# UK Soap and Drama Discussion > Emmerdale > General >  Richard Thorpe has died.....

## sarah c

Emmerdale's longest-serving cast member Richard Thorp has died at the age of 81.

The actor played the role of Alan Turner on the ITV soap for over 30 years, making his first appearance in the programme in March 1982.

Read more: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/s1...#ixzz2U1hdPWpi
 Follow us: @digitalspy on Twitter | digitalspyuk on Facebook

Just on DS

RIP Richard....

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Glen1 (22-05-2013), tammyy2j (22-05-2013)

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## tammyy2j

RIP Richard

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## Perdita

Awwww  RIP Richard   :Sad:

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## lizann

rest in peace

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## Perdita

They usually do long serving cast members justice when they pass away . I hope they will write his passing into the storyline soon too. Wonder what poor Betty is going to do without her best friend  :Sad:

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## Katy

Aww RIP Richard

Hopefully they will write him out and give him a proper send off as Perdy has said.

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Perdita (23-05-2013)

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## thestud2k7

perfect time to bring Kathy back as an guest role????

rip richard

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## thestud2k7

Deteled

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## Perdita

> perfect time to bring Kathy back as an guest role????
> 
> rip richard


The younger viewers won't know who Kathy is/was and in soaps, they don't bring back close relatives for funerals, so I doubt that Kathy will be back, even in a guest role

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## Perdita

> perfect time to bring Kathy back as an guest role????
> 
> rip richard


The younger viewers won't know who Kathy is/was and in soaps, they don't bring back close relatives for funerals, so I doubt that Kathy will be back, even in a guest role

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## thestud2k7

yes true

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## Perdita

Emmerdale will dedicate an episode to the soap's long-serving actor Richard Thorp next week following his recent passing, Digital Spy can confirm.

Thorp, who played Alan Turner on the ITV show for over 30 years, died last week at the age of 81.


Â© ITV
Richard Thorp as Alan Turner.


An Emmerdale spokesperson told Digital Spy today (May 28) that the episode airing on Tuesday, June 4 will include an on-screen dedication to Thorp.

The hour-long edition has been chosen as it features Turner's final appearance in the programme.

Thorp made his first appearance in Emmerdale in March 1982. Turner was initially portrayed as a villain but mellowed over the years.

Leading tributes last week, Emmerdale's series producer Kate Oates commented: "Richard's death is a sad loss to Emmerdale, of which he was at the heart for so many wonderful years. Richard had a brilliant sense of humour and he will be missed by every single member of our production whose lives he touched."

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tammyy2j (05-06-2013)

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## Perdita

The private funeral of Emmerdale actor Richard Thorp took place today (June 4).

Thorp, who played Alan Turner in the soap for over 30 years, died last month at the age of 81.

A larger public memorial service for fans may take place at a later date.

Tonight's episode of Emmerdale marked Turner's final on-screen appearance in the show, and the hour-long edition aired in dedication to Thorp.

Producers for the show have said that his absence will be mentioned in upcoming episodes, while writers decide on a fitting way to write out a character who made his first appearance in 1982.

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katie hunter (05-06-2013), tammyy2j (05-06-2013)

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## Perdita

The private funeral of Emmerdale actor Richard Thorp took place today (June 4).

Thorp, who played Alan Turner in the soap for over 30 years, died last month at the age of 81.

A larger public memorial service for fans may take place at a later date.

Tonight's episode of Emmerdale marked Turner's final on-screen appearance in the show, and the hour-long edition aired in dedication to Thorp.

Producers for the show have said that his absence will be mentioned in upcoming episodes, while writers decide on a fitting way to write out a character who made his first appearance in 1982.

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## tammyy2j

He was in last night's episode for about two minutes, felt strange and sad seeing the character but where was the dedication or else I missed it

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## lizann

when will he die on screen?

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## Perdita

Emmerdale bosses will mark the death of long-running character Alan Turner following the passing of Richard Thorp.

The actor, who had played the role of Alan on the ITV soap for over 30 years, died in May at the age of 81.

The storyline, which was developed after consultation with the actor's family, will see his character peacefully pass away in his sleep.

A funeral will then be shown at the end of October and will see the return of actress Lorraine Chase, who played Alan's daughter Steph Stokes.

Chase's character was last seen in the soap in 2006 when she was wrongly jailed for murder. She will be escorted back for the funeral by prison guards.

