Betty Eagleton

Betty Eagleton
Emmerdale character
Portrayed by	Paula Tilbrook
Duration	1994–2015
First appearance	12 April 1994
Last appearance	25 December 2015
Introduced by	Mervyn Watson
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Cleaner (retired)
Home	Australia
Family Father Arthur Prendegast Mother Nora Prendegast Sisters Margaret Prendegast Husband Wally Eagleton (1954–93)

Elizabeth "Betty" Eagleton (née Prendegast) is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Paula Tilbrook. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 12 April 1994. Tilbrook announced her departure from the soap on 17 April 2015 and Betty departed on 25 May 2015.^[1] She made a cameo appearance on 25 December 2015 during a video call with some of the village residents. Betty was perhaps best known for her habit of gossiping about the residents of the village, her love of sherry and her relationship with Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards).

Storylines

Backstory

Betty Prendagast was born in Beckindale on the 22 January, the year is only known to her as she is very reticent about her age. Her parents were Arthur and Nora and she had a sister, Margaret.

Betty left Beckindale in the early 1950s to work as a tiller girl in London, and was also on the game. She met a man called Reggie Wilkie and he got her pregnant. On seeing him with another woman, she had an abortion which made her unable to have children. She then returned to Beckindale and married old school friend, Wally Eagleton, in 1954. After 39 years of marriage, Wally died in 1993 and Betty returned to Beckindale after living in Filey.

1994–2015

As Betty arrived in 1994, she soon became associated as one of the village gossipers. A former flame of Seth Armstrong (Stan Richards), she came to town looking for him. Betty soon settled in and hosted a 1940s theme night in The Woolpack at Christmas 1994. Betty stood up for what she believed in, and even tried to call off Zoe Tate's (Leah Bracknell) lesbian wedding in 1996.

In 1999, Betty auditions to be part of a Spice Girls tribute act, but is rejected by Kelly Windsor (Adele Silva) because of her age, referring to her as "wrinkly spice".

In 2000, her ex Reggie arrived in the village. It transpired that Betty and Reggie dated while working in the Windmill Theatre in London. On the day she went to tell him she was expecting their baby, she found him in bed with another woman and had an abortion. Unfortunately, this left her unable to have children but kept this to herself. Knowing this, Reggie tried to blackmail Betty by threatening to tell Seth. Instead, Betty told him herself and Seth drove Reggie out of the village.

In 2004, Betty decided to visit her friend, Kathy Brookman (Malandra Burrows), in Australia and went on a long holiday. Seth joined her, but when she got homesick and returned to Emmerdale alone several months later. She spent a lot of time with Seth in Australia. On Christmas Eve, Betty got the best present ever when Seth sang "Silent Night" to her over an Internet connection. However, on his way home, Seth died on the aeroplane. Betty was waiting at the airport when Kathy broke the bad news.

During Seth's funeral, Betty took Seth's coffin and buried it in the countryside, helped by Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy), Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell) and Sam Dingle (James Hooton). A fake coffin, containing a sack of sand, was buried in the Emmerdale cemetery. The funeral also saw the return of Betty and Seth's former lodger, Biff Fowler (Stuart Wade). Soon after, Alan Turner (Richard Thorp) moved in with Betty. After lamenting a lack of contact with his son, Terence (Nick Brimble), Betty got in touch with him and convinced him to return to Emmerdale. It was revealed that Terence sexually abused his sister, Steph (Lorraine Chase), as a child. Unable to accept this, Alan lashed out at Betty and moved into Holdgate Farm with Terence. Alan later realised the truth and returned to live with Betty. Terence went missing soon after this and Steph began claiming that her new husband, Adam, murdered him. It turned out that she was telling the truth but nobody believed her as Adam had poisoned her and then had her sectioned. So she forfeited her freedom by claiming they murdered him together and both Adam and Steph were sent to jail.

As Betty and Alan struggled to get over this, a new person entered Betty's life, Sandy Thomas (Freddie Jones). He is the father of local vicar, Ashley Thomas (John Middleton). Ashley and Sandy didn't get on and following an argument, Sandy moved in with Betty and Alan. Recently Betty's dog Charlie died and she decided to scatter the dog's ashes over Seth's burial place. In June 2008, Betty told Laurel that she was like "the daughter she never had". Betty has discovered Donald De Souza's (Michael Jayston) body, joined the church choir and was locked in a small room during a singing competition for several hours in December 2008.

In 2008, Viv Hope (Deena Payne) organises a dance competition for charity and manages to get Lionel Blair as a judge which amazes Betty and she is honoured when Lionel asks Betty for a twirl, which she agrees and they dance in front of everyone.

In March 2009, Jamie Hope (Alex Carter) asked Betty to make a batch of chutney to send to Louise Appleton (Emily Symons) in Australia. Betty obliged, and spent hours making several jars. The following day, while cleaning at Home Farm she was tired, and Nathan Wylde (Lyndon Ogbourne) told Natasha that Jamie had delivered a batch of chutney. Betty had a funny turn and on examining the chutney, saw that Jamie had put a different label on, replacing hers. Betty decided to get revenge on Jamie and Bob, who was also in on it, recalling the chutney. She claimed that it had made Alan ill and promised to make another batch, making a disgusting alternative. She gave it to Jamie, who took it to Home Farm. Nathan unwittingly tasted a spoonful and it made him sick, leading Natasha to insist that Jamie taste it too and warned him not to pull a stunt like that again. Betty admitted what she had done and wanted free tea and cakes in the café as compensation. However, Rodney Blackstock (Patrick Mower) pointed out that she may have missed an opportunity with the Wyldes but Betty eventually made a deal with Natasha and she produced chutney under the Home Farm brand for a while.

