Jason Kirk

Last updated

Jason Kirk
Emmerdale character
Portrayed by James Carlton
Duration1999–2002
First appearance2 December 1999
Last appearance20 December 2002
Classification Former; regular
Introduced byKieran Roberts
In-universe information
OccupationConstruction worker
Aunts Barbara Kirk
First cousins Paddy Kirk
Ross Kirk

Jason Kirk is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale , played by James Carlton. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 2 December 1999.

Contents

Development

Jason was the first openly homosexual man to appear in Emmerdale. [1] In one of his first stories, Jason kisses Gavin Ferris (Robert Beck), the boyfriend of Bernice Blackstock (Samantha Giles). [2] The scene looked intimate but off-screen camera trickery was used during filming. Carlton told Patrick Baladi from the Daily Mirror that their lips did not touch and "the camera only made it look as though we had." [2] Carlton did not want Jason to be defined by his sexuality. He told Baladi that "I was determined to play Jason as a man who just happened to be gay. And I never received a single hostile comment. People are more intelligent than that." [2]

In another storyline, Tricia Stokes (Sheree Murphy) develops an attraction to Jason, who fails to disclose his sexuality. When Tricia discovers the truth, she is upset that he deceived her. Murphy told a reporter from Inside Soap that "she's completely gutted, she thinks it was totally out of order for him to lead her on." [3]

In a 2005 interview featured in The Argus , Carlton stated that "I'm still well liked by the gay community, there have been lots of other characters I've enjoyed playing but the response to Jason was amazing." [4] In 2010, Carlton told Laura-Jayne Tyler of Inside Soap "I played the first gay man in Emmerdale and there weren't many of them in the soaps back then. I didn't realise how important it was at the time, but it really hit home when I started getting letters from people saying thank you." Tyler stated that Jason became popular with viewers during his time in the soap due to his affair with Bernice's boyfriend, Gavin. [5]

Jason was written out of the series in February 2002. His departure storyline featured Jason moving to Leeds to begin a new life. He was supposed to leave with Latisha Daggert (Danielle Henry), but leaves her behind upon discovering she loves Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley). [6] Carlton reprised the role for one episode which was broadcast on 20 December 2002. The episode featured Jason arriving to convince Latisha to move to Lisbon with him. [7] In 2005, Carlton confirmed that he did not want to reprise the role and no longer wanted to act in soap operas. [8]

Storylines

Jason first appears in 1999 on his cousin Paddy's doorstep after his parents throw him out after he had told them he was gay. Paddy tells Jason to keep his sexuality a secret as he suspects that his then-in-laws, the Dingles, will not take it well. Jason shares an impromptu kiss with Gavin, who is engaged to Bernice. Jason falls for one of his many one night stands, Joe. As there's no marriage option for them at the time (2000) and Joe's visa is about to expire they ask Tricia to marry Joe. Jason helps deliver Latisha's baby, and Latisha names the baby boy Kirk Daggert (Alexander Fothergil) as a thank you to Jason. Jason leaves for Leeds on 31 January 2002, but he comes back briefly that December to offer Latisha and her family jobs in Portugal where he has decided to emigrate to. Latisha, her mother Cynthia and Kirk move to Portugal with Jason.

Reception

Ian Wylie from the Manchester Evening News branded the character "soap odd job man Jason". [1] Sally Brockway from The People called him a "randy barman". [9] A reporter from The Argus branded him a "good guy". [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Kirk</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Emily Kirk is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Kate McGregor. She made her first appearance in the episode broadcast on 5 May 1999. Initially portrayed as nervous and naive, Emily lived a sheltered life with her father and lacks social skills, until she takes a job at the local post office. Writers established a relationship between Emily and Butch Dingle. McGregor thought the characters brought out the best in each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Thomas</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Ashley Thomas is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by John Middleton. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 5 December 1996. It was announced on 22 October 2015 that Middleton would be departing as Ashley at the end of his contract after the character was diagnosed with vascular dementia in the episode aired on that day. The contract was later extended in order for the storyline to be extended. It was revealed that Ashley would be killed off at the end of the storyline. Middleton filmed his final scenes in March 2017 after his contract ended, and Ashley died on-screen on 7 April 2017, ending his 21 years on Emmerdale. Ashley appeared in further episodes in home movie scenes, making his final appearance on 13 February 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edna Birch</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Edna Birch is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Shirley Stelfox. She made her first appearance during the episode first broadcast on 25 May 2000. Edna is characterised as a proud and independent Christian woman who often judges her neighbours' lifestyles. She is recognisable amongst the public for her pudding-basin hat and dog – firstly, Batley the Yorkshire Terrier, followed by Papillon Tootsie. Many of her stories have involved her dogs, including being run over saving Tootsie and the death of Batley, which won an award. Writers have established friendships for Edna with many characters of a similar age and in later years, she was paired with Sandy Thomas, which generated many comedic scenes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debbie Dingle</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Debbie Dingle is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Charley Webb. Webb has taken maternity leave three times, with the first time being in 2010 and the second throughout 2016 with Debbie departing on 1 January 2016. She returned on 24 January 2017 and then went on maternity leave for a third time in 2019 as Debbie left for Scotland on 13 August 2019. She returned for a short stint on 25 December 2020 and made her final appearance on 11 February 2021.

