Alun Lewis had previously ben in Emmerdale as another character, Tony Barclay (1989).

Vic was born: 3 May 1958
Died (killed by Billy Hopwood in post office robbery): 25 December 1998

Vick's first wife Anne died with whom he had one daughter Kelly.

Vic married 2nd around 1984 Viv and adopted her son Scott.

Viv & Vic also had a daughter of their own Donna.

IMDB entry: Alun Lewis

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). The folowing is one of those profiles - although the coloured boxes have been added.

The National Federation of Sub Postmasters called for the one hour special in which Vic Windsor was killed during a bungled robbery by Billy Hopwood to be cancelled for fear it would spark off a spate of copycat post office raids.

The Following is taken from the Emmerdale Companion by Anthony Hayward (1998)

Taking the role of Vic Windsor, who moved his family from London to Yorkshire to leave behind the violence of a run-down estate to make a fresh start by taking over the Emmcrdale village Post Office gave actor Alun Lewis the chance to play someone following his own example.

'I could relate to the character immediately, having done that myself,' says Alun. 'I got fed up with London and the number of people. I fancied a change. And acting seems to have changed a lot. There was a time when you simply had to be in London to get the work, but things have become more regionalised, with television companies outside London doing their own programmes.'

Alun was born in south London, the brother of actor Hywel Bennett, after the family moved from Wales. He took his mother's maiden name as his professional name because actor-writer Alan Bennett had already launched his career. Alun began his own career as a stage manager with Birmingham Rep and, a year later, won a place at RADA, where his contemporaries included Robert Lindsay.

He had extensive experience on television before joining Emmerdale in 1993, having acted in programmes such as Van Der Valk, Rumpole of the Bailey, Rising Damp, The Professionah, Minder, Jemima Shore Investigates, Boon and the 'Play for Today' The Falklands Factor, as well as playing Bobby Boyle in the Welsh series Bowen.

But he was best known as Darryl, jailbird husband of Tracey - actress Linda Robson - in five series of the sitcom Birds of a Feather, written by the successful partnership of Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. 'I enjoyed doing Birds of a Feather,' recalls Alun, 'but most of it involved sitting down at a desk during prison visiting!' Alun, who also wrote one episode of the sitcom, in which man-mad neighbour Dorien became a belly-dancer, was seen in a sixth series screened in 1994 but recorded before he became a regular in Emmerdale. He had previously appeared in the serial as another character, Sandie Merrick's boyfriend Tony Barclay, in 1989.

As Vic Windsor, Alun turned up in the village of Emmerdale with his new screen family in a lovingly preserved Ford Zephyr. A townie at heart, he soon showed his lack of understanding of country ways, driving too fast past a horse - causing the rider to be almost thrown off- and leaving gates open so that cows could get out of fields. More seriously for Vic, he lost his footing on a grassy bank while taking his children out for a walk on the moors and fell into a river, where the current dragged him into a clump of foliage, trapping his leg. Eventually, Joe Sugden freed him by using a saw. 'We filmed that in a stream at Bolton Abbey, in North Yorkshire,' says Alum. "It was recored in March and was incredibly cold. I was in that stream for three days, but it looked good."

Stamina was something he also needed the last time he appeared on stage, as Hamlet at Theatre Clwyd, in Mold, shortly before joining Emmerdae.

'It was incredibly hard work,' he recalls, because he never stops talking. You have to be on stage for three hours and physically have a lot of energy.'

One of the perks of playing Vic in Emmerdale has been the chance for Alun to revive his guitar-playing by forming a group with fellow actors Billy Hartman and Steve Halliwell, who enjoyed the hit single 'Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll' in 1996.

The single came about after the trio performed at an Emmerdale party and an Emmerdale party and launched themselves as a group at venues throughout Yorkshire. As the Woolpackers, the group also released a successful album, Emmerdance, but it was the single that fulfilled a lifetime's ambition for Alun, who had played guitar in groups around London pubs and clubs until moving to Yorkshire. 'We went on the Top of the Pops,' he says. 'It's something I always wanted to do but thought I never would. I had put my music behind me but the minute you stop looking for something it comes out at you.'

Alun and his wife, Andrea, have two children Thomas and Sarah. The actor also has a daughter Amelia, from a previous relationship.

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