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Emmerdale Story

Emmerdale (known as Emmerdale Farm until 1989) is a British soap opera set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale Farm was first broadcast on 16 October 1972. Produced by ITV Yorkshire, it has been filmed at their Leeds studio since its inception. The programme has been broadcast in every ITV region. 


The series originally appeared during the afternoon until 1978, when it was moved to an early-evening time slot in most regions; London and Anglia followed during the mid-1980s. Until December 1988, Emmerdale took seasonal breaks; since then, it has been broadcast year-round.


Episodes air on ITV weekday evenings at 19:00, with a second Thursday episode at 20:00. The programme began broadcasting in high definition on 10 October 2011. Emmerdale is the United Kingdom's second-longest-running television soap opera (after ITV's Coronation Street), and attracts an average of five to seven million viewers per episode.


October 2012 marked the 40th anniversary of the show. During that month, the show made a live episode to mark the anniversary.


The premise of Emmerdale Farm was similar to the BBC radio soap opera The Archers, focusing on a family, a farm and characters in a nearby village. The programme's farmyard filming was originally modelled on RTÉ's The Riordans, an Irish soap opera which was broadcast from the mid-1960s to the end of the 1970s. The Riordans broke new ground for soap operas by being filmed largely outdoors (on a farm, owned on the programme by Tom and Mary Riordan) rather than in a studio—the usual practice of British and American soap operas. The programme pioneered farmyard location shooting, with farm animals and equipment. During the 1960s and 1970s, outdoor filming of television programmes with outdoor broadcast units (OBUs) was in its infancy due to higher costs and reliance on the weather. The Riordans' success demonstrated that a soap opera could be filmed largely outdoors, and Yorkshire Television sent people to its set in County Meath to see the programme's production firsthand.



Emmerdale has had a large number of characters since it began, with its cast gradually expanding in size. The programme has also had changing residences and businesses for its characters, including a bed-and-breakfast and a factory.

The Miffield estate was the largest employer in the village of Beckindale, 39 miles (63 km) from Bradford and 52 miles (84 km) from Leeds. Lord Miffield leased Emmerdale Farm, on the edge of the village, to the Sugden family during the 1850s in gratitude after Josh Sugden sacrificed his life for the earl's son in the Crimean War. Josh's grandson Joseph married Margaret Oldroyd and their son, Jacob, was born in January 1916. During the 1930s, Jacob Sugden purchased Emmerdale Farm. In 1945 he married Annie Pearson, daughter of farm labourer Sam Pearson. Margaret Sugden died in 1963, and Joseph died the following year.

Jacob Sugden ran the farm into the ground, drinking away its profits. The badly-maintained farm's future looked bleak at his death on 10 October 1972. He was survived by his wife Annie, two sons and a daughter: Jack, the eldest; Peggy and Joe, the youngest of the three. These characters formed the basis of Emmerdale Farm.

Character types on Emmerdale have included "bad boys", such as Cain Dingle, Ross Barton, Carl King, Robert Sugden and Aaron Livesy; "bitches", such as Kim Tate, Charity Tate, Nicola King, Chrissie White, Kelly Windsor and Sadie King; "villains", such as Cameron Murray, Lachlan White, Pierce Harris, Steph Stokes, Rosemary King, Gordon Livesy, Emma Barton and Sally Spode; caring characters, such as Laurel Thomas, Emily Kirk, Lisa Dingle, Paddy Kirk, Ashley Thomas and Ruby Haswell; sassy females, such as Chas Dingle, Val Pollard, Viv Hope, Nicola King, Faith Dingle, Rebecca White and Leyla Harding, and comedy characters such as Kerry Wyatt, Bernice Blackstock, David Metcalfe, Val Pollard, Paddy Kirk, Faith Dingle, Seth Armstrong, Dan Spencer and Jimmy King. The show has had a number of matriarchs, including Diane Sugden, Viv Hope, Lisa Dingle, Annie Sugden, Faith Dingle and Moira Barton. Older characters in Emmerdale include Edna Birch, Betty Eagleton, Eric Pollard, Pearl Ladderbanks, Sandy Thomas, Seth Armstrong, Alan Turner, Sam Pearson, Lily Butterfield and Len Reynolds. 

The first episode of Emmerdale Farm, aired on 16 October 1972, began with Jacob Sugden's funeral. Jacob upset the family when he left the farm to his eldest son, Jack, who left home at 18 in 1964 and had not returned. Jack appeared in the opening episode, avoiding the funeral and waiting for the Sugdens at Emmerdale Farm. Over the next few months Jack sold a share of the farm to his mother Annie, brother Joe, sister Peggy and grandfather Sam Pearson. Emmerdale Farm Ltd was formed when Henry Wilks bought Sam's share of the estate. The first episode, along with the others, have been repeated and released on a variety of media.

