Seth Armstrong: Home Farm gamekeeper, love of Betty’s life and friend to Kim Tate

Devastation has hit in Classic Emmerdale as Seth Armstrong has died. The beloved gamekeeper at Home Farm was expected to return to the village to be with Betty, but tragedy struck on the plane.

Seth was an icon of the village and even a long-time friend of ice queen Kim Tate. His death hit the residents of Emmerdale hard and his legacy still lives on.

Seth Armstrong in Emmerdale, the early years

Born in November 1926, but he never knew his father. In fact, both he and his sister were illegitimate and their births were never registered. And Seth wasn’t even his real name! He as actually called Archibald Seth, but used his middle name as his first.

Although his heritage was unknown a discovery was made in 1991 that he was an illegal descendant of the Verney family, former Home Farm owners. However, this was all later revealed to be an April Fool’s prank played by Seth himself!

Seth was married to Meg. They had two children: Jimmy in 1953 and Fred in 1962.

Throughout the 70s, boiler man Seth did a lot of poaching at Home Farm and was eventually made gamekeeper in 1980.

Though Seth always liked a side-hustle! In 1985 he opened a social club to rival the Woolpack, but the beer made people poorly, so with only a profit of 10p, he closed down!

Seth also worked at the Woolpack and was pretty workshy. But his affable charm – and the fact landlord Alan Turner could blame Seth for his own mistakes – meant he kept his job!

Seth and Betty

When he was 18, Seth had enjoyed a romance with Betty Pendagast. But she had left for London and married someone else.

1993 was not a good year for Seth. In February his wife, Meg Armstrong died and he was grief-stricken. The locals rallied round and helped with cooking and cleaning, but more tragedy struck when his house was destroyed by the plane crash.

However by 1994, things were looking up. Betty returned to the Dales, now Betty Eagleton, and recently widowed. Their old feelings immediately reignited and they planned to marry.

After some thought, the couple decided living together was enough and moved into Keepers Cottage. 1994 proved to be something of a lucky year when Seth was called a hero for shooting ‘the beast of Beckindale’ – although this had been an accident!

Seth stayed loyal to Betty until his 2005 death – even running her ex, Reggie, out of town when he tried to blackmail her. However, despite their love, the couple did split several times.

Seth set up a webcam and documented Betty’s daily routine to everyone on the internet. He earned free breakfasts in return. When Betty found out, courtesy of Edna Birch, she was devastated and left him. But Seth’s public apology saw them reunite.

They separated again in 2002 when Betty went to stay with Kathy in Australia after she had given birth. Seth was worried Betty would want to move to Oz, but she insisted she would never leave Emmerdale.

Seth Armstrong and Kim Tate in Emmerdale

In a time when no one was friends with Kim Tate, Seth Armstrong broke the mould! In fact, Seth was one of the only ones to defend her when her lover Dave Glover died. The village turned on Kim for her affair with Dave, but Seth stuck up for her and was by her side.

In 1998, Kim married Steve Marchant and it was Seth who gave her away. When Seth died, Kim sent a crate of booze to his funeral.

Seth’s scrapes!

Rogue Seth was always in and out of trouble! He was beaten up by badger baiters in 1986. And in 1988 he went out into the woods with Jackie Merrick to hunt a fox that was bothering the village. But Jackie accidentally shot himself and died, throwing Seth into heartbreak as he believed he should have died instead.

It was feared Seth himself had died in the 1993 plane crash after he was thrown out of the pub and his house destroyed. But he eventually turned up just fine, much to everyone’s relief.

Seth was attacked by poachers in 1989, and in 1999, led the search party for Rachel Hughes, who was sadly discovered dead.

He was involved in a bus crash in March 2000 and initially Betty thought he had been killed. However, he was found and taken to hospital, where he recovered. But just months later, he won some money on the horses and was mugged by two young girls. The incident caused him  to develop agoraphobia. The villagers once again rallied round and helped him to leave the house again.

Seth Armstrong in Emmerdale dies

Seth himself went to Australia in 2003 to see Kathy and never returned. Betty was hurt, but he sent her a plane ticket to visit him there instead.

When he was due to return home to Betty and the village, he sadly died on the plane. He was 78.

It was then revealed by Kathy, who returned for the funeral, that Seth had been ill and knew he was dying. He had wanted to come home so he could be with her in his birthplace when he went.

In true Seth style, his funeral was held with a wake at the Woolpack – but his coffin was smuggled out to the woods, where he was buried illegally, as per his final wishes! The coffin that was put in the cemetery was a replica and only Betty, Laurel Thomas, Zak and Sam Dingle ever knew the truth.

Who played Seth Armstrong in Emmerdale?

Seth was played by the great Stan Richards. Born on December 8 1930, in South Yorkshire, Stan played Seth from 1978 to 2004, making him one of the longest-serving characters on the show.

Before taking up acting, Stan had been a stand-up comedian and a pub pianist. He also had roles in Coronation Street, Last of the Summer Wine, Crown Court and All Creatures Great and Small.

After a break from Emmerdale between 2003 and 2004, Stan wanted to go back, but sadly died of emphysema on February 11 2005 before he could return. Seven months later, an off-screen death was written for the character so the soap could pay their final respects to the actor.

Read more: The first ever episode of Emmerdale: what happened?

Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm.

Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm.