Andy Sugden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, played by Kelvin Fletcher. He made his first on-screen appearance on 4 July 1996. Andy is the son of Billy Hopwood and Trisha Hopwood and the adoptive son of Jack Sugden and Sarah Sugden.
Robert Sugden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. The character originally appeared on the show regularly between 22 April 1986 and 3 October 2005. During that time he was first played as a baby by Richard Smith between 1986 and 1989 before the role was taken over by Christopher Smith from 1989 until 2001. In 2001, Karl Davies took over the role in order for the character to become involved in more adult storylines, as he grew older. Davies briefly reprised his role as Robert for one episode, airing on 10 February 2009, when he returned for the funeral of his father and Emmerdale's longest running character, Jack Sugden. The character returned on 23 October 2014, with actor Ryan Hawley taking over the role.
Clive William Hornby was an English actor, best known for his role as Jack Sugden in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He first appeared in the programme in 1980, and remained in the role for 28 years.
Diane Sugden is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Elizabeth Estensen. Since her first appearance in 1999, she has been involved in several high-profile storylines, including her marriage to Jack Sugden and his subsequent death, a battle with colon cancer, the revelation that her ex-husband Rodney Blackstock fathered her sister Val Lambert's son, being held hostage in a siege at the Woolpack, sleeping with Val's husband Eric Pollard, being involved in a helicopter crash which kills Val, being stabbed by Chas Dingle, and a feud with Chrissie White. In September 2021, it was announced that Estensen had made the decision to take a break from acting and her initial final appearance as Diane aired on 29 October 2021. However, the following year, Estensen returned to the role of Diane for a guest stint from 12 to 20 October 2022 to celebrate Emmerdale's 50th anniversary.
Jo Stiles is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Roxanne Pallett. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 26 August 2005 and her last on 22 December 2008.
Victoria Sugden is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played since 12 October 2006 by Isabel Hodgins. As a young child, Victoria was played by Jessica Heywood until 1997, followed by Hannah Midgley from 1997 to 2006. Victoria is currently the longest serving female character on the soap. Her storylines have included surviving an explosion which she caused, being put in psychiatric care, being bullied at school, romancing Daz Eden, marrying Adam Barton, accidentally running over Ashley Thomas, coping when Adam goes on the run, falling in love with Adam's brother Matty and being the victim of rape during her night out in April 2019, leading to her pregnancy as a result and giving birth to a son named Harry.
William "Billy" Hopwood is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by David Crellin. The character made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 3 July 1997. He was introduced as one of several new characters producers created for the show in 1997. He is the father of Andy Sugden, and his main storyline results in him murdering Vic Windsor. Crellin made a guest appearance as Billy during a 2003 storyline. Billy was reintroduced into the series in 2006 and writers created a redemption story arc for Billy. He then has an affair with Diane Sugden. Crellin made his final appearance as Billy during the episode broadcast on 19 October 2007.
Annie Sugden is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Sheila Mercier as a regular character between 1972 and 1994, with occasional guest appearances in the show after her original departure. Mercier cut back on location filming during the late 1980s and eventually left the serial in 1994 due to the gruelling schedule. Annie was one of Emmerdale's original characters, appearing in its first episode on 16 October 1972 and became the longest serving female character in the series' history. She was the soap's "first matriarch", the maternal force behind the Sugden family, who were collectively one of Emmerdale's main focal points.
Patricia Ruth "Pat" Sugden is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by actresses Lynn Dalby in 1972 and 1974. Helen Weir took over the role when Pat was reintroduced as a regular character in 1980. Pat's main stories are her marriages to violent drunk, Tom Merrick and later Jack Sugden. One of Pat's most prominent storylines involved the reveal of her son, Jackie Merrick being Jack's biological son. Weir and Hornby began a relationship off-screen and later married. Weir became pregnant and writers decided to also make Pat pregnant and she gives birth to Robert Sugden. Producers offered Weir an additional two year contract to remain in Emmerdale but she declined their offer. Weir later revealed that her decision came from a dispute with producers over the inclusion of her and Hornby's son playing the role of Robert. Producers decided to kill Pat off in a car accident story and she made her final appearance during the episode broadcast on 26 August 1986.
Sarah Connolly is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale. She was first played by Madeleine Howard from 1988 until 1994 then by Alyson Spiro from 1994 until 2000.
Joseph "Joe" Sugden is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Frazer Hines. He first appeared on-screen during the soap's first episode broadcast 16 October 1972 and remained in the programme until 1983. After a brief return in the following year, Hines reprised his role on a permanent basis in 1986, a landmark year for the show under Richard Handford. He made his last appearance in August 1994, and subsequently died off-screen the following year. In 2019, Hines confirmed that he would like to return to the soap despite his off-screen death.
Darren "Daz" Eden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Luke Tittensor. He made his first appearance in the show on 9 October 2003. Six years into his tenure on the soap, it was announced that Tittensor had been released from Emmerdale due to a conviction of grievous bodily harm. Following a meeting with the show's bosses, the decision was taken to terminate Tittensor's contract due to the serious nature of the charge and to allow him to focus on the court case.
Matt Skilbeck is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Frederick Pyne. He is one of the series' original characters and made his debut in the first episode broadcast on 16 October 1972. Pyne was interviewed for the role in 1971 and cast the following year. He came into the show with farming knowledge and an expectation that he would only be in it for five years. Matt is a sheep farmer and married to Peggy Skilbeck at the beginning of the serial. Matt is characterised as mild-mannered, honest, and stubborn, although Pyne thought his character was too nice. Following Peggy's death and those of his children, Matt marries barmaid Dolly Acaster. A change in Matt's personality occurs when quarry owner Harry Mowlem makes advances towards Dolly and Matt attacks him, leading to his arrest for Mowlem's murder. Pyne decided to leave Emmerdale in 1989 to pursue work in the theatre. He was unhappy that the writers chose to split Matt and Dolly up, as they had been one of the few remaining happy families in soap at the time.
The Emmerdale Plane Crash, also known as the Beckindale Air Disaster, was a storyline for the British soap opera Emmerdale, broadcast on ITV. The episode aired on 30 December 1993, and gave Emmerdale its highest-ever viewing figures of 18 million.
Sarah Sugden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Katie Hill since January 2017. She is the daughter of Andy Sugden and Debbie Dingle and has appeared since June 2005. Her storylines in the series have included her diagnosis of Fanconi anaemia, her subsequent health struggles following her diagnosis and being involved with drug dealer Danny Harrington.
Kathy Brookman is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Malandra Burrows. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 26 November 1985. In 2001, new series producer Steve Frost decided to write the character out. Burrows briefly reprised the role in 2005, as Kathy returns for the funeral of Seth Armstrong. She was one of the show's central characters throughout that time.
The Sugdens are a fictional family in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Introduced during the show's conception in 1972, they were the main family for storylines between the 1970s and 1980s and remained as such for many years. The families original unit consisted of widowed farmer Annie Sugden, alongside her children Peggy Skilbeck, Jack Sugden and Joe Sugden. Subsequently these characters went on to produce more generations of Sugdens.
