Jake Doland

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Emmerdale character
Jake Doland
Portrayed by James Baxter
Created by Kathleen Beedles
Duration 2007-2008
First appearance December 2007
Date of birth June 2, 1990
Status Single
Occupation Farmer

Jake Doland is a fictional character on ITV's Emmerdale. He is played by James Baxter.

On April 30 2008 it was announced that Baxter will leave the soap in a Romeo and Juliet themed storyline.[citation needed] This will occur in November 2008.[citation needed]

[edit] Character background

Jake arrived in the village for the christening of his half brother Arthur, in December 2007, where he also served a godfather. He returned to the village again in January 2008 to help his father Greg with the re-building of Annie's Cottage.

Jake didn't take to building so when Jack offered him a chance to work on the farm to help out after Andy Sugden was sent to jail, Jake agreed. Having Jake around really helped to improve Victoria Sugden's mood. She was smitten with Jake but he only thought of her as a friend.

With Andy in prison, Jake set his sights on his fiancée, Jo Stiles. At Jo's hen night in the Woolpack, Jake started putting shots into her champagne glass. However when Sam Dingle spotted him, he confronted Jake and told him to leave Jo alone. After an argument with Val Lambert and Louise Appleton, Jo left and Jake tried to follow but Sam wouldn't let him leave.

After the wedding, Jake spotted Jo kissing a stranger, who happened to be jailbird and Andy's enemy Charlie, in her bedroom. What Jake didn't realise is that Jo was kissing him so she could bite his tongue and run off. Jake initially didn't believe her when she told him about the blackmail. When Jake learned Charlie was using the farm for criminal activities, he alerted the police. Charlie was eventually run off by Jo, Debbie Dingle, and Chas Dingle. Jake then had little story interaction with Jo, and was fired from the farm by Andy Sugden in June 2008.

Matters closer to home complicated Jake's life, as Greg and Mel learned Arthur was not their biological child, that he had been switched at birth with Laurel and Ashley Thomas' son Daniel. Jake assisted them in their efforts to go on the run. When this was thwarted at the airport, Mel later ran off with Arthur, but secretly kept in contact with Jake. Jake, unsure of what to do, told Laurel, who then told Ashley. Jake denied the truth to Ashley, but Greg knew his son was lying. Jake took Greg to see Mel, who convinced her to bring the baby back home. A few weeks later, Greg and Mel were forced to go to court on the hearing of Arthur's custody. Ashley and Laurel won custody, devastating Greg and Mel.

Jake and Jasmine Thomas were initially wary of each other, since she was Ashley's niece, but after Jasmine reminded Greg and Mel of Jake's 18th birthday, he became close to her.