Joe Sugden
Encyclopedia
Joseph "Joe" Sugden is a fictional character
in the British soap opera
Emmerdale
. He was played by Frazer Hines
.
Joe was one of the main characters in the Yorkshire-set soap for a 22-year period between 1972–1994 with a brief intermittancy of three years in the 1980s. In the beginning he was always the happy member of the Sugden family; after a brief marriage to Christine Sharp in 1974, Joe sought lasting emotional happiness elsewhere, but it always eluded him. One of his most memorable relationships was with his old friend Kathy Gimbel, and they set up home together - which scandalised the village in 1977. As a result, Kathy's father shot himself.
In the 1980s, Joe became very much involved in farming by working for NY estates in which he gave jobs to his nephew Jackie Merrick and his half-sister Sandie
. He became emotionally involved with vicar's daughter, Barbara Peters, in 1983 but was rejected and, feeling highly depressed, went off to France for three years, working for NY Estates. He came back briefly for his grandfather Sam Pearson's funeral in November 1984.
Upon his return in 1986, Joe became regional manager for NY Estates.
Joe dallied with his brother Jack's ex-girlfriend, Karen Moore in 1986. But once more he was left broken-hearted when she ended their relationship.
In 1988, he met Kate Hughes who was recently divorced. She had two children, Rachel and Mark, who were in their mid teens. Initially Kate started a feud with Joe after he shot her dog when it was bothering his sheep. Eventually they fell in love and after Kate spent Christmas with the Sugdens, Joe asked her to marry him and she accepted his proposal. They married in April 1989, but it was not easy. Joe's stepchildren wanted their mother to get back with their father, David, and he was worried that his marriage would not last. In 1981, he had confessed to his brother Jack that sometimes he wished he was still with his first wife, Christine. He thought he could never feel the same about any other woman.
As Rachel and Mark grew troublesome, Joe asked Jack's advice on being a stepfather from his own experience with Sandie and Jack told him that it was not easy at first but over time they became as close as if she were his own daughter.
In August 1990, Kate accidentally ran over and killed Pete Whiteley whilst driving Joe's car. She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and released in January 1991. A few months later, Kate told Joe their marriage was over and she left for her hometown Sheffield in July 1991.
Rachel and Mark had decided to stay with Joe despite the breakdown of his marriage to their mother, and he started enjoying his fatherly role and forming a closer relationship with them as he had no children of his own. On 30 December 1993, Joe had a major row with Mark over a vacuum cleaner that needed returning. As a consequence, Mark was at the Whiteley Farm when a large section of an Eastern European Airjet came down, and Mark was crushed to death by a falling wall. The disaster affected Joe directly as well as he was driving his mother, Annie, and her new husband, Leonard Kempinski, to the airport when part of the plane hit his car, forcing him off the road. Leonard was killed and Annie was in a coma for several months but recovered. Joe suffered a broken leg but also made a full recovery.
After Joe found out about Mark's death, he suffered from depression and alcoholism. He never forgave himself for arguing with Mark on the night he died and in August 1994 after a feeble attempt at suicide was persuaded by Jack and Rachel to go and spend time with Annie in Spain. This was Joe's last appearance onscreen and in June 1995, news reached Emmerdale that he had died in a car crash. Annie and Amos returned to the village for his funeral. Amos would later remark that one night while enjoying a drink with Joe in Spain, Joe had asked Amos to make sure that if anything was to happen to him that there would be a few free drinks given in The Woolpack after the funeral. Amos thought that this request to him was strange considering that Joe was more likely to outlive him, hinting that Joe's death may not have been an accident.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the British soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
. He was played by Frazer Hines
Frazer Hines
Frazer Hines is an English actor best known for his roles as Jamie McCrimmon in Doctor Who and Joe Sugden in Emmerdale. Hines was born in Horsforth, a civil parish of Leeds.-Acting career:...
.
Joe was one of the main characters in the Yorkshire-set soap for a 22-year period between 1972–1994 with a brief intermittancy of three years in the 1980s. In the beginning he was always the happy member of the Sugden family; after a brief marriage to Christine Sharp in 1974, Joe sought lasting emotional happiness elsewhere, but it always eluded him. One of his most memorable relationships was with his old friend Kathy Gimbel, and they set up home together - which scandalised the village in 1977. As a result, Kathy's father shot himself.
In the 1980s, Joe became very much involved in farming by working for NY estates in which he gave jobs to his nephew Jackie Merrick and his half-sister Sandie
Sandie Merrick
Sandra "Sandie" Merrick is a fictional character from the British ITV soap Emmerdale Farm played by Jenny Mayors-Clark in 1972 and from 1980 until 1989, she was played by Jane Hutcheson.-Romances with Andy, David and Graham:...
. He became emotionally involved with vicar's daughter, Barbara Peters, in 1983 but was rejected and, feeling highly depressed, went off to France for three years, working for NY Estates. He came back briefly for his grandfather Sam Pearson's funeral in November 1984.
Upon his return in 1986, Joe became regional manager for NY Estates.
Joe dallied with his brother Jack's ex-girlfriend, Karen Moore in 1986. But once more he was left broken-hearted when she ended their relationship.
In 1988, he met Kate Hughes who was recently divorced. She had two children, Rachel and Mark, who were in their mid teens. Initially Kate started a feud with Joe after he shot her dog when it was bothering his sheep. Eventually they fell in love and after Kate spent Christmas with the Sugdens, Joe asked her to marry him and she accepted his proposal. They married in April 1989, but it was not easy. Joe's stepchildren wanted their mother to get back with their father, David, and he was worried that his marriage would not last. In 1981, he had confessed to his brother Jack that sometimes he wished he was still with his first wife, Christine. He thought he could never feel the same about any other woman.
As Rachel and Mark grew troublesome, Joe asked Jack's advice on being a stepfather from his own experience with Sandie and Jack told him that it was not easy at first but over time they became as close as if she were his own daughter.
In August 1990, Kate accidentally ran over and killed Pete Whiteley whilst driving Joe's car. She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and released in January 1991. A few months later, Kate told Joe their marriage was over and she left for her hometown Sheffield in July 1991.
Rachel and Mark had decided to stay with Joe despite the breakdown of his marriage to their mother, and he started enjoying his fatherly role and forming a closer relationship with them as he had no children of his own. On 30 December 1993, Joe had a major row with Mark over a vacuum cleaner that needed returning. As a consequence, Mark was at the Whiteley Farm when a large section of an Eastern European Airjet came down, and Mark was crushed to death by a falling wall. The disaster affected Joe directly as well as he was driving his mother, Annie, and her new husband, Leonard Kempinski, to the airport when part of the plane hit his car, forcing him off the road. Leonard was killed and Annie was in a coma for several months but recovered. Joe suffered a broken leg but also made a full recovery.
After Joe found out about Mark's death, he suffered from depression and alcoholism. He never forgave himself for arguing with Mark on the night he died and in August 1994 after a feeble attempt at suicide was persuaded by Jack and Rachel to go and spend time with Annie in Spain. This was Joe's last appearance onscreen and in June 1995, news reached Emmerdale that he had died in a car crash. Annie and Amos returned to the village for his funeral. Amos would later remark that one night while enjoying a drink with Joe in Spain, Joe had asked Amos to make sure that if anything was to happen to him that there would be a few free drinks given in The Woolpack after the funeral. Amos thought that this request to him was strange considering that Joe was more likely to outlive him, hinting that Joe's death may not have been an accident.