from fb

An obituary in today's Grauniad (apologies)
Ian Pepperel Actor who played Roy Tucker in thelong-runningBBC Radio
4 drama serial The Archers.
Ian Pepperell, who has died aged 53 from complications of oesophageal
cancer, acted in the world’s longest-running radio serial, The
Archers, for 28 years. As the genial hotelier Roy Tucker, he played
his part in taking the storylines of the Radio 4 soap from rural to
raunchy.
The actor said that fans of the programme, which began in 1951 billed
as “an everyday story of country folk” in the fictional village of
Ambridge, often failed to conceal their surprise on meeting him,
having expected to find a tall, dark, strapping lad. “The reality is,
I’m 5ft nothing with blond hair,” he said a few years after joining
the cast in 1995. “Even other actors are surprised when I tell them
what character I play.” (He was, in fact, 5ft 6in.)
But one thing the star did have in common with his fictional alter ego
was a career in hospitality. Pepperell ran the Star Inn pub in
Ringwood, Hampshire, for almost 20 years until his death.
He joined the cast of The Archers, made by BBC Birmingham, after
beginning a long-running association with the city’s rep company on
stage. “I didn’t realise it was such a national institution,” he said.
“Norma Major [wife of the then prime minister] even came along to one
broadcast and did the sound effects. She was pouring the tea and
clinking the china, and turned out to be a big fan.”
As Roy, Pepperell went through a gamut of emotions. The character was
born to Betty and Mike Tucker, and his father – who had to leave
farming behind after going bankrupt – remarried following the death of
Roy’s mother. Roy’s own love life was colourful. In 1998, as a
teenager, he fathered a daughter, Phoebe – born in a tepee at the
Glastonbury festival – with Kate Aldridge and he brought the child up
himself when Kate went travelling.
In 2001, Roy married Hayley Jordan, then had a daughter, Abbie, but
the marriage broke up after Roy’s short affair with Elizabeth
Pargetter, his boss when he left Grey Gables hotel in 2011 to become
general manager at Lower Loxley Hall conference centre.
The character returned to Grey Gables and fell for a migrant fruit
picker, Lexi Viktorova, but she eventually went home to Bulgaria and
his search for a partner continued through online dating.
Pepperell’s early storylines in The Archers – when one journalist
dubbed his character the “Ambridge brat-packer” – included Roy being
involved in a racist gang, but he trod the straight and narrow by
gaining a degree in business studies from Felpersham University.
He was taken on as a trainee assistant manager at Grey Gables and rose
to deputy manager. After his return there, Grey Gables suffered
economically during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a majority
buyout by a mysterious company in 2022 and the staff waiting to hear
of their fate while a refurbishment went ahead.
Ian was born in Oxford to Susan (nee Gemmell), a secretary, and James
Pepperell, UK operations director of the engineering company Hansen.
After the family moved to Ringwood, in the New Forest in Hampshire, he
attended the town’s comprehensive school, then trained as an actor in
London at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in
1991.
He made his screen debut in EastEnders as Michelle Fowler’s
drug-smoking lodger Russell for a short run in 1993. He also had small
one-off parts in the crime series The Bill and Pie in the Sky (both
1994), the missing persons agency drama Beck (as a funeral assistant,
1996) and the sitcom Get Real (as an usher, 1998).
But, alongside The Archers, most of Pepperell’s work was on stage.
After touring with the Whirligig theatre company in productions for
young audiences, he made an impression at Birmingham Rep when he
starred as Danny, running away from a children’s home and becoming
leader of a male vice ring, in Rod Dungate’s award-winning drama
Playing By the Rules (1992-93).
Later, he was acclaimed for portraying title characters in two
Shakespearean dramas. He was applauded by the Stage for his
“passionate performance” as Hamlet on tour with the Oxford Stage
Company in 1996.
Two years later, he starred as Richard III at the Haymarket theatre,
Leicester, just as Robert Lindsay was taking the same role with the
Royal Shakespeare Company. Paul Taylor observed in the Independent
that the hunchback character had “come in all shapes and sizes” but
added that both actors “have the requisite power to project
ruthlessness and a sense of inner damage” and “can flamboyantly
command a stage”.
Although Pepperell’s stage career foundered, he continued with his
role in The Archers, which records a block of episodes one week in
every four, fitting conveniently around his job as a publican.
His 2006 marriage to Nicola Loader ended in divorce in 2019, although
they remained friends and joint leaseholders of the pub. Pepperell is
survived by his brother, Derek, who played cricket for Dorset.
Ian Robert Pepperell, actor, born 18 August 1970; died 22 December
2023
Marion Downs
Thank you Martin, so sad.
10 h
Reply

