| Dolly Skilbeck | |||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Katharine Barker (1976-79) Jean Rogers (1980-91) |
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| Duration | 1977-1979, 1980-1991 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 31 January 1976 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 7 December 1991 | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Book appearances | Whispers of Scandal Shadows From The Past Lucky For Some |
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Dolly Skilbeck (née Acaster) is a fictional character from the popular soap opera Emmerdale, played first by Katharine Barker from 1976-79 and later by Jean Rogers from 1980-91.
Dolly Acaster arrived in Beckindale from Darlington to serve as a barmaid in the Woolpack. Dolly soon fell for Matt Skilbeck and they married on June 29 1978. [1]
Having had a miscarriage in early 1980, Dolly began work at the village playgroup.[2] A healthy son, Samuel David Skilbeck, was born on December 23 1982 but Dolly would suffer another miscarriage in November 1985.[3]
Later it emerged that Dolly had become pregnant by Richard Roper in the mid-1960s and gave their son up for adoption. Her illegitimate child, Graham Lodsworth, came to find her in 1986.
In late 1987 Matt discovered that he had inherited Crossgill Farm from the previous owner. Dolly insisted that they move out of Emmerdale but Matt refused. Dolly and Matt began to grow apart resulting in her affair with timber consultant Stephen Fuller in 1988. Fuller ended up being killed by a falling tree in November 1988 and Dolly arranged his funeral.[4] Dolly began divorce proceedings from Matt in November 1989, then left the village in 1991 having had an abortion after an affair with crooked councillor Charlie Aindow. Dolly and Sam moved to Norfolk to join Matt.
Dolly and Matt remarried off-screen in 1992.