Seth Armstrong
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Archibald Seth Armstrong is a
fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
from the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
, ''
Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...
'', played by
Stan Richards Stanley Richardson, known professionally as Stan Richards (8 December 1930 – 11 February 2005), was an English television actor, best known for his portrayal of Seth Armstrong in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Career He played the ro ...
from 1978 until 2004. The role of Seth began as a temporary "bit part" and he 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. Seth continuously annoyed the landlord
Amos Brearly Amos Brearly is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Ronald Magill. He made his first appearance during the serial's debut episode on 16 October 1972. Amos ran The Woolpack pub and was the villag ...
and later Alan Turner who took over in 1991, who memorably often shouted "Get out Seth!". His memorable storylines included his turbulent relationship with his wife Meg and then later
Betty Eagleton Betty Eagleton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Paula Tilbrook. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 12 April 1994. Betty is characterised as the village gossip wh ...
(
Paula Tilbrook Paula Tilbrook (16 January 1930 – 1 December 2019) was an English actress who played Betty Eagleton in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' from 1994 to 2015. Career Born in Salford, Tilbrook begun her career performing on stage across North Ea ...
), dealing with his guilt over the death of
Jackie Merrick Jackie or Jacky may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters named Jackie or Jacky ** Jackie, current ring name of female professional wrestler Jacqueline Moore ** Jackie Lee (I ...
(Ian Sharrock), the death of his wife, a friendship with
Kim Tate Kim Taylor (also Barker, Marchant and Tate) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Claire King. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 12 December 1989. Kim is portrayed in the ser ...
(
Claire King Jayne Claire King (born Jayne Claire Seed; 10 January 1962) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Kim Tate in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' and Karen Betts in '' Bad Girls''. She has appeared in the fourth series of ''Strictly ...
) and in his final years, his ailing health. After appearing as a semi-regular character from 1978 to 1980 and then permanently from 1980 to 2003, the character was absent throughout 2004 due to Richards' ill health, only appearing briefly by video message that December. Richards hoped to return to the serial full-time, but his death in February 2005 prevented this and producers opted to kill off the character as a result, with Seth dying on the flight over from Australia back to Leeds and the village that October.


