Gavin Ferris

Robert Beck

A Huge Big Thank you to Paul Berridge who has made various profiles and photos availabe to me. They were previously on his Beckindale site (that is no more). Much of this page is based on Paul's work - although the coloured boxes have been added.

As Gavin Ferris's days in Emmerdale draw to a close, actor Robert Beck reveals what he's planning for the months ahead. If there's one thing Robert Beck won't miss about being in Emmerdale, it's all the driving he's had to do. Much of the past eight months has been spent commuting between his home in London, the flat in Leeds where he lives while filming and his girlfriend Jane Danson's house in Manchester - and he's totally sick of it!	Jane Danson
'My car has done about 20,000 miles in those eight months," jokes Robert. "I lived at Lisa Riley's house in Leeds while I was filming, along'with Mark Charnock (who plays Marlon Dingle) and Dominic Brunt (Paddy Kirk). We've had a crazy time together. We got up to all sorts. I'll really miss them all when I move out. I'm hoping to have some kind of party on my last night there.
"I've loved living in Leeds. It is a really pretty city. I could settle down there easily, but it's just too far away from my friends and family in London. If it was where Oxford is on the map, it would be perfect." Now that Robert has finished filming, he plans to spend a lot more time with Corrie star Jane either at his Twickenham house or her home in Manchester. "Jane likes it down in London because she gets away from all the attention she receives in Manchester," reveals Robert. "Jane can't really go out there. She finds it difficult to go to places without getting hassle. Sometimes you just need to get away from it all and pretend that you're just an accountant or something. It's much more relaxed in London. It's almost like a little holiday for her."
With both Robert and Jane in the public eye, do they find all the attention puts a strain of their relationship? "You have to accept it and just get on with your life," says Robert. "We don't go clubbing in the West End and we don't encourage the paparazzi to snap us. We just live our lives. Jane and I both go to work and come home like a normal couple. We don't go to showbizzy places because we're not like that."
Having a partner who understands the pressures of being an actor has been a great source of support for Robert. "We talk about work all the time,' he laughs. "None of my close friends really understand the stresses of being an actor. They seem to think that when you're working, you're having a wonderful time, earning lots of money and dashing off to a whole load of showbiz parties. And then when you're not working, they just think you live a life of leisure watching television. They don't seem to understand how stressful it is being unemployed."
When Robert is not working, one passion drives him more than any other - football! "I'm a real football freak and I love Manchester United. Actually, Saturday is my ideal day. I get up, watch Football Focus on BBC1 then turn over to Soccer Saturday on Sky. After that I watch whatever matches are on until Final Score. Then we'll go out to the pub for a few pints and have a nice meal somewhere and come home and catch Match Of The Day. I also play for a charity football team once a month."
Although we're all familiar with Robert as Emmerdale's Gavin, he has also appeared in Brookside. Seven years ago, he starred as Peter Harrison, an Oxford chemistry graduate who was accused of raping his neighbour Diana Corkhill. So, were the two shows similar? "No, Brookside's always been very different to Emmerdale," he says. "Emmerdale is a bit more like light entertainment than drama. They go more for comedy and although they have dramatic storylines, they like keep it light." Between soaps, Robert spent almost 18 months in America, where he was given a role in an episode of The X Files. So how does Leeds compare with Los Angeles? "The trailers are bigger in LA," he jokes. "in England, you sit in a room between scenes with all the other actors and there might be a pot of coffee if you're lucky. But when I was in The X Files everyone on the show had their own little caravanette.
LA is an amazing city. It's exciting but very ugly and sordid, too. Luckily I had a good set of friends to hang out with . I wasn't with the showbiz set - I wasn't rich or famous enough! I did stay with Clive Robertson, though, who plays Ben Evans in Sunset Beach. He's an old friend of mine.'
So with a new year almost here, has Robert any thoughts about other roles he'd like? "I'd love to be in a period drama with lots of action, something like Homblower or Sharpe," he laughs. "I'd also like to be in a film, but most of the ones being made here at the moment seem to be East End gangster films. I'm not really the kind of person who's right for that type of film because I'm a bit of a public schoolboy. That's why I have liked playing Gavin. He's quite different from any part I've ever played before. For a start he's Northern and an oil rigger, and he's a bit of a ladies' man..."
Whatever he ends up doing, Robert looks set to stay in the UK. "I've got all my papers and work permits sorted out so I could go and work in the States again. But now I'm with Jane I don't want to leave the country. I'll stick around and see what I can get here."

all about soap Jan 2000

Jane Danson, who played Leanne Tilsley in Coronation street is dating Robert Beck, who played Gavin Ferris.

Gavin Spent the afternoon with Stella upstairs in the Woolpack on what was to be Biff and Kathy's wedding day. She sneaked out without Bernice seeing her.