Characters introduced in the first episode were: 

Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier)
Jack Sugden (Andrew Burt)
Peggy Skilbeck (Jo Kendall)
Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne)
Joe Sugden (Frazer Hines)
Sam Pearson (Toke Townley)
Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill)
Henry Wilks (Arthur Pentelow)
Marian Wilks (Gail Harrison)
Alec Saunders (Alan Tucker)


From Leeds Pride 2018


Emmerdale spoiler: Robert and Aaron's wedding day arrives

The Dingles pull together for the happy event.


Episode 8278 | Airs Friday, 05 Oct 2018 at 19:00 BST on ITV


It's the day of Robert and Aaron's wedding, but Paddy worries about how Chas will cope. While Robert gets ready, he tries to convince Victoria how sorry Aaron is for lying to her about Adam. Victoria is determined to put Robert first despite everything and agrees to attend the wedding.


Aaron hands Robert his old watch, which Aaron has had engraved with the dates of their two weddings. Later, with family and friends gathered at a pagoda outside the village hall, the wedding ceremony gets under way.


Meanwhile, when Rebecca questions Ross about his feelings for her, he responds by pulling her in for a kiss. She tenderly kisses him back. Things are getting back on track for the couple, until Ross spots Dawn. Dawn has information that Ross has waited a long time for.


Hello to the weekend. Are we still recovering from yesterday’s Sugden-Dingle wedding? How great was it to see the lads so happy 💕and Robert’s crazy dancing.

We now are headed for a week without the lads but at least we have the clips to watch on repeat during this time. #Robron


Emmerdale spoilers: Ned Porteous confirms Joe Tate’s death as he says goodbye


Emmerdale fans have held onto the slightest, tiniest hope that Joe Tate might still be alive after that shocking turn of events in Emmerdale but departing actor Ned Porteous has confirmed that his suave character is indeed dead as he exits the soap for good.


Joe had returned to the village after Graham Foster urged him to leave as Kim wanted him dead. But not able to turn his back on Debbie, Sarah, Noah and indeed Graham himself, Joe revealed he couldn’t do it and arrived back at Home Farm.


In the meantime, Kim had seen the messages and had given Graham no choice but to finish Joe off once and for all. Armed with a gun, Graham headed out of the estate only to be stopped by Cain who wanted to know where Joe had gone after jilting Debbie.


At that point, Joe rocked up but before he could say a word, Cain had floored him with a punch. Unfortunately, Joe fell with such force that his head crashed off a rock. But what Cain doesn’t know is that the altercation hadn’t quite killed Joe.


His hand twitched while Graham was getting rid of the body at the viaduct and this forced him to seal Joe’s final fate before breaking down in tears.


Here, Ned reveals all on his shock exit from the soap:

So that was dramatic and unexpected – is that your character Joe Tate dead and gone?


Yes and such a lot happened in those last episodes. You saw Cain strike Joe to the ground. Joe therefore took a very serious wound to the head it initially appeared he was dead and Graham appeared to think so too, up until that pinnacle moment when his finger twitched in the car, so that blow to the head on the rock didn’t actually kill him. However, Graham knew he had to get rid of Joe. It looks like he was the one that ultimately ended Joe but Cain unwittingly thinks it was him who killed him. Will Cain take the fall for it?

How did it feel filming those last scenes?


It was tremendously exciting filming all of this last bit to the story as there had been a lot of build up to this point. We knew the course of this storyline for a good deal of weeks beforehand, so we had a lot of time to emotionally prepare for what was going on in the scripts. But I think I personally just focused on the work and concentrated on just producing some really good final scenes.


I don’t suppose I really had thought too much about the fact I was actually going to be leaving and maybe I wasn’t quite emotionally prepared – but everyone was just so bloody lovely on my last day, it was a little emotional.

So what are your plans now you have left?


I want to move back to London and I want to do a bit of travelling. I haven’t had a holiday for a very long time so I’m desperate first to get out to America, I’ve got management out there so I want to try my hand with the American casting system and then go on a little holiday, I think, I will turn my phone off, go climbing, go camping, go fishing.

Was it fun playing Joe Tate? During your time on the show you had some massive twists, the first being Tom Waterhouse…


This was the thing, as I feel like I had a chance to play two characters whilst I was on Emmerdale. Firstly, I had the Tom Waterhouse character and then the big reveal of the pseudonym. So yes, I suppose Joe managed to pack a lot of drama in during his short time in the village!

Do you love the twists and keeping the secrets from the audience?


That is one of the best things about working in a recurring drama like a soap. The fact there are so many little twists and turns constantly which keep the characters and the storylines so fresh.


It’s fun on Emmerdale to get the new script in and and go “oh wow what are we going to be doing this week?” Plus trying to keep it all as much as a secret as possible as that is what the viewers want, they want the surprise, they want the drama.

So was it hard keeping your exit a secret?