Storylines

Seth started out as the school's boiler man living with his wife, Meg. He was originally a poacher but became gamekeeper in 1981. He swapped the Malt Shovel (''Beckindale's other pub'') for the Woolpack that summer. In 1981, he forced local hardnut
Tom Merrick Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...
(
Edward Peel Edward Peel is an English television and stage actor. He was described by ''The Times'' in 2010 as a "veteran star of TV dramas" and "a familiar face on television for the past 40 years". Early life and education Peel trained as an actor at Ro ...
) out of the village after Tom tried to frame
Jack Sugden John Jacob "Jack" Sugden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. The character was originally played by Andrew Burt from 1972 to 1973 with a brief return in 1976, when the actor left for Italy to write a book. ...
in an arson attack. Seth and Meg had marriage difficulties in 1983, which resulted in him sleeping in a shed at Home Farm for a while. However, he won her back with a bottle of port. In 1985, he opened up a NY social club to create rivalry for The Woolpack but the beer made everyone ill and he only made a profit of 10p before closing down. He later attempted to hire entertainment for The Woolpack by booking strippers who could tame snakes to entertain the pub but Amos 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 Jackie or Jacky may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters named Jackie or Jacky ** Jackie, current ring name of female professional wrestler Jacqueline Moore ** Jackie Lee (I ...
(Ian Sharrock) asked him what the A stood for and Seth replied "Archibald". He was never known as Archibald however and always used his middle name as his common name. In August 1989, a fox was bothering Beckindale; Seth and Jackie went into the woods to shoot it but Jackie accidentally shot himself. Seth was devastated and felt it should have been him who died instead. An amusing postscript occurred in 1991, when Alan Turner and
Henry Wilks Henry Wilks is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Arthur Pentelow. He ran the Woolpack public house alongside Amos Brearly ( Ronald Magill) for nearly 20 years. Creation and casting Henry is ...
(
Arthur Pentelow Arthur William Pentelow (14 February 1924 – 6 August 1991) was an English actor who was best known for playing Henry Wilks in ''Emmerdale Farm'' (later renamed ''Emmerdale''), appearing from the first episode in 1972 until 1991. Early career ...
) read
Amos Brearly Amos Brearly is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Ronald Magill. He made his first appearance during the serial's debut episode on 16 October 1972. Amos ran The Woolpack pub and was the villag ...
's (
Ronald Magill Ronald Edmund Magill (21 April 1920 – 6 September 2007) was an English actor. He is best remembered for playing Amos Brearly in the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' from the first episode in 1972 to 1991, and appeared again in this role in ...
) diaries and discovered that Seth was, in fact, an illegitimate descendant of the Verney family. However, any possible claims to ownership of Home Farm was obscured by NY's purchase and subsequent sale to Frank Tate (
Norman Bowler Norman Clifford Bowler (born 1 August 1932) is an English actor, best known for his role as Frank Tate in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Early life Norman Clifford Bowler was born on 1 August 1932 in London, England. His father, Clifford No ...
). In February 1993, Meg died and Seth's neighbours helped him 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 that Seth had been killed and felt guilty as he had thrown him out of the Woolpack just before the crash happened, but he turned out to be unharmed. Things looked up for him in April 1994 when he met old flame
Betty Eagleton Betty Eagleton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Paula Tilbrook. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 12 April 1994. Betty is characterised as the village gossip wh ...
, who had also been widowed months before. They planned to marry later thar year after Seth proposed to her but instead decided just to live together and made their relationship official in December 1994 with a 1940s-themed night, moving into Keepers Cottage together the following year. Seth was also claimed a hero that year after accidentally shooting "the beast of Beckindale", which turned out to be a wild boar. Seth was friends with
Kim Tate Kim Taylor (also Barker, Marchant and Tate) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Claire King. The character debuted on-screen during the episode broadcast on 12 December 1989. Kim is portrayed in the ser ...
and tried to unsuccessfully defend her in January 1997 after her lover
Dave Glover David "Dave" Glover is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Ian Kelsey. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 4 August 1994. The character was introduced in a bid to attract ...
(
Ian Kelsey Ian Kelsey (born 17 December 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Dave Glover in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Patrick Spiller in the BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', DI Richard Mayne in the ITV crime drama '' Blue Murder'' ...
) died and everyone turned on her for her affair with Dave. He later gave her away when she married
Steve Marchant Steve Marchant is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Paul Opacic. He made his first on-screen appearance on 26 March 1996. Opacic originally auditioned for the role of Sean Rossi, before he was cast as S ...
in 1998. In October 1998, Seth was chosen to officially reopen the Woolpack after it had burned down earlier in the year. He agreed to do so and received his own seat at the pub. In March 2000, Seth was caught in the bus crash and Betty feared he had been killed. However, he was alive but was injured 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 to 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 so as not to hurt their feelings. Seth got a computer in 2002 and had a webcam set up by
Robert Sugden Robert Sugden (also Sugden-Dingle) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. The character originally appeared on the show regularly between 22 April 1986 and 3 October 2005. During that time he was first played a ...
(
Karl Davies Karl Davies (born 6 August 1982) is an English actor, and voice actor, who portrayed Lyle Anderson in the TV series '' Kingdom''. Previously he had portrayed Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Career Davies took over the role ...
) which Seth used to show Betty's daily routine getting himself free breakfasts at Cafe Hope in return. When
Edna Birch Edna Birch is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Shirley Stelfox. She made her first appearance during the episode first broadcast on 25 May 2000. Edna is characterised as a proud and independent Ch ...
told Betty what he was doing, she was heartbroken and left Seth telling him via webcam but Seth apologized publicly and they reunited. Seth and Betty briefly separated again in December 2002 when Betty visited
Kathy Brookman Katherine "Kathy" Brookman (also Bates, Merrick, Tate and Glover) is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Malandra Burrows. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 26 Novem ...
and her newborn baby in Australia. She returned in March 2003, full 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 to visit Kathy and never returned to the village. Betty was upset when he failed to return for Christmas but he made up for it by booking her a flight to visit him in Australia. Seth made two final cameo appearances in 2004: a telephone message left on Betty's answering machine and finally over 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 Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...
and several months later, out of respect for the actor, an off-screen death for the character occurred. Seth died on 30 October 2005 from a heart attack after having been ill for a while in Australia, whilst on the plane flying back to England. Seth's remains were buried illegally in the woods in a storyline that was briefly revisited in July 2010 after the discovery of a body in the same woods,
Mark Wylde Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...
(
Maxwell Caulfield Maxwell Caulfield (né Maxwell P.J. Newby; born 23 November 1959) is a British-American film, stage, and television actor and singer. He has appeared in ''Grease 2'' (1982), '' Electric Dreams'' (1984), '' The Boys Next Door'' (1985), ''The Su ...
). In June 2013, murder victim
Alex Moss The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'' in 2011, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the soap's executive producer, Steve Frost. Flynn Buchanan Flynn Bucha ...
's (Kurtis Stacey) remains were discovered in the woods. Unable to identify it,
Megan Macey ''Emmerdale'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared during 2012, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by the soap's executive producer, Steve ...
(
Gaynor Faye Gaynor Kay Mellor (born 26 August 1971), better known as Gaynor Faye, is an English actress and writer, best known for playing Judy Mallett in ''Coronation Street'' from 1995 until 1999 and Megan Macey in ''Emmerdale'' from 2012 until 2019. ...
) mentions it may be those of a poacher (Seth) who was buried in the woods, according to the Dingles. When Betty leaves the village in 2015 with her new fiancé, she visits Seth's burial place and bids a last goodbye to him, telling him that she will never forget about him. In May 2019, following her return Kim Tate talks to Lisa Dingle about her memories of Seth and says she misses him.


References


See also

* Emmerdale Cast List {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Seth Emmerdale characters Television characters introduced in 1978 Male characters in television