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Anne "Annie" Brearly (née Pearson; previously Sugden and Kempinski) is a long running fictional character in the popular soap opera ''Emmerdale''. She is played by Sheila Mercier as a regular character between 1972 and 1994, while making occasional guest appearances in the show since her original departure. Mercier cut back on location filming during the late 1980s and eventually left the serial in 1994 due to the gruelling schedule. Annie was one of ''Emmerdale's'' original characters, appearing in its first episode on 16 October 1972 and became the longest serving female character in the series' history. She was the soap's "first matriarch", the maternal force behind the Sugden family, who were collectively one of ''Emmerdale's'' main focal points. Sheila Mercier as Annie Sugden and Frazer Hines as Joe Sugden were the only two original cast members to take the show into its 20th year.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title= Emmerdale Farm/Emmerdale )〕 Though the character left the serial in 1994, she has made occasional appearances since this time and last appeared on-screen in February 2009, in a special tribute episode to mark the death of Clive Hornby who played her on-screen son, Jack Sugden. This episode mirrored the first ever episode of ''Emmerdale Farm.'' in that they both featured warring brothers over their father's graveside - one of whom had returned to the village from time spent away. Sheila Mercier has previously made guest appearances in 1996 and in 2000 for a special web broadcast in which Annie talked to her troubled screen son Jack. The broadcast was available for viewers to download on the official ''Emmerdale'' website.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title= EMMERDALE WEEK: THOSE WERE THE DALES.. )〕 Despite having married Amos offscreen in late 1995, she was credited upon her return in 2009 by her most famous name, Annie Sugden. ==Character creation and development== Annie Sugden was created by Kevin Laffan, the mastermind behind ''Emmerdale Farm'' who also wrote the serial's first 212 episodes. Laffan was said to be "keen on dominant women" and it has been said that he created a "memorable heroine" in Annie Sugden, "the wife of the ne'er-do-well…who drank himself to an early grave" (the first episode opened with his funeral). The show originally focused upon the struggles of Annie and her family, with the first episode of ''Emmerdale Farm'' (1972) being billed as "the living story of the Sugden family - the excitement of country life around."〔 Actress Sheila Mercier — whose career had been mainly theatrical — was chosen to play the role and went on to be the serial's longest running original actor. Mercier has commented "I had done a lot of television from the stage of the Whitehall, but very little else before joining Emmerdale Farm…I remember, at first, playing to the Gods! Tristan de Vere Cole, one of the first directors on the programme, told me to take (performance ) down until it was so low I was almost muttering. Then, Gordon Flemyng - another of the directors - played back to me a scene I did so that I could see what I had done wrong."〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title= Annie Sugden )〕 In her 1994 autobiography, Mercier recalls how on so many occasions she wanted Annie to cry but the director, David Green, said "Annie does not cry. She cries all her tears into the pillow at night." The character of Annie Sugden has been described as a firm favourite with viewers, from the opening scene of ''Emmerdale Farm'' with Annie standing in the farmhouse kitchen, to the day she left. As peacekeeper between her sons, Joe (Frazer Hines) and Jack (Andrew Burt/Clive Hornby), Annie was soon placed at the centre of the soap's action.〔 The character was involved in numerous storylines, including marriages, bereavements, tragedies and family problems. Commenting on her "most gripping" storylines, Mercier has said, "Annie's daughter, Peggy Skilbeck's (Jo Kendall) death, Peggy's twins' deaths and Annie's father, Sam Pearson's (Toke Townley) death, which all called for lots of tears." In the 1985 ''Emmerdale Farm Celebration Edition 1000 Episodes Magazine'', Annie's personality is described: Commenting on her character in 1985, Mercier said: "Annie Sugden has changed a great deal over the years. At the beginning she was very terse. She was the head of the family and let everyone know it. She ruled with a rod of iron. She'd had a tough life. She'd had a rough ride with her husband Jacob, who used to drink the money away and sit in the Woolpack until all hours. Her son Jack didn't live at home then and it was Annie who kept the farm together. Until Henry Wilks (Arthur Pentelow) came along they were poor farmers, living hand-to-mouth. But now things are different. Jack has made a success of Emmerdale and Henry's interest in the farm and Annie herself has made her relax. She's mellower now." Despite suffering from arthritis, Mercier managed to undertake location filming for the show from 1972-1990. In the final episode of Emmerdale Farm before the transition to Emmerdale, broadcast in November 1989, she appeared on location at Lindley Farm near Harrogate, which served as the exterior for Emmerdale Farm, for scenes in which Annie greeted son Jack on his return from a trip to Italy. From the early 1990s, Sheila Mercier cut back on her appearances, usually working only in the studio. However, she appeared on location in a car during the 1993 plane crash episodes. Annie Sugden reportedly poured more than 6,000 cups of tea in the farmhouse studio, where she was most often seen. After she retired in 1994, she has appeared in only a handful of ''Emmerdale'' episodes, making guest appearances in 1995 and 1996. However, in 2000 she came out of retirement briefly to take part in a special internet mini-drama, which ran side-by-side with the ''Emmerdale'' television broadcast. Mercier talked live on the Net with her troubled screen son, Jack, played by Clive Hornby. The broadcast was available for viewers to download on the official ''Emmerdale'' website. Mercier was also invited to return to the ''Emmerdale'' set to celebrate with the crew at the official 30th anniversary party. In an interview in 2002, Mercier said she had no desire to return to acting, "I don't want to act. I watch TV, read and live like an ordinary person."〔 However, for the show's 5000th episode in May 2008 a special documentary was transmitted across the ITV network, Mercier (aged 89) made another appearance along with Hines, Frederick Pyne and Jean Rogers the actors who played Joe, Matt and Dolly Skilbeck, respectively. In 2008, following the death of actor Clive Hornby who played Annie's son Jack Sugden, the ''Emmerdale'' producers decided to kill off the character of Jack off-screen so the programme could pay tribute by giving Jack a funeral. It was announced that Sheila Mercier would reprise the role of Annie for the episodes, which screened in February 2009. By this occurring, it meant that Annie outlived all three of her children. Mercier said, "It will be a pleasure to return for this special tribute episode to Clive. I'm sure it will be a fitting way to celebrate the life and memory of one of Emmerdale's dearest characters". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Annie Sugden」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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