 IT MAY be as Yorkshire as the roast dinner pudding, but there's also been a lot of Scouse input in Emmerdale. TV's first five-nights-a-week soap is a team effort and - like Brookside, Coronation Street and EastEnders - there is a strong Liverpool link in front of and behind the cameras. This year, Emmerdale celebrated its sparkling 30th Birthday bash in the fictitious village of Beckindale. The ECHO was there to help pop the champagne corks. Liverpool actor Clive Hornby, who plays reliable Jack Sugden, is one of the soap's most popular and enduring characters. Sitting outside the Woolpack pub in the purpose-built village 20 minutes drive away from Leeds, the 57-year-old onetime pop star chatted about the TV role he has made his own. But we couldn't pop in for a pint of real ale - it's not a real pub. Another illusion shattered. The Sugdens, like the Ewings in Dallas, were a feuding family. But forget oil and cattle, this was more diesel and sheep. You could almost smell the countryside from the screen - until 1993, that is, when Emmerdale Farm was transformed into Emmerdale and so began a raunchier romp through England's green and pleasant land. Says Walton-born Clive, whose character has been married twice, has had a string of affairs and was even on trial for murdering his wife: "I've been fortunate to have some great storylines. "The Sugdens are part of the Emmerdale success story. I am still enjoying it and hopefully so are the 10m people who regularly watch it. "Sometimes, when I look around at all the changes, I can't believe that I have been here since 1979; other times it seems just like yesterday. "There is a real Emmerdale family loyalty. We have our ups and downs but no one gets too starry-eyed here." One of the more memorable scenes featuring Clive involved his emotional speech in the church after the muchpublicised plane crash in 1993 which took out some major characters. The Lockerbie-style disaster came at a time when Emmerdale needed direction. Director Nicholas Prosser invited Mersey TV head Phil Redmond to become a consultant. Phil wasted no time and did a dramatic clear-out with some stunning special effects. The scenes cost £1m - unheard of for a British TV soap. Says Clive: "It was mould-breaking. Jack Sugden's heartfelt speech in the pulpit was a lovely scene. He talked about how people had lost family and friends. It felt real." Before he took up acting, Clive was in the 60s Merseybeat band, The Dennisons, and used to play in The Cavern. They were regarded by many as The Baby Beatles. But he has no real regrets about leaving pop music for the theatrical stage and drama school in London and eventually a long-running job in soap land. | 