Yes and no. Of course people are always stopping you and asking you what is going on in your storyline. It is one of the main things about working on a show like this that you are constantly keeping your storyline secret. I think it’s for the benefit of everyone. It just becomes part of what you do and it becomes quite easy.

Did you take a souvenir, a prop or a bit of costume when you left?

I actually didn’t take anything in the end however I did have my eye on a few bits of costume I wanted to grab. Due to the last couple of days being spent working away on location I didn’t have time to organise it. I ended up just filming the scenes then saying my goodbyes to everyone. I then moved my stuff and moved down to London. Thankfully a few of the cast got me some really lovely thoughtful going away gifts so I will be able to keep them forever and cherish them. So that was really nice.

Have you got fond memories of your time on the show or is there one particular day of filming you will always cherish?


Without sounding cheesy, there are so many. I suppose the most memorable are when we had the opportunity to do something so different. One of the most memorable was when we did the quarry cliff stunt out at Chorley, that was two amazing days as it felt really different. We were away from normal Emmerdale and were out on location. We were all staying together at a hotel and it felt like we were all on a sort of action filled school trip. That was so much fun. It has been amazing to film things like that.


Emmerdale star Charley Webb reveals Debbie Dingle's future after Joe Tate's exit


"Debbie wants to know exactly what's happened."


Emmerdale's Debbie Dingle remains oblivious to a dark secret over the next few weeks, as her father Cain keeps quiet about Joe Tate's shock death.


Debbie has been left heartbroken by Joe's sudden departure from the village on the day of their wedding, unaware that he actually made a return to make things right and tragically lost his life.


During a recent Emmerdale press day, we caught up with Charley Webb – who plays Debbie – to hear more about her character's future after this dramatic turn of events.


Would you have liked a happier ending for Debbie and Joe?


"I'm used to Debbie not having a happy ending! I'm fine with it, to be honest. It's quite an interesting story and Debbie is just completely shocked that Joe has gone.


"I don't think she'll ever completely have a happy ending. It'd be boring to play her as married and that's it. Although it would be nice to see a lighter side at some point."


Will Debbie put up the shutters now and not want to trust a man again?


"Maybe a little bit, yes. I hope so, because anyone who got stung like Debbie has would react like that, but who knows? I'll probably have someone else in the next filming block! I am hoping a little bit that you'll see Debbie not just go straight to another guy to get that stability."


Would you have liked to explore Joe and Debbie's relationship more?


"Yeah, it was the most normal thing she's had, so maybe it would have been nice to see a little bit more of the family side to the story. But I'm sure somewhere down the line they'll pick that up somehow with somebody else.


"I guess it would have been nice to play it out for a little bit longer. It did seem really quick, but I guess it's Emmerdale!"


How would Debbie react if she knew that Joe is actually dead?


"I don't know, it'll be interesting if it ever does come out. It would definitely change her relationship with Cain, after his role in what happened.


"Cain doesn't tell Debbie the truth, so that would be a big issue. Maybe Debbie could have dealt with it, had she known what had really happened. She'd have been angry and upset, but she might have dealt with it better. Who knows, she might kill Cain!"


Does Debbie want to find Joe?


"She does. There's quite a long period of time with that and I'm still filming scenes now where Debbie wants to find him. She's still going on about Joe and I think that's going to last for quite a while. As far as Debbie knows, Joe did just literally vanish, so it is really odd. If that happened in real life, it would be the weirdest thing.


"Debbie wants to know exactly what's happened. She doesn't for a minute suspect that Joe has been hurt, she just thinks that he has gone. She thinks: 'I fell for it again'. Rather than her being upset, I think she's more angry, which has been quite refreshing to play.


"If she does discover that Joe didn't really leave her, I think there'll be a lot for us to play with that."



What kind of dynamic is there between Cain and Debbie in the next few episodes?


"Cain's not supposed to know anything about what happened to Joe, so we don't have that conversation, other than him going along with what Debbie already knows and what Graham is saying too."


Did you give Ned Porteous, who played Joe, a good send-off?


"I didn't give him a good send-off because I didn't go to his leaving do! I'm sure he had a great send off, but I wasn't well that week so I didn't go."


We know Ned has left the cast, but is there a chance Joe isn't really dead?


"We actually don't know. Whichever way, Cain's not actually killed him. He's either alive, or Graham's the one who killed him. If it comes out, it won't be Cain who's to blame because Joe's fingers twitched, so he was alive and then Graham shot him."


So you want Debbie to be single for a while?


"I'd quite like her to be single for a while yes, I think that'd be really great. I just think sometimes you don't need to be with a person to be complete. I think it would actually be quite interesting for her to be on her own with her kids and her dad and that's it."


Will Debbie focus on her kids now?


"She will. Sarah is really heartbroken about Joe leaving and I think Debbie actually ends up being stronger than what she probably would've been."


Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7pm on ITV, with an extra episode at 8pm on Thursdays.