On Sun, 21 Jan 2024 10:07:30 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> wrote:

>from fb
>
>An obituary in today's Grauniad (apologies)
....
>Later, he was acclaimed for portraying title characters in two
>Shakespearean dramas. He was applauded by the Stage for his
>“passionate performance” as Hamlet on tour with the Oxford Stage
>Company in 1996.

I was there.

--
Regards, Paul Herber
https://www.paulherber.co.uk/

On Sun, 21 Jan 2024 10:07:30 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
in the dust...

>In 2001, Roy married Hayley Jordan, then had a daughter, Abbie

I'd forgotten about Abbie. We don't seem to ave heard anything of her.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On 21/01/2024 16:06, Penny wrote:
> On Sun, 21 Jan 2024 10:07:30 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
> in the dust...
>
>> In 2001, Roy married Hayley Jordan, then had a daughter, Abbie
>
> I'd forgotten about Abbie. We don't seem to ave heard anything of her.

She went to Ethiopia, I believe.

--
Cheers
Clive

On 21-Jan-24 17:31, Clive Arthur wrote:
> On 21/01/2024 16:06, Penny wrote:
>> On Sun, 21 Jan 2024 10:07:30 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com>
>> scrawled
>> in the dust...
>>
>>> In 2001, Roy married Hayley Jordan, then had a daughter, Abbie
>>
>> I'd forgotten about Abbie. We don't seem to ave heard anything of her.
>
> She went to Ethiopia, I believe.

When it was called Abbiesinia?

--
Sam Plusnet

Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 21 Jan 2024 10:07:30 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
> in the dust...
>
>> In 2001, Roy married Hayley Jordan, then had a daughter, Abbie
>
> I'd forgotten about Abbie. We don't seem to ave heard anything of her.

Too difficult to portray Abbie. They lost their chance there. Wait long
enough and she can come back as an adult played by someone with her
condition.

Mrs McT

On 21/01/2024 20:29, Chris wrote:
> Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, 21 Jan 2024 10:07:30 +0000, Vicky <vicky.ayech@gmail.com> scrawled
>> in the dust...
>>
>>> In 2001, Roy married Hayley Jordan, then had a daughter, Abbie
>>
>> I'd forgotten about Abbie. We don't seem to ave heard anything of her.
>
> Too difficult to portray Abbie. They lost their chance there. Wait long
> enough and she can come back as an adult played by someone with her
> condition.

I think you're confusing Abbie, who didn't have any special needs that I
recall, with her aunt, Bethany. I don't think it would have been too
challenging for them to have kept Bethany in the village. As with the
rest of the Tuckers, most of the time they would have been right away
from the mics but, when they moved central stage, we could have heard
about Bethany and her life, as opposed to hearing her in person. As
generally happens with the other children in Ambridge.

--
Best wishes, Serena
Always remember: you are braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem
and smarter than you think. (A.A. Milne)

On 21.1.24 21:37, Serena Blanchflower wrote:
> I don't think it would have been too challenging for them to have kept
> Bethany in the village.

Despatched to Birmingham to allow RT to prove what a good father he was
- as the village jumped the shark of SoC.

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics