Amos Brearly

Amos was born on 1 April 1920. Amos was Beckindale's local gossip, he was at the centre of all the local news, in the Woolpack. In 1973, Amos was convinced that the brewery liked couples to run pubs and Amos saw a decent woman in Annie Sugden. Annie turned Amos down gently, later he went into business with Henry Wilks and they ran the pub together until Amos retired. In 1976 The Woolpack premises had to be moved when it was found to be suffering from subsidence. In 1978 while closing up The Woolpack Amos and Mr Wilks were threatened by burglars and were locked in the cellar all night. However, later that year he was proud to give his barmaid Dolly Acaster away when she married Matt Skilbeck.

In summer 1980, gamekeeper Seth Armstrong switched from The Malt Shovel to The Woolpack – Seth continuously irritated Amos. Amos gained an allotment in 1980, and this was the scene of much rivalry between himself and Seth for many years. During the same year, Amos told Henry Wilks: "You've never been fortunate enough to meet another Brearly!" In late 1980, Henry did meet one when Amos's aunt Emily turned up for a visit. Amos was terrified of her. She fled from the Woolpack on discovering that Amos had written-up a report on UFOs spotted locally, stating that he was tampering with unknown forces. A couple of years later, she returned to announce that Amos's uncle Arthur had died. Aunt Emily thought she stood to gain from Arthur's will, but she was only bequeathed some old junk, including an elephant's foot umbrella stand. In 1981, Amos set up his own village newsletter – The Beckindale Bugle. It was short-lived. In 1983, Amos sought upward mobility by cultivating the friendship of NY Estates boss Alan Turner. He was distressed to hear Alan criticising him to a golfing pal. From then on, Amos treated Alan frostily, insisting on calling him "Mr Turner". Amos had a brother Ezra Brearly who made a few appearances in the 1980s. He also mentioned another brother who had died young. Amos's rivalry with Ernie Shuttleworth of the Malt Shovel public house took on a new intensity during the '80s, as each tried to outdo the other with various ventures, including happy hours, juke boxes and dominoes tournaments. In 1984, Ernie was thrilled to get Amos a ticking off from the local police by tampering with the Woolpack clock so the pub was caught serving drinks after hours. In 1988, Amos seemed set to marry Gloria Pinfold, an old sweetheart of his from many years before. She was a strong-willed woman who moved into the Woolpack and interfered with Henry's book keeping and the diet of the two men, insisting that full English breakfasts were not to be eaten because of cholesterol and fat content. Finally, she had a better offer from another man and left Amos. In the summer of 1989, Henry got hay fever and drove Amos mad with his sneezing. Amos also discovered a crop circle at Home Farm and was convinced that aliens had landed in Beckindale. By the time Amos took a local expert to see the fantastic spectacle, the field had been harvested.

In July 1990, while celebrating friend Annie's 70th birthday, Amos suffered a stroke. Shortly after he decided to retire in January 1991 handing the pub over to Alan Turner he returned to the village in October for Henry's funeral, he also returned in late December and in January 1992 and tells that he is moving to Spain. Even though Amos left the show as a regular character he was to make several guest appearances over the coming years. He made a brief return in late 1992. In 1993 he returned for a few months from May to October and was present when Annie married Leonard Kempinski, whom she had met a year earlier while staying with Amos in Spain. He made several appearances throughout 1994, first returning for the funeral of the plane crash victims where he did the same reading he had done at Wilks's funeral two years previously. In February he served as best man when Alan Turner married former prostitute Shirley Foster. He returned again in May for Jack and Sarah's wedding; at the reception – held in a barn at Emmerdale Farm – he made the announcement that the residents of Beckindale had decided to rename the village Emmerdale in honour of Annie Sugden. He returns once again in December for the first anniversary of the Plane Crash.

Amos made his final appearance in the show in July 1995 when he came home with Annie for her son Joe Sugden's funeral. Joe had died in a car crash while staying with Amos and Annie in Spain. Amos later remarked that one night while enjoying a drink with Joe in Spain, Joe had asked Amos to make sure that if anything was to happen to him that there would be a few free drinks given in The Woolpack after the funeral. Amos thought that this request to him was strange considering that Joe was more likely to outlive him, hinting that Joe's death may not have been an accident. Following the funeral, Annie contemplating life alone shocked Amos by proposing but Amos told her he would have to think about it and Annie, feeling embarrassed, told him to forget about it. After Amos discussed it with Alan, he proposed to Annie, 23 years after his first proposal. This time Annie accepted. Sarah then waved them off as they left Emmerdale Farm, returning to their home in Spain. Amos was never seen in the village again. He and Annie married, off screen, on 5 November 1995.

He was last mentioned in 2001 when Jack went to visit Annie and Amos in Spain. When Annie returned in 2009 for Jack's funeral, Amos was not mentioned, as the actor Ronald Magill had died in 2007.