Speaking of her return, Chase said: "l was devastated when l heard the news that my dear friend Richard Thorp had died.

"He was a wonderful, joyous man, a great actor, and l felt privileged to have worked with him so closely.

"When Emmerdale rang me to ask if l would consider coming back to guest at his character Alan - my on-screen dad's - funeral, I was overjoyed. I just wish with all my heart that the circumstances were different."

Emmerdale producer Kate Oates added: "Alan Turner was so important to Emmerdale and we felt it was right to give his character a proper send off. 

"It will be emotional as both the character and Richard are sorely missed and will be for a long time to come".

Emmerdale continues tonight at 7pm on ITV.

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lizann (13-09-2013), tammyy2j (12-09-2013)

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## Perdita

A sad day for Emmerdale arrives next week as the villagers discover that Alan Turner has passed away peacefully in his sleep.

Alan slips away while resting upstairs at Keeper's Cottage, while his good friend Betty Eagleton has been busy arranging a party to celebrate his homecoming.

Emmerdale's story team have created the plot to mark the real-life passing of Richard Thorp, who died in May at the age of 81. He had played Turner for over 30 years and was the ITV soap's longest-serving cast member.

Here, Paula Tilbrook - who plays Betty - offers her thoughts on the emotional storyline.

It's sad to be doing this story, but are you glad that Emmerdale are marking Richard's death in this way?
"Yes, I think we're all delighted about that. Nearly 30 years is a lifetime to be in a show, and he's gone through so many changes in his life - from owning the big house to lodging with me. The journeys that he's gone on are incredible. So yeah, we're delighted - we don't just want him to disappear. We want to, as we would in real life, mark the passing of a gentleman."

We've heard that Richard had a great sense of humour.
"Oh yes, every day. He had very bad memory! Every day his first words to me would be, 'I've got one for you', which meant a joke. We'd all groan and say, 'Okay, go on then', and he'd tell me. About eight times out of ten, it was usually the one I'd told him the day before! I used to say, 'Go on, I won't stop you because you might want to hear it again yourself!' He used to love to have a laugh and a joke."

Do you have fond memories? Are there any particular ones that jump out?
"Yes, I've got more than one but the one that sticks out in my memory happened not so long ago. When we were at Burley Road studios, there was a cafÃ© that he frequented right opposite the studio. Every day he'd say, 'Look, we're on a break, come with me to the cafÃ© and I'll treat you to lunch'. I used to say 'Aw, lovey, no I'm in the studio now and I'd rather stay here and get my head together'.

"One day he said, 'Come on, you can't keep saying no' so I thought, 'Oh, you are a bit of a misery guts Paula' so I said, 'Oh, okay'. We got outside, the pair of us, and we had to walk across the main busy road. I hadn't realised it was so windy outside, but we ploughed on and got into the middle of the road with traffic coming both ways. 

"All of a sudden, a great gust of wind came along and blew us both over in the middle of the road. I thought, 'What a way to go!' I thought if I hadn't hurt myself or broken my hip, and he hasn't, we're going to get run over anyway."

What happened next? 
"All of a sudden, I don't know who he was, but this wonderful man got out of his car in the middle of the busy traffic and brought all the traffic to a halt. He helped to pick me up, helped to pick him up and then I said, 'I'm going back, Richard'. He said, 'Look, if you look in front of you and you look behind you, you'll see that it's quicker to go to the cafÃ© instead of back to the studio!' 

"We carried on but I said, 'I've been to lunch with you now, don't ever ask again because all I've got to say is, I've no intention of stopping the traffic in Burley Road ever again!' And we both had a good laugh about it and he used to pull my leg about it - he kept asking me knowing I was going to say no.

"But it was one of those things, once in a lifetime, because we both ended up on the floor in the middle of the main road. I'm just amazed he stopped, this civilian. He wasn't a policeman. But of course we didn't stand talking to him because we were holding up the whole road! So we stopped the traffic between us, yes. I said to him, 'Quite an achievement, that. We've stopped all the traffic between us in the middle of Leeds!'"

What else can you tell us about Richard?
"He just wanted you to either have a meal with him or, you know, come and chat to him. We'd known each other very well by then, so we could say anything we liked to each other. 

"The last time I saw him, he was getting into his car and he shouted something across. I can't remember what it was now, and I was getting into my car, but it was something that he was teasing me about again. He was car mad you know, and he said something like, 'When are you going to get yourself a decent car and get yourself one of these?!'

