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 of May (TV series) of good ratings due to dull weather and the belief that people would be looking for something to lift their spirits following the end of the Gulf War. Jason attributed the series' popularity to the public wanting a more wholesome, inclusive and inoffensive viewing option at a time when violence on television was increasing. This was one of the main reasons he decided to take the role. The series generated an upsurge in sales of H. E. Bates's novels. The series is based on the works of H. E. Bates, who died in 1974. Having moved from the industrialised English