The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera Emmerdale in 1989, by order of first appearance. Pete and Lynn Whiteley, played by Jim Millea and Fionnuala Ellwood, were the first characters introduced in January. They were followed a month later by Pete's grandfather, Bill, portrayed by Teddy Turner. In March, Martyn Whitby took on the role of Kate Sugden's ex-husband David Hughes. In November, following the change of series title from Emmerdale Farm to Emmerdale, a new family was introduced; the Tates, with father and son Frank (Norman Bowler) and Chris (Peter Amory), followed by Frank's respective wife and daughter, Kim (Claire King) and Zoe (Leah Bracknell) in December.
Pete Whiteley | |||||||||||
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Emmerdale character | |||||||||||
Portrayed by | Jim Millea | ||||||||||
Duration | 1989–1990 | ||||||||||
First appearance | 18 January 1989 | ||||||||||
Last appearance | 16 August 1990 | ||||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||
Introduced by | Stuart Doughty | ||||||||||
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Pete Whiteley appeared from 1989 to 1990. Pete was the grandson of Bill Whiteley and first appeared when Bill bought his new home and invited his family to live with him. Shortly after arriving in the village Pete embarked on an affair with local teenager Rachel Hughes which was exposed at his wife Lynn's New Year party. Lynn did not split up with Pete, however, as she discovered she was pregnant and believed her child needed its father. Despite this, Pete still had a feelings for Rachel and wanted to continue the affair but Rachel eventually decided to end it. Pete took the rejection badly and began drinking heavily. One night, fearing Pete would try to drive home drunk, Rachel stole his car keys. Faced with the prospect of having to walk home, Pete stumbled into the middle of the road and was run over and killed by Rachel's mother, Kate Sugden in her car. Lynn gave birth to her and Pete's son, Peter Jr. on the day of his funeral.
Lynn Whiteley | |||||||
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Emmerdale character | |||||||
Portrayed by | Fionnuala Ellwood | ||||||
Duration | 1989–1994 | ||||||
First appearance | 18 January 1989 | ||||||
Last appearance | 4 August 1994 | ||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||
Introduced by | Stuart Doughty | ||||||
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Lynn Whiteley appeared for a period of five years between 1989 and 1994. Lynn moved in with her grandfather-in-law, Bill in 1989 at his new farm. Her husband, Pete then had an affair with teenager Rachel Hughes which was exposed at Lynn's New Year party. Lynn did not leave Pete as she discovered she was pregnant and believed that her child needed its father. After Pete was killed in a hit-and-run accident by Rachel's mother Kate Sugden, Lynn gave birth to their son Peter on the same day as Pete's funeral. Lynn continued to live at Whiteley's Farm with Peter and Bill and carried on after Bill died in July 1991. She continued feuding with Rachel over her affair with Pete, culminating in Rachel pouring a drink over her in The Woolpack. In December 1993 Lynn went for a drink in The Woolpack and left Peter with a babysitter when the Plane Crash occurred. She suffered a minor head injury but was otherwise unscathed but returned home to discover Whiteley's Farm had been destroyed but Peter was safe as the babysitter had come outside with him when the crash occurred. In the aftermath of the crash Lynn continued to make herself unpopular with the other villagers. Lynn developed an attraction to Jack Sugden and was slapped by Jack's wife Sarah when she found out. She also had a brief relationship with Jack's brother Joe Sugden, Rachel's former stepfather, in order to get revenge for Rachel's affair with Pete. Lynn then slept with a news reporter and gave him information about the plane crash. After one final showdown with Rachel, Lynn left the village to live in Australia with an Australian called Sven Olsen in August 1994. None of the other villagers were unhappy to see her go and none missed her.
Bill Whiteley | |||||||||
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Emmerdale character | |||||||||
Portrayed by | Teddy Turner | ||||||||
Duration | 1989–1990 | ||||||||
First appearance | 8 February 1989 | ||||||||
Last appearance | 13 September 1990 | ||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
Introduced by | Stuart Doughty | ||||||||
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Bill Whiteley was first seen after his house was auctioned off. He received a large sum of money for the house as a result of a high interest rate. After buying himself a new farm, which he renamed "Whiteley's Farm", Bill invited his grandson Pete and his wife Lynn to live with him. Bill was very morbid and obsessed with death, so much so that Ernie Shuttleworth, owner of the Malt Shovel barred him for depressing customers. Bill had the same effect on customers at the Woolpack. He believed that his family wouldn't be able to afford a decent coffin so he got himself one for Christmas. Bill was devastated when Pete was killed in a hit-and-run accident by Kate Sugden. At Pete's funeral, Bill angrily berated Kate's husband Joe after he offered to help the family. Following the birth of his great-grandson Peter, Bill let Lynn and Peter carry on living with him. Bill was last seen when Kate visited him to apologize for causing Pete's death but he tells that no apology could bring his grandson back. Bill died off-screen in July 1991 of natural causes.
