| A new face in
1989 was that of Teddy Turner, who played Pete Whiteley's grumpy
grandfather, Bill. He had previously played his namesake, Chalkie Whitely
in Coronation Street and another character in Emmerdale called Tom
Hawker. |
| Born in October
1918, just a fortnight before the end of the First World War, Bill
Whiteley continued to live in his farmhouse after selling his land by
auction in 1989. He had shaken hands on a deal with Alan Turner, but when
Jackie Merrick got together a cooperative, backed by Emmerdale and Henry
Wilks, to make a counter offer, Bill decided an auction was the fairest
way of selling, and received £140,000. |
| Obsessed by
death, Bill Whiteley's morbid and macabre sense of humour was a taste few
were keen to acquire. His Christmas present to himself in 1989 was a
coffin, because he felt he couldn't trust his family to spend money on a
decent one after his demise. (He liked the idea so much he bought Archie
Brooks one, too!) |
| He was friendly with Seth, but Amos and Wilks feared
being left alone with him since his gloomy conversation could have them
contemplating suicide after a few minutes - and Whiteley could, they
suspected, suggest the best method. He only started drinking in the
Woolpack in 1989 after Ernie Shuttleworth banned him from the Malt Shovel
for his depressing effect on trade. |
Ernie Shuttleworth |
| Bill was upset
when his daughter-in-law and grandson left the shelter of his roof for
Birmingham in 1989, and was understandably devastated the following summer
when Pete was killed. |
| Heartbroken, he
died in July 1991, leaving Lynn and her young son the sole occupants of
Whiteley's Farm, save for the occasional lodger. The farmhouse was
destroyed in the December 1993 air crash; Mark Hughes (who was returning a
borrowed vacuum cleaner) was the sole fatality. |
| Teddy Turner
himself died in 1992. |
