Emmerdale airs heartwarming scenes next week as long-standing character Betty Eagleton leaves the village in style.
Upcoming episodes see Betty return home after some time away travelling, but she soon has some big news to share as she announces that she is moving away permanently after finding love with a new man.
In real life, 85-year-old Paula Tilbrook is retiring after playing Betty since 1994. Here, she chats about her exit and her favourite Emmerdale memories.
Are you pleased with Betty's on-screen farewell?
"I'm absolutely overawed by it. I'm over the moon and I fill up every time I think about it! I don't think we do this very often.
"I did ask our producer, bless her, not to have me murdered because I was fed up of murders! It's a very, very dangerous place to be - you're better in the Bronx than in Emmerdale village! (Laughs.) She said, 'Oh no, of course I won't' - and she hasn't. It's a proper ending and it's a happy one. Who doesn't like a happy ending?"
What have you liked about the character of Betty over the years?
"She tries her best, but as most older people do - myself included - she thinks she knows better than anyone else! She's had a lot of experience in life and she's not shy about giving people advice on how to run theirs! I think that's how you get when you get older.
"Betty was also a strong woman when she was younger, when I first arrived in the show. When I say 'younger', I was of pensionable age then! But when I see some of the pictures I think, 'Gosh, don't you look young?'
"I think Betty is likeable. She's a big softy with a hard crust. She lives on gossip and I think most women do. She gets me frustrated, she makes me laugh, and there are odd times that she makes me cry as well. How she put up with Seth for all those years I will never know. I think she was very patient!"
Do you remember your first day on set?
"I remember it like it was last week! I strode into The Woolpack, ordered a sweet sherry and asked if Seth Armstrong was about. I think she went outside and found Seth with a horse. He hit the horse and it went down the street, but then we had to do another take. He didn't have to hit the horse second time round, because the horse was a very good actor and he started to walk away immediately!
"At one time there was even a storyline where Betty was saying to Seth, 'It's either the horse or me', which I understand was a very difficult decision because it was a good-looking horse! (Laughs.)"
Who will you miss most from the current cast?
"Oh, that's almost impossible to answer - they're all so individual. I think the people you share a dressing room with are the people you get closest to. The people I speak to by phone when I'm not working are Shirley Stelfox (Edna), Meg Johnson (Pearl) and Chris Chittell (Pollard).
"Chris was there when I first joined the show. He's the one, I think, that is responsible for the kind of cast it is at Emmerdale. I've been in Coronation Street and I've been in Brookside, but no soap I've been in has got the atmosphere that Emmerdale has.
"Chris is the one that makes you feel absolutely at home and like you're going to enjoy it. He's such a kind man and I think a lot of the atmosphere of Emmerdale is due to him, right back from when he was working on the show more than 20 years ago.
"I always say to newcomers: 'Just relax and enjoy it. If you've been in a series before where you had to watch your own back because there were a lot of jealousies, you don't have to do that here'. It's a team and that's a very nice atmosphere to work in."
What have been your highs and lows in the show?
"Well, it's all highs really because there's some wonderful people who have been in Emmerdale. I think the lows have been the deaths of colleagues like Stan Richards who played Seth and Richard Thorp who played Alan Turner. Richards's death was so sudden because although we're all creaking gates when we get to our 80s, it just wasn't expected."
Has the show changed since you first joined?
"It's unrecognisable from what it was. When I first joined, Sheila Mercier was the grand dame of Emmerdale as Annie Sugden. You'd see her stood at the top of the table when a scene came on and she'd be going on and on about something. I think altogether there were probably six scenes in an episode back then. Now I think we play six scenes in about five minutes. It's become so quick!
"You'd flick away because she'd be going on about something and you'd flick back later and she'd still be doing the same thing! She must have had an enormous amount of script to learn. But we had a very small cast then - I doubt there was 20. Now it's around 60."
Has Betty changed over the years?
"I don't think her character has, but of course she's 20 years older and we all change. She tries to keep up with the times and she's a positive person. If only people would do as they were told - she just wants people to do things her way!"
What do you think Betty will miss the most about Emmerdale village?
"The people. Every one of them. It's the same for me - I will miss the people desperately."
What were your favourite moments?
"There are tons of them - happy ones. I always remember when I dressed up for Seth and got all my black things on - black tights, high heels, a bra and a bodice. Betty wanted to get him going because he said it would be wonderful if she dressed up as a windmill girl, which Betty used to be! Betty came into the room and just put one black fishnet leg through the door and there was no reaction, because he was fast asleep on the sofa and she'd wasted her time!
"I also loved the everyday scenes with Seth where we'd be talking about getting the room decorated. We'd get it down to two different options and I'd ask him which he liked best. You could tell he was in a no-win situation and he used to try and get out of it. In the end, he'd gingerly point at one of the patterns and then she'd say, 'Well what's wrong with the other one?!' It's those everyday scenes that I loved. Older people who'd been married a few years loved to see that too, because that's married life.
"I also remember when we were living in a caravan. The Dingles pinched it but then they were stopped by the police, who didn't know that we were inside. The police knocked on the caravan door, but Betty thought it was the people who'd stolen it, so she opened the door and hit this policeman on the head with a cast-iron pan! She was arrested and taken to the police station. Things like that were fun!
"I liked it when the Dingles first came in. I loved the character of Butch. I loved Billy Hartman's character as well. When you're in the show, it's always very sad to see favourite characters go. But it's like life, isn't it?"
Will you keep watching Emmerdale now that you've retired?
"I'll have to! I'll need to keep my eye on them and to make sure they're doing things right!"
Read more Emmerdale spoilers and news
Emmerdale airs Betty's final episode on Monday, May 25 at 7pm on ITV.