"I just said something terribly rude back to him which I can't really tell you, but he just fell about laughing looking very satisfied. It was only afterwards that I thought, when we got the news that he'd died, 'Those were the last words I said to him and they weren't nice'. Well they were, because he laughed. He got the reaction from me that he wanted! He always knew he could get the reaction from my that he wanted. He always knew he could drive me to say something I wish I hadn't. He would chuckle all the way home."

It must have been a very sad day when you all heard about Richard's passing.
"Yes, it was unbelievable really, because ironically, we'd just got a script and one of the people that was in one of the scenes with me was him. I looked at the script unbelievingly, as you do because it's sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction. I looked at it and thought, 'Wait a minute, I know this is a silly thought, but it can't be. He can't be gone because he's in this scene that we're going to do'. 

"So of course there were tons of rewrites and things like that. But yes, I still feel his presence. We felt his presence when we were filming some of the scenes when we found that he'd died. Myself and Shirley [Stelfox, who plays Edna], we did feel his presence on our set, Keeper's Cottage. Shirley said to me, 'Do you feel him here?' and I knew immediately who she was talking about and I said immediately 'Yes'. I didn't want to mention it, but yes I did."

In the storyline, although we obviously can't see it, Alan returns to the village after some time away. 
"Yes, he's been to everywhere. He's been to France on his Harley and ended up in the Lake District and he's been away. Betty wonders if it's a good idea if we make him a welcome home tea and everybody agrees. So we all go to Marlon's and make this tea, which is quite funny in itself because we mess Marlon's kitchen up. And I say, 'Well where is he?' and he's gone to bed. Victoria says, 'Well I heard him come in at two in the morning, so he won't be getting up early'. 

"So they're not surprised that he hasn't appeared, but then it gets to be in the afternoon and I think, 'Well, he's going to be late for his own party'. I go upstairs and realise that he's not asleep as I thought and that's a big shock. I come downstairs in shock and I don't want to tell Victoria with her being so young, just in case I'm wrong. 

"I shoo her off to Marlon's and I phone Edna immediately. She is right over and she goes up - and we enjoyed doing the scene together, Shirley and I. They already are close, although they're quite sharp with one another. The veil is down, isn't it, once you've lost somebody and you're in shock? We actually do embrace each other, which we've never done before." 

Edna and Betty never have any physical contact usually…
"No, none of that thank you! We actually do here because we are both in shock and bless her, she says, 'I don't know what to say' and she says it again and I say 'You've already said that once'. Nothing's really going in, so I say, 'We'll have to get back to do the tea'. That's what they do, they put on a proper cooked meal, for people like Marlon who were close to him and we all raise a glass to him." 

Did that feel real, as if you were raising a glass to Richard himself?
"It was difficult. I don't like to openly cry. I think when you openly cry, people can't hear what you're saying. That always annoys me when somebody does that and you can't hear them! So it's the restraint that's better, I think. Everybody was terribly shocked because of course they've come to celebrate Alan. Previously, Betty has left Alan a message when he phoned to say that they're now in the Lake District and I say, 'If you don't bring me back some Kendall Mint Cake, there will be hell to pay'. 

"He's brought me some back and left it on the table for me with a little note saying 'I bet you thought I'd forget'. So I think it's very nicely done, really, and he'd appreciate it, you know. I know what he'd say, 'Oh, I'm the centre of attraction for once in my life'."

Is there anything you'd like to add?
"He'll be very much missed, he is already, and his presence is still felt by some of us."

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## Perdita

A sad day for Emmerdale arrives next week as the villagers discover that Alan Turner has passed away peacefully in his sleep.

Alan slips away while resting upstairs at Keeper's Cottage, while his good friend Betty Eagleton has been busy arranging a party to celebrate his homecoming.

Emmerdale's story team have created the plot to mark the real-life passing of Richard Thorp, who died in May at the age of 81. He had played Turner for over 30 years and was the ITV soap's longest-serving cast member.

Here, Paula Tilbrook - who plays Betty - offers her thoughts on the emotional storyline.

It's sad to be doing this story, but are you glad that Emmerdale are marking Richard's death in this way?
"Yes, I think we're all delighted about that. Nearly 30 years is a lifetime to be in a show, and he's gone through so many changes in his life - from owning the big house to lodging with me. The journeys that he's gone on are incredible. So yeah, we're delighted - we don't just want him to disappear. We want to, as we would in real life, mark the passing of a gentleman."

