Emmerdale star memorial

Members of the Emmerdale cast past and present, gathered this afternoon to pay tribute to the late Richard Thorpe, the soap's longest serving actor. who played Alan Turner, and died in May at the age of 81.

This afternoon, a memorial service was held for him at Leeds Minister - after his character officially bowed out of the soap last night. Michael Billington reports.

Emmerdale stars are attending the memorial service this afternoon to their colleague Richard Thorp who died in May. The 81-year-old was toasted on screen last night in an episode in which Alan Turner passed away peacefully in his sleep. The actor was Emmerdale's longest serving cast member.

He starred in Emmerdale for more than three decades but tonight Richard Thorp, known to fans as Alan Turner, will be seen in the soap for the final time. This evening's one hour special contains the last scenes filmed by Richard before his death last month.

There will be a special dedication at the end of the episode which comes on the day of the 81 year old's funeral. James Webster reports.

A private funeral has taken place for the Emmerdale actor Richard Thorp, known to millions of people as Alan Turner, who died last month at the age of 81. The service was for close family members only. Plans are being considered for a bigger memorial service later in the year.

This evening marks the final on-screen appearance of Richard in the Yorkshire-based soap, an episode which is dedicated to his memory. Producers say his absence will mentioned on screen in the coming weeks and a fitting way of writing out his character is being worked on for the future.

As Emmerdale prepares to screen the final scenes filmed by the actor Richard Thorp shortly before his death last month, we have been looking back at some of his scenes as Alan Turner over the last 30 years. Tonight's one hour special episode will be dedicated to Richard.

Emmerdale actor Mark Charnock says the days since Richard Thorp's death have been very difficult for the whole cast.

The actor who plays Marlon Dingle in the soap has been paying tribute as the show prepares to show Richard's final scenes as Alan Turner. He says Richard was particularly good at helping new cast members settle in and is irreplaceable.

Emmerdale's Chris Chittell, who plays Eric Pollard, has been sharing his memories of working with Richard Thorp. The pair's characters shared many scenes over the last 30 years and Chris says Richard will be sorely missed. He has described his co-star as genial and a delightful human being.

Emmerdale will pay tribute on-screen tonight to the actor Richard Thorp who died last month. He had played the character of Alan Turner in the ITV soap since 1982. This evening's episode contains the final scene Richard filmed before his death.

Producers say the one hour episode has not been altered in any way but it will be dedicated to Richard's memory and his photo will be shown at the end of the programme's credits.

Read more tributes to Richard from shortly after his death last month.