may move there but she assured him she'd never leave Emmerdale.
In September 2003 Seth went on an extended holiday to Australia to visit Kathy and never returned to Emmerdale. Betty was upset when he failed to return to the village for Christmas but he made up for it by booking her a flight to come and visit him in Australia. Seth made two final cameo appearances in 2004: the first in the form of a telephone message left on Betty's answering machine and finally on the Internet, as seen on a laptop in The Woolpack
that Christmas Eve. Richards was keen to reprise his role, but on 11 February 2005 he died of emphysema
and several months later, out of respect for the actor, an off-screen death for the character was included in the storyline. Seth died from a heart attack after have being ill for a while in Australia, whilst on the plane flying back to Britain from Australia.
Seth's remains were buried illegally in the woods of Emmerdale, in a storyline that would be briefly revisited in July 2010 after the discovery of an unrelated body in the same woods, Mark Wylde
.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the ITV soap Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
, played by Stan Richards
Stan Richards
For the Wales international footballer see Stan Richards Stanley "Stan" Richards was an English television actor, best known for his portrayal of the lovable rogue and ex-poacher turned gamekeeper, Seth Armstrong, in ITV soap operaEmmerdale .-Career:He played the role of Seth Armstrong from May...
from 1978 until 2003, when the actor's ill health forced him to leave the show for more than a year. The role of Seth began as a temporary "bit part", due to appear for just a few episodes, but proved so popular that further appearances were made until Seth became a full-time regular character in the summer of 1980 when he switched from the Malt Shovel to The Woolpack and continuously annoyed the landlord Amos Brearly
Amos Brearly
Amos Brearly is a fictional character in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He was played by Ronald Magill.He ran the Woolpack, along with Henry Wilks for 19 years.-Character backstory:...
and latter Alan Turner
Alan Turner (Emmerdale)
Alan Jonathan Turner is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Richard Thorp. He first appeared on 18 March 1982, and is the longest running character in the soap. Originally portrayed as an inept, boozing and bullying manager for NY Estates at Home Farm, he has...
who took over in 1991 when Amos left who memorably often shouted "Get out Seth!".
Character backstory
Seth Armstrong was born in 1926 and grew up in Beckindale. He had a sister who later moved to Worthing. Seth romanced young Betty Pendagast in 1944 and they almost married. He later got married in 1952 to Meg and they had two children Jimmy in 1953 and Freddie followed about 9 years later.1978–2004
Seth started out as the school's boiler man living with his wife Meg. He did a lot of poaching but eventually became gamekeeper in 1980. He swapped the Malt Shovel (Beckindale's other pub) for the Woolpack in the summer of 1980. In 1981 he forced local hardnut Tom Merrick out of the village after he tried to frame Jack Sugden in an arson attack. Seth and Meg had marriage difficulties in 1983, which resulted in him having to sleep in a shed at home farm. However he won her back with a bottle of port. Two years latter he opened up a NY social club to create rivalry for The Woolpack however the beer made everyone ill and he only made a profit of 10p before closing down. He later hired entertainment for The Woolpack by getting strippers who could tame snakes to entertain the pub however Amos was having none of it and refused to allow it.In 1983 it was revealed that Seth was in fact his middle name as his NY Estates work records said A.S. Armstrong. Jackie Merrick asked him what the A stood for and Seth replied "Archibald". He was never known as Archibald and always used his middle name as his common name. Archibald Seth Armstrong was his full name,.
In August 1989 a fox was bothering Beckindale; Seth and Jackie went into the woods to shoot it but when Jackie found the fox he accidentally shot himself. Seth was devastated and felt it should had been him who died.
An amusing postscript occurred in 1991, when Alan Turner and Henry Wilks
Henry Wilks
Henry Wilks is a fictional character from the popular soap opera Emmerdale played by Arthur Pentelow. He ran the Woolpack Inn, along with Amos Brearly for nearly 20 years....
read Amos Brearly's diaries and discovered that Seth was, in fact, an illegal descendant of the Verney family. But any possible claims to ownership of Home Farm had been obscured by NY's purchase and subsequent of the property to Frank Tate
Frank Tate (Emmerdale)
Francis Ronald "Frank" Tate is a fictional character on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He was played by Norman Bowler.Frank arrived in Beckindale in 1989 with his second wife Kim, son Chris and daughter Zoe...
