Joe Sugden

Joe Sugden
Emmerdale character
Portrayed by	Frazer Hines
Duration	1972–83, 1984–85, 1986–94
First appearance	16 October 1972
Last appearance	11 August 1994
Created by	Kevin Laffan
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Occupation	Farmer
Family Family Sugden Father Jacob Sugden Mother Annie Brearly Brothers Jack Sugden Sisters Peggy Skilbeck Wife Christine Sharp (1974-76) Kate Hughes (1989-91) Grandfathers Joseph Sugden Sam Pearson Grandmothers Margaret Sugden Grace Pearson Nephews Jackie Merrick Sam Skilbeck Robert Sugden Nieces Sally Skilbeck Victoria Sugden

Joseph "Joe" Sugden is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Frazer Hines. He first appeared on-screen during the episode broadcast 16 October 1972.

Development

Joe is a farmer as was his father. When Emmerdale began it depicted actual farm life. Rather than act out tasks Hines learned to dig sheep and milk cows.^[1]

Joe is involved in a relationship with Christine Sharp (Angela Cheyne). They married during the episode broadcast 10 September 1974. ^[2] The duo overcome a series of problems before marrying and Christine has the wedding day "she'd always dreamed of".^[3] To