We've heard that Richard had a great sense of humour.
"Oh yes, every day. He had very bad memory! Every day his first words to me would be, 'I've got one for you', which meant a joke. We'd all groan and say, 'Okay, go on then', and he'd tell me. About eight times out of ten, it was usually the one I'd told him the day before! I used to say, 'Go on, I won't stop you because you might want to hear it again yourself!' He used to love to have a laugh and a joke."

Do you have fond memories? Are there any particular ones that jump out?
"Yes, I've got more than one but the one that sticks out in my memory happened not so long ago. When we were at Burley Road studios, there was a cafÃ© that he frequented right opposite the studio. Every day he'd say, 'Look, we're on a break, come with me to the cafÃ© and I'll treat you to lunch'. I used to say 'Aw, lovey, no I'm in the studio now and I'd rather stay here and get my head together'.

"One day he said, 'Come on, you can't keep saying no' so I thought, 'Oh, you are a bit of a misery guts Paula' so I said, 'Oh, okay'. We got outside, the pair of us, and we had to walk across the main busy road. I hadn't realised it was so windy outside, but we ploughed on and got into the middle of the road with traffic coming both ways. 

"All of a sudden, a great gust of wind came along and blew us both over in the middle of the road. I thought, 'What a way to go!' I thought if I hadn't hurt myself or broken my hip, and he hasn't, we're going to get run over anyway."

What happened next? 
"All of a sudden, I don't know who he was, but this wonderful man got out of his car in the middle of the busy traffic and brought all the traffic to a halt. He helped to pick me up, helped to pick him up and then I said, 'I'm going back, Richard'. He said, 'Look, if you look in front of you and you look behind you, you'll see that it's quicker to go to the cafÃ© instead of back to the studio!' 

"We carried on but I said, 'I've been to lunch with you now, don't ever ask again because all I've got to say is, I've no intention of stopping the traffic in Burley Road ever again!' And we both had a good laugh about it and he used to pull my leg about it - he kept asking me knowing I was going to say no.

"But it was one of those things, once in a lifetime, because we both ended up on the floor in the middle of the main road. I'm just amazed he stopped, this civilian. He wasn't a policeman. But of course we didn't stand talking to him because we were holding up the whole road! So we stopped the traffic between us, yes. I said to him, 'Quite an achievement, that. We've stopped all the traffic between us in the middle of Leeds!'"

What else can you tell us about Richard?
"He just wanted you to either have a meal with him or, you know, come and chat to him. We'd known each other very well by then, so we could say anything we liked to each other. 

"The last time I saw him, he was getting into his car and he shouted something across. I can't remember what it was now, and I was getting into my car, but it was something that he was teasing me about again. He was car mad you know, and he said something like, 'When are you going to get yourself a decent car and get yourself one of these?!'

"I just said something terribly rude back to him which I can't really tell you, but he just fell about laughing looking very satisfied. It was only afterwards that I thought, when we got the news that he'd died, 'Those were the last words I said to him and they weren't nice'. Well they were, because he laughed. He got the reaction from me that he wanted! He always knew he could get the reaction from my that he wanted. He always knew he could drive me to say something I wish I hadn't. He would chuckle all the way home."

It must have been a very sad day when you all heard about Richard's passing.
"Yes, it was unbelievable really, because ironically, we'd just got a script and one of the people that was in one of the scenes with me was him. I looked at the script unbelievingly, as you do because it's sometimes difficult to separate fact from fiction. I looked at it and thought, 'Wait a minute, I know this is a silly thought, but it can't be. He can't be gone because he's in this scene that we're going to do'. 

"So of course there were tons of rewrites and things like that. But yes, I still feel his presence. We felt his presence when we were filming some of the scenes when we found that he'd died. Myself and Shirley [Stelfox, who plays Edna], we did feel his presence on our set, Keeper's Cottage. Shirley said to me, 'Do you feel him here?' and I knew immediately who she was talking about and I said immediately 'Yes'. I didn't want to mention it, but yes I did."

In the storyline, although we obviously can't see it, Alan returns to the village after some time away. 
"Yes, he's been to everywhere. He's been to France on his Harley and ended up in the Lake District and he's been away. Betty wonders if it's a good idea if we make him a welcome home tea and everybody agrees. So we all go to Marlon's and make this tea, which is quite funny in itself because we mess Marlon's kitchen up. And I say, 'Well where is he?' and he's gone to bed. Victoria says, 'Well I heard him come in at two in the morning, so he won't be getting up early'. 