.
In February 1993 Meg died and Seth's neighbours helped him out with the house work to help him overcome his grief. More trouble arose for him in December when his house was destroyed due to the Emmerdale plane crash. Alan feared Seth had been killed as he had thrown him out of the Woolpack just before the crash happened however he turned up fine. Things looked up for the widower in 1994 when he met old flame from the war, Betty Eagleton
Betty Eagleton
Elizabeth "Betty" Eagleton is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Paula Tilbrook. She made her first on-screen appearance on 12 April 1994 and, in 2011, following the death of Viv Hope, she is the longest-serving female character.-Backstory:Betty Pendergrast and...
, who had also recently being widowed. They planned to marry but eventually just decided to live together and made their relationship official in December 1994 with a 40s-themed night, moving into keepers cottage together a year later. Seth was also claimed a hero that year after accidentally shooting "the beast of Beckindale".
Seth was also good friends with Kim Tate
Kim Tate
Kimberly Jane 'Kim' Tate is a fictional character on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. who appeared between 1989 and 1999, She was played by actress Claire King. Kim Tate is seen as one of the most iconic characters in the history of British soap opera, having been dubbed The Soap Superbitch...
he tried to unsuccessfully defend her in January 1997 when her lover Dave Glover had died and the village had turned on her for her affair with Dave. He later gave her away when she married Steve Marchant
Steve Marchant
Steven "Steve" Marchant was a fictional character on the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Paul Opacic. He was introduced as an old university friend of Rachel Hughes, whose husband Chris was jealous of him. When Chris and Rachel split up, Steve and Rachel dated, but Steve soon got bored and...
in 1998. Seth went to visit his sister in Worthing that year. In October 1998 after The Woolpack was burnt down Seth was chosen to officially reopen it and proudly did and got his own seat at the pub.
In March 2000 Seth was caught up in the bus crash and Betty feared he had been killed. However he was found alive and recovered in hospital. Things got worse for Seth in September when he won money on the horses but was later mugged by some young girls and briefly developed agoraphobia however the villagers helped bring him out of it. Later that year he celebrated his 74th birthday which the village had thought was his 75th and threw him a party in The Woolpack, however he decided not to tell them.
Seth got a computer in 2002 and had a webcam set up for him by Robert Sugden
Robert Sugden
Robert Jacob Sugden is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale. He was played by three different actors: Richard Smith , Christopher Smith and Karl Davies .-Storylines:A character that was born on the show, Robert was notorious for the number of romantic relationships in...
which Seth used to show the village Betty's daily routine in the house getting himself free breakfast's at Cafe Hope in return. When friend Edna Birch told Betty what he was doing she was heartbroken and left Seth telling him via webcam however Seth apologized publicly and they reunited. Seth and Betty were separated again in December 2002 when Betty went to visit Kathy Brookman
Kathy Brookman
Katherine Elizabeth "Kathy" Brookman is a fictional character on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, She was played by Malandra Burrows...
in Australia who had recently given birth. She returned in March 2003 full of joys of how great Australia was. Seth was worried she may move there but she assured him she'd never leave Emmerdale.
In September 2003 Seth went on an extended holiday to Australia to visit Kathy and never returned to Emmerdale. Betty was upset when he failed to return to the village for Christmas but he made up for it by booking her a flight to come and visit him in Australia. Seth made two final cameo appearances in 2004: the first in the form of a telephone message left on Betty's answering machine and finally on the Internet, as seen on a laptop in The Woolpack
The Woolpack
This article is about the soap opera. Click the link for the Cumulus cloud formation synonym.The Woolpack is a fictional public house on the popular ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Its sign is a wool bale, a popular symbol in sheep-rearing country. It has played host to many of the soap's storylines and...
that Christmas Eve. Richards was keen to reprise his role, but on 11 February 2005 he died of emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
and several months later, out of respect for the actor, an off-screen death for the character was included in the storyline. Seth died from a heart attack after have being ill for a while in Australia, whilst on the plane flying back to Britain from Australia.
Seth's remains were buried illegally in the woods of Emmerdale, in a storyline that would be briefly revisited in July 2010 after the discovery of an unrelated body in the same woods, Mark Wylde
Mark Wylde
Mark Wylde was a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Maxwell Caulfield. He made his first appearance on 15 January 2009 and departed on 3 January 2010....
.