| Sam Pearson | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Toke Townley | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1972–1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 16 October 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 22 November 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Past; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Kevin Laffan | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | David Goddard | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Samuel "Sam" Pearson is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale , played by Toke Townley. Sam is one of the show's original characters appeared for twelve years from the first episode in 1972 until Townley's death in September 1984.
Sam was often referred to as "Grandad" by other characters in the show. Townley was Emmerdale's eldest cast member and his on-set persona was unique. [1] Townley would often lose his scripts and call sheets. Though his fellow cast members did not mind because he would always perform well during filming. Emmerdale producer Richard Handford said that Townley "was such a marvellous character and on the day, he could deliver a performance that was magical." [1]
Off-screen Townley had ill-health related to his heart and kept it a secret from production. While out shopping, Townley collapsed and was taken into hospital. [1] Handford visited Townley in hospital and believed he would recover. However, Townley died in his sleep that evening and writers were left with the dilemma of how to write Sam out of the series. [1] Writers decided to kill the character off in a similar way. After Sam's death, a picture of him was placed on the mantlepiece of the Sugden home. Handford recalled "he was very good company and a true professional. There was no question of finding another actor to play Sam Pearson. Toke Townley was irreplaceable." [1]
Sam attended his son-in-law's funeral with the rest of the family on 16 October 1972. In 1973, he asked to be confirmed by the church after suffering a bout of ill health, thinking he was going to die soon. However, this was just a scare and he soon got better and was involved in a fracas with old wartime friend, Charlie Nelson, in late 1973.
In 1975, he was annoyed to find that Annie had been in contact with his niece, Jean Kendall, in Middlesbrough. Sam had disowned the family after his sister Rosemary was ill-treated by her husband Arthur Kendall. In March, Jean's 16-year-old daughter, Rosemary Kendall, turned up and Sam agreed to let her stay. The same year, he was disappointed to find he would not become the new churchwarden after Wally Lumm died.
In 1983, Sam Pearson was grumbling because grandson Joe was seeing a married woman, Barbara Peters. In November 1984, Sam won first prize at the Village Annual Pumpkin Show. He died peacefully in his sleep that night and daughter Annie found him dead in his bed when she took him his morning cup of tea. His funeral took place a few days later. Annie found that Sam had told Reverend Donald Hinton (Hugh Manning) that he had not much time left and not to tell Annie until after he had died.
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.
Zak Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Steve Halliwell. He first appeared on 20 October 1994. Halliwell initially joined the show as part of the Dingle family and was only initially supposed to appear for a few episodes, but has become a key part of the soap since his introduction. He has been nominated for several awards for his portrayal of Zak. Some of Zak's storylines have included his wife Nellie divorcing him in 1997, marrying Lisa Clegg in 1998, having a daughter, Belle in 1998, the death of his son, Butch in 2000, Lisa being raped in 2011, assaulting his son Cain and leaving him temporarily paralysed in 2011, suffering a mental breakdown in 2012, trying to control his rebellious daughter and dealing with the death of Lisa. Halliwell died on 15 December 2023.
Sam Dingle is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale, played by James Hooton. He made his first appearance in the episode broadcast on 14 February 1995.
Betty Eagleton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Paula Tilbrook. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 12 April 1994. Betty is characterised as the village gossip who is kind hearted, fun, adventurous and enjoys a sherry. Tilbrook was initially cast for three episodes and the character was introduced as the wartime girlfriend of Seth Armstrong. Upon her arrival, the characters reconcile and their relationship continues until Seth's death in 2005. Tilbrook retired in 2015 and the character departs in the episode broadcast on 25 May 2015, returning briefly for a cameo appearance in the Christmas episode that year. The character and Tilbrook's performance were widely praised by both viewers and critics alike; Brian Beacom of The Herald labelled her "a national treasure".
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.
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.
Dolly Skilbeck is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale. Dolly made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 22 February 1977. The character was initially played by Katharine Barker, before Jean Rogers took over the role in 1980. She remained in the role until her departure from Emmerdale in 1991. Dolly is characterised as kind, generous and a homemaker. She is a "townie" from Darlington who arrives in Beckindale to work at the local pub, The Woolpack. Writers quickly developed a romance with Matt Skilbeck. He was a widower and had previously has two children that had died.
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.
John Antony Townley, known professionally as Toke Townley, was an English actor.
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.
Katherine "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.
Adam Barton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, portrayed by Adam Thomas. Thomas's character and role were announced alongside that of the Barton family in May 2009. Thomas called Adam "a family man." The character first appeared during the episode broadcast on 17 July 2009. Following a break from acting to participate in I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2016, Thomas decided to leave the show and, Adam's departure was announced on 22 June 2017, with the episode airing on 2 January 2018.
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.