"So they're not surprised that he hasn't appeared, but then it gets to be in the afternoon and I think, 'Well, he's going to be late for his own party'. I go upstairs and realise that he's not asleep as I thought and that's a big shock. I come downstairs in shock and I don't want to tell Victoria with her being so young, just in case I'm wrong. 

"I shoo her off to Marlon's and I phone Edna immediately. She is right over and she goes up - and we enjoyed doing the scene together, Shirley and I. They already are close, although they're quite sharp with one another. The veil is down, isn't it, once you've lost somebody and you're in shock? We actually do embrace each other, which we've never done before." 

Edna and Betty never have any physical contact usuallyâ¦
"No, none of that thank you! We actually do here because we are both in shock and bless her, she says, 'I don't know what to say' and she says it again and I say 'You've already said that once'. Nothing's really going in, so I say, 'We'll have to get back to do the tea'. That's what they do, they put on a proper cooked meal, for people like Marlon who were close to him and we all raise a glass to him." 

Did that feel real, as if you were raising a glass to Richard himself?
"It was difficult. I don't like to openly cry. I think when you openly cry, people can't hear what you're saying. That always annoys me when somebody does that and you can't hear them! So it's the restraint that's better, I think. Everybody was terribly shocked because of course they've come to celebrate Alan. Previously, Betty has left Alan a message when he phoned to say that they're now in the Lake District and I say, 'If you don't bring me back some Kendall Mint Cake, there will be hell to pay'. 

"He's brought me some back and left it on the table for me with a little note saying 'I bet you thought I'd forget'. So I think it's very nicely done, really, and he'd appreciate it, you know. I know what he'd say, 'Oh, I'm the centre of attraction for once in my life'."

Is there anything you'd like to add?
"He'll be very much missed, he is already, and his presence is still felt by some of us."

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## alan45

Emmerdale's Alan Turner gets a touching send-off in tonight's episode (October 30) as the village gathers together for his funeral.

Victoria Sugden has carefully planned the emotional day, which begins when a procession of motorbikes arrives with Alan's coffin in a fitting tribute to him.

There are also some surprise guests for the occasion as Katie Macey returns to the village unexpectedly and Alan's daughter Steph Stokes shows up too, handcuffed to a prison guard.

The residents of Emmerdale gather for Alan's funeral.


Â© ITV
The day of Alan's funeral arrives.


Emmerdale bosses have come up with this storyline to mark the real-life passing of actor Richard Thorp, who died in May at the age of 81. He had played Turner for over 30 years and was the ITV soap's longest-serving cast member.

Lorraine Chase, who plays Steph, said of tonight's episode: "They have given him a terrific send-off. When I saw those bikers and I saw his coffin, it gave us all a bit of a tear.

"He would have loved everything about it. It would have been right up his street. It would have been right up his street as Richard Thorp, let alone Alan Turner!

"It was more than fitting. It was very emotional. He would have been so pleased and I'm sure he is pleased."

Emmerdale airs this episode tonight 30th October

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## alan45

Emmerdale's Alan Turner gets a touching send-off in tonight's episode (October 30) as the village gathers together for his funeral.

Victoria Sugden has carefully planned the emotional day, which begins when a procession of motorbikes arrives with Alan's coffin in a fitting tribute to him.

There are also some surprise guests for the occasion as Katie Macey returns to the village unexpectedly and Alan's daughter Steph Stokes shows up too, handcuffed to a prison guard.

The residents of Emmerdale gather for Alan's funeral.


Â© ITV
The day of Alan's funeral arrives.


Emmerdale bosses have come up with this storyline to mark the real-life passing of actor Richard Thorp, who died in May at the age of 81. He had played Turner for over 30 years and was the ITV soap's longest-serving cast member.

Lorraine Chase, who plays Steph, said of tonight's episode: "They have given him a terrific send-off. When I saw those bikers and I saw his coffin, it gave us all a bit of a tear.

"He would have loved everything about it. It would have been right up his street. It would have been right up his street as Richard Thorp, let alone Alan Turner!

"It was more than fitting. It was very emotional. He would have been so pleased and I'm sure he is pleased."

Emmerdale airs this episode tonight 30th October

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