David Hughes | |||||||||||
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Emmerdale character | |||||||||||
Portrayed by | Martyn Whitby | ||||||||||
Duration | 1989–1990 | ||||||||||
First appearance | 29 March 1989 | ||||||||||
Last appearance | 22 November 1990 | ||||||||||
Classification | Former; recurring | ||||||||||
Introduced by | Stuart Doughty | ||||||||||
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David Hughes, played by Martyn Whitby, made his first appearance on 29 March 1989 and departed on 22 November 1990. David is the ex-husband of Kate Hughes (Sally Knyvette) and the father of their children Mark (Craig McKay) and Rachel (Glenda McKay). David appears in the village prior to Kate's wedding to Joe Sugden (Frazer Hines) and his presence causes friction. In spite of this, Kate and Joe marry and David leaves. However, he returns several months later and intends to settle in Hotten near the village to become closer to his children, which angers Joe. During this time, David learns of Rachel's affair with Pete Whiteley (Jim Millea) and agrees to keep quiet but when he sees Rachel and Pete kissing, he attacks Pete.
David then tells Kate of the affair and schemes to be closer to her by inviting her and the children to spend Christmas with him, then by buying Kate a new dress as a present. Joe, incensed, attempts to attack David but is overpowered. David then becomes obsessed with winning Kate back, which culminates in him menacing her and Joe with Alan Turner's (Richard Thorp) shotgun. However, Kate calls David's bluff and he backs down and flees the village. David returns in November and hides out at the Mill, and is aided by Mark and Rachel. After a failed attempt to visit Kate who is now incarcerated for running over Pete, David returns and apologises to Joe for attempting to shoot him and thanks him for not calling the police. Mark then urges David to give himself up, which he agrees to but when Mark returns with Rachel to drive him to the police station, David is gone and has left a note.
Character | Date(s) | Actor | Circumstances |
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Tony Barclay | 22 February–26 April | Alun Lewis | Tony is a brief love interest of Sandie Merrick. |
Eddie Hammond | 12 April–28 September | Geoffrey Banks | Kate Hughes' father who attends her wedding to Joe Sugden. When Kate is paroled from prison in 1991, she goes to live with Eddie instead of returning to Beckindale. |
Ted Sharp | 24 May–10 August | Andy Rasleigh | Ted takes an interest in Dolly Skilbeck, when she is grieving for her recently deceased lover Steven Fuller. However, Dolly does not feel as strong about Ted as he does about her. Ted is enraged at being rejected and kidnaps Dolly. Worried that Dolly may inform the police, he initially refuses to let her go but relents when she tells him she won't tell anyone which, she does not. Ted then flees the village. |
Alice Wood | 3 October–9 November | Olivia Jardith | Alice is the mother of Caroline Bates who briefly visits from Scarborough, much to the irritation of Alan Turner. At the end of her visit, Caroline leaves with her to look after her. In 1991, Alice's Grandson Nick and his girlfriend Elsa Feldmann have a daughter and name her after Alice. In 1994, Caroline receives a phone that call that Alice Sr. has died. |
Sid Flower | 30 November–5 December | Patrick Durkin [1] | Sid is the manager of a Chip Shop in Hotten who employs Jack Sugden. Sid is surly, miserable and often rude to his employees, including Donna, a girl who works there. Jack quickly tires of Sid's callous attitude towards Donna when she burns herself with some oil and stands up to Sid. Sid threatens to fire Jack, who resigns but not before pouring baked beans all over Sid much to the amusement of Donna and the customers. As Jack leaves, Sid tells Donna to stop him but she tells Sid to stop Jack himself.. |
Donna | Sue McCormick [1] |
John Jacob "Jack" Sugden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. The character was originally played by Andrew Burt from 1972 to 1973 with a brief return in 1976, when the actor left for Italy to write a book. On his return in 1980 he was played by Clive Hornby. Hornby remained in the role until 2008 when he was forced to take a break from Emmerdale due to illness. His last on-screen appearance was on 21 February 2008, and his absence was explained by the character visiting his mother, Annie Sugden in Spain. Although Hornby was intended to return, he died from his illness in July 2008 without returning to the programme. Jack was written out following Hornby's death, dying off-screen of a heart attack in February 2009.
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.
Chris Tate is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Peter Amory. The character made his first appearance on 14 November 1989, when he arrived in the village alongside the rest of the Tate family – his father Frank ; stepmother Kim ; and younger sister Zoe.
Victor "Vic" Windsor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Alun Lewis for a period of five years, from 1993 until 1998. Vic was the second husband of shopkeeper, Viv Windsor, and also father of Kelly Windsor and Donna Windsor. He was killed off in an armed robbery by Billy Hopwood on Christmas Day 1998.
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.
Amos Brearly is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by Ronald Magill. He made his first appearance during the serial's debut episode on 16 October 1972. Amos ran The Woolpack pub and was the village gossip. A double act was later formed between Amos and Henry Wilks, which lasted for 19 years. Amos became known for his bushy sideburns and catchphrase "Nay, Mr Wilks". Magill left the show in January 1991, but reprised the role for several brief appearances until July 1995.
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.
Rachel Hughes is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, portrayed by Glenda McKay. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 7 September 1988 and departed following the character's death on 12 May 1999.
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.
James Millea is an English actor who played small businessman and publican Neville Ashworth in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.
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.
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.