Eric Allan obituary

2026-03-13 - 17:33

Actor who played farmhand Bert Fry in The Archers for 24 years, and appeared in early episodes of Emmerdale Farm Eric Allan, who has died aged 85, was a prolific character actor best known for playing country folk, on radio as the gentle, poetry-loving farmhand Bert Fry in The Archers and on television as the blacksmith Frank Blakey in the early days of Emmerdale Farm (later retitled Emmerdale). He previously had a starring role in Mike Leigh’s first feature film, Bleak Moments (1971), playing a socially awkward teacher, Peter, who is attracted to Sylvia, an office worker and the carer of her learning-disabled sister. In one scene he fulfilled Leigh’s ambition to portray “a couple kissing the way it happens and not the way people always kiss in movies”. Continue reading...