Paul Lambert (<i>Emmerdale</i>) Fictional character from Emmerdale

Paul Lambert is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Mathew Bose. Paul appeared between 2004 and 2009. He arrives as the son of existing characters Val Lambert and Rodney Blackstock and in 2008 Paul, who is openly gay, enters into a civil partnership with Jonny Foster, the first of any primetime soap opera. The character departed in 2009, but made a brief returns in 2010, March 2015 and September 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlon Dingle</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Marlon Dingle is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Mark Charnock. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 17 October 1996. For his portrayal of Marlon, Charnock won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2023 British Soap Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paddy Kirk</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Paddy Kirk is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Dominic Brunt. He has been married four times: to Mandy Dingle in 1999, to Emily Dingle in 2002, to Rhona Goskirk in 2012 and to Chas Dingle in 2020. He has also had several extramarital affairs since arriving, notably with Viv Hope and Tess Harris. His other storylines in the series have included discovering his biological father and dealing with the loss of his child.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Daggert</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Danny Daggert is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Cleveland Campbell. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 25 June 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toni Daggert</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Tonicha "Toni" Daggert is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She is played by actress Kerry Stacey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Livesy</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Aaron Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Danny Miller. The character was originally played by Danny Webb and appeared in a recurring capacity. Aaron made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 24 December 2003. When Aaron was reintroduced in 2008, he was promoted to the full-time cast and the decision was made to recast the role. Miller successfully auditioned for the part and later admitted that he would have quit acting if he had not been cast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernice Blackstock</span> Fictional character from Emmerdale

Bernice Blackstock is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Samantha Giles. She made her first on screen appearance on 25 November 1998. In September 2012, it was announced Giles had reprised her role and Bernice returned on 20 November 2012 after over eight years away from the programme. In September 2019, Giles announced her departure from the series, with her final scenes airing in November 2019. In April 2021, it was announced that Giles would be returning to the soap, with her return scenes airing on 27 May 2021. However, it was announced on 17 July 2023 that Giles would be leaving the show once again later in the year with her final scenes airing on 14 November 2023.

Sean Reynolds is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Stephen McGann. He made his first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 10 March 1999.

Paul Marsden (<i>Emmerdale</i>) Fictional character from Emmerdale

Paul Marsden is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Matthew Booth. The character made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 10 March 2003. The character was killed off in July 2004, following an altercation with Carl King.

Ivan Jones (<i>Emmerdale</i>) Fictional character from Emmerdale

Ivan Jones is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Daniel Brocklebank. He appeared in the series from 5 May 2005 until 2 August 2006. Ivan was originally introduced to participate in a storyline about the character of Jarvis Skelton and only meant to feature in three episodes. The serial's producers were impressed with Brocklebank and made Ivan a regular character. The character is a Geordie, which required the actor to adopt the accent. Ivan is characterised as a "good-humoured" and "charming" dustman, while Brocklebank described him as having "quite a few" love interests and stated that he has "slept his way around the village".

References

  1. 1 2 Wylie, Ian (16 February 2007). "Telly talk: James feels the big chill". Manchester Evening News . Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Baladi, Patrick (22 March 2003). "New boys on the box; they are three heartthrobs of the small screen, guranteed [sic] to set pulses racing in EastEnders, The Braithwaites and Heartbeat, but who is the sexiest of them all?". Daily Mirror via The Free Library . Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  3. "Trauma for Tricia". Inside Soap . Attic Futura UK (142): 16. 11–24 December 1999.
  4. 1 2 "Wait Until Dark, Theatre Royal, Brighton, 1 - 6 Aug". The Argus . 29 July 2005. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  5. Tyler, Laura-Jayne (21–27 August 2010). "I played the first gay man in Emmerdale!". Inside Soap . No. 33. London, England. p. 51.
  6. "Rural soap box". Western Mail via The Free Library . 5 February 2002. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  7. "Jason Kirk - James Carlton". MTV3 (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  8. "Losing the heart for soaps". The Northern Echo . 18 July 2005. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  9. Brockway, Sally (19 October 2003). "Celeb people: I'm too busy partying to settle down; Hunky Heartbeat actor James Carlton is young, free and single - and he plans to stay that way for now. Sally Brockway reports..." The People via The Free Library . Retrieved 30 July 2021.