Nelson Gabriel
This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (October 2009) |
Nelson Gabriel | |||||||||||
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The Archers character | |||||||||||
Portrayed by | Jack May | ||||||||||
First appearance | 1952 | ||||||||||
Last appearance | 1997 | ||||||||||
Classification | Former, regular | ||||||||||
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Nelson Gabriel is a fictional character from the British BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers and was portrayed by Jack May.[1]
Casting
May was approached by producer Tony Shryane to join The Archers as Nelson in 1952.[2] May remained with the show until he was forced to leave in January 1997 due to his declining health.[2] He died later that year.[2]
Storylines
Nelson was the son of Walter Gabriel (Chris Gittins), the village carrier and self-appointed "character". He was charged with the Borchester mail-van robbery in 1967 but was eventually acquitted. After spells in London and Spain, in 1980, he ran a wine bar and later an antique shop with Kenton Archer. Finally, he disappeared to South America, where he died in strange circumstances.
Reception
Listeners voted Nelson the "greatest rogue" in Archers history,[3] while a writer for SOAP magazine named him one of the "10 Great Archers Characters".[4] They said, "Son of the late, lamented Walter Gabriel whose eloquence and erudition cloak a shady past involving criminal activity and a suspicious absence of any love interest anywhere along the way, though he mysteriously acquired a daughter somewhere down the line."[4]
References
- ^ "The Archers: the official companion" Smethurst,W: London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1985 ISBN 0-297-78715-2
- ^ a b c Hayward, Anthony (20 September 1997). "Obituary: Jack May". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ^ "Nelson Gabriel - Confidante or Con man?". The Archers. BBC. Archived from the original on 1 January 2003. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- ^ a b "10 Great Archers characters". SOAP. 1 (1): 15. 1994.
External links
- Character profile at the BBC
- Articles with short description
- Short description matches Wikidata
- Articles that need to differentiate between fact and fiction from October 2009
- All articles that need to differentiate between fact and fiction
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Use dmy dates from January 2021
- Use British English from January 2021
- The Archers characters
- Fictional bartenders
- Fictional con artists
- Fictional British people
- Male characters in radio
- Radio characters introduced in 1952
- All stub articles
- BBC Radio stubs
- British radio people stubs
- Soap opera character stubs