When Mark Wylde's (Maxwell Caulfield) body was found, Betty thought it might have been Seth's and admitted to Alan that they buried him in Home Farm grounds and sandbags were buried at the cemetery.

In January 2011, the fire that spread through Emmerdale spread to Betty's house. She was saved by the residents and was taken to hospital due to her intake of the smoke. Her friends Edna, Pearl and Alan all helped Betty recover and she is now fighting fit, being observant and back to gossiping. In June 2011, Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) overheard Betty and Val Pollard (Charlie Hardwick) gossiping over Hazel Rhodes (Pauline Quirke) and Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller) helping Jackson Walsh (Marc Silcock) to die. Chas told Betty she had no idea what she was talking about so Betty returned to her sherry.

Betty later went on a cruise for six months and returned in July 2012. In September 2012, Betty is seen in the cafe and asks Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) to help her on Facebook. The following month, Betty attends the wedding venue of Declan (Jason Merrells) and Katie Macey (Sammy Winward) and has a dance with Sandy, this is during the live episode of the show. She also sold her house to Victoria with herself and Alan as sitting tenants. This has caused some problems, particularly when Victoria insisted on swapping bedrooms with Alan but has done a lot of repair work that Alan and Betty are no longer capable of. It was reported in March 2013 that Betty had gone on a cruise.

Betty was saddened when Alan died in October 2013. Alan had recently returned from a biker tour and was very tired that evening. She let him sleep and was shocked to find him dead to following day, having died in his sleep. Together, along with Victoria, Sandy, Edna Birch (Shirley Stelfox), and Pearl Ladderbanks (Meg Johnson), they arranged a fitting funeral for him, and were shocked when his daughter, Steph, returned after a 7-year absence. Betty was on the judging panel who decided who the next vicar of Emmerdale would be; either Ashley (who had originally been the vicar between 1996 and 2011) or newcomer Harriet Finch (Katherine Dow Blyton). Although Edna and Pearl (the other judges) were keen for Ashley to return, Betty felt that Harriet possessed the qualities of a new vicar who could modernise the church. After Harriet tackled Sean Spencer (Luke Roskell), who was trying to make money by stealing lead off the church roof (much to Ali Spencer's (Kelli Hollis) dismay), Betty asked her to teach her too. Harriet does and Betty uses Dan Spencer (Liam Fox) as a test subject. However, she accidentally slaps him in the eye, much to Harriet and Diane Sugden's (Elizabeth Estensen) amusement, but Dan's annoyance. 2014 brought good news for Ruby Haswell (Alicya Eyo), Ali's girlfriend, when she fell pregnant, but tried to keep it a secret from Betty, who after spending nearly 20 years in Emmerdale, had truly earned a reputation as a gossip.

Betty was delighted in April 2014, when grieving Dom Andrews (Wil Johnson) believed she posted a large amount of money through his letterbox following the death of his daughter, Gemma (Tendai Rinomhota). Dom repaid Betty with a passionate kiss on the lips, as a stunned Ruby, Edna and Harriet look on. Betty was later seen singing to herself in the café following the kiss. In July 2014, she heads on a cruise around New Zealand by herself. She was due back in January but rang Victoria to say she was now travelling around New Zealand by bus and would be back in March. In April, Edna and Pearl are talking when Pearl reveals that Betty has now travelled to Australia. Betty returns in May 2015, and witnesses an argument between Sam Dingle (James Hooton) and his stepmother, Lisa (Jane Cox). She is furious when Victoria explains that she stopped reading her emails because she found them boring, and Betty reveals that she is leaving Emmerdale and plans to move back to Australia. She storms out after a public argument with Victoria, though they make up shortly before she leaves. On the day of her departure, Laurel finds Betty beside Seth's burial place and Betty tells her to clean up her act, after learning that Laurel is an alcoholic. A crowd gathers as Betty says goodbye to everyone, before her lover, Reuben Archibald (Edmund Herd), arrives in a limousine to take her away.

Development

Departure

In April 2015, it was confirmed that Paula Tilbrook would be retiring and had already filmed her final scenes as Betty after 21 years, which would air in May. Speaking of her departure Tilbrook said: "Today is both the saddest and the happiest day of my life. Happy because I've got everyone here with me but the sad part is I'm leaving. But there is a great atmosphere and it is nice to go out on a high." Commenting on Tilbrook's decision to retire, Kate Oates, the series producer of the show said: "It's impossible to overstate how much everyone at Emmerdale will miss Paula. She's created a British television icon: someone who has lit up our screens and touched our hearts. "Off-screen, she is an integral part of the Emmerdale family: an inspiration to those she works with, as well as a fabulous raconteur and hilarious storyteller. We are sad to lose her from the programme, but wish her the happy retirement she so deserves."^[2]

Reception

Laura-Jane Tyler from Inside Soap praised the character during her final scenes, saying "She may be a touch frail these days, but Betty Eagleton proved she was still a force to be reckoned with in Emmerdale this week – funny, feisty and smart as a whip. They don't make 'em like actress Paula Tilbrook any more!"^[3]

References

External links

• Betty Eagleton at itv.com
• Betty Eagleton at Holy Soap