H. E. Bates Lydia". His most popular creation was the Larkin family in "The Darling Buds of May". Pop Larkin and his family were inspired by a colourful character seen in a local shop in Kent by Bates and his family when on holiday. The man (probably Wiltshire trader William Dell, also on holiday) turned up to the shop with a huge wad of rubber-banded bank notes and proceeded to spoil his trailer load of children with Easter eggs and ice creams. The television adaptation, produced after his death by his son Richard and based on these stories, was a tremendous success. It
The Darling Buds album in 1992, entitled "Erotica", a few weeks before Madonna's album of the same name. The album contained the US single, "Long Day in the Universe", which was featured on the soundtrack for the Mike Myers film, "So I Married an Axe Murderer". This line up featured second guitarist Matt Gray (ex-Soldier Dolls). Although they toured the United States in support of the album for a year, the members of the Darling Buds grew increasingly frustrated by their lack of commercial success and disbanded. Speaking to the "Q Magazine" in 2012, Lewis explained the reasons behind their decision: "Sony's London