Archie Brooks

Archibald "Archie" Brooks was a friend of Jackie Merrick and later Nick Bates. Archie had a relationship with Zoe Tate and died in the plane crash in December 1993 on the moor while he was with best mate Nick Bates nearby who survived. Archie's body was never found, which indicates he was vaporised by the flames and jet fuel.
==Biography==
Archie arrived in Beckindale in November 1983 with friend Mike Conrad. Archie began doing odd jobs for people in the village, starting by helping Harry Mowlam move quarry stones. Harry refused to pay up so Jackie, Mike and Archie stole Harry's motorbike in January 1984. Archie and Mike were paid to help redecorate the backroom of The Woolpack as well when Amos Brearly's cooker exploded. However, Archie soon gave himself the reputation of being unreliable: he was paid to fix the boiler in The Woolpack but after he supposedly repaired it became faulty and nearly released gas into the air. He was also paid by Alan Turner to repair the motor on his car, but Archie ended up tampering with the brakes, nearly causing Alan to have an accident. However Nick Bates began to lead Archie astray and one evening they went joyriding in Hotten and ended up in the cells for a night. They also frequently caused trouble in The Woolpack, by winding up other customers and arguing over the prices that pub landlord Amos Brearly was selling the alcohol at. The trouble eventually ceased when Archie and Nick were warned by Amos, who threatened to bar them. Nick is the first person who finds out that Archie worked at a slaughterhouse prior to his arrival in the village, and that he was sacked after an accident with a band saw.
In 1989 Nick's brother-in-law Jackie Merrick is killed after accidentally shooting himself while hunting a fox with Seth Armstrong for a bet. 
In the 1990s Archie takes a fancy to Zoe Tate. They later date but she tells him she is gay and they break up. 
On New Year's Eve 1993 Archie and Nick go to The Woolpack and encounter Seth and Lynn Whiteley. Seth and Lynn wind Archie and Nick up over the rumors that Elsa is spreading that they are gay lovers in order to gain possession of Alice, Nick's daughter. Archie and Nick then leave the pub following an argument with Seth and Lynn but as they are walking home across the moors, a plane crash hits the village. Archie and Nick are blinded by fumes and a ball of fire engulfs Archie in flames, probably incinerating him. Nick frantically wanders the moors all night calling for Archie but gets no answer. Nick falls into a crater caused by wreckage from the plane, at the same spot where Archie last stood. 
Archie is never seen again and was presumed dead by the village, although his body was never found, hinting that he was incinerated by the flames. In mid January 1994, the police give up the search for Archie, concluding that he was incinerated. The villagers mourn the death of Archie and the three others, Mark Hughes, Leonard Kempinski and Elizabeth Pollard after recuperating from the shocking plane crash.
The spot where Archie died was named Archie's Hill as a tribute to him. In December 1994 and December 1995, Nick and Seth marked the anniversaries of Archie's death. 
In April 1996, when on the run from the police after shooting nasty poacher Jeremy Connell dead, Nick visited Archie's Hill and the memorial to him, before Seth persuaded him to hand himself in.
==Other information==
*Archie played the electric guitar. He was a guitarist in The Gyrotechnics in 1983.
*The spot where Archie was killed in the plane crash was named Archie's Hill.
*Archie was seen again in flashbacks in Episode 1934 (29th December 1994), a year after his death.
==Quotes==
"Oh Nick, just shut up, will ya?" - Final line to Nick Bates.
==See also==
*Full list of appearances
Category:Emmerdale Farm characters
Category:Emmerdale characters
Category:1962 births
Category:1993 deaths
Category:1983 debuts
Category:1993 departures
Category:Barmen
Category:Child Minders
Category:Residents of 3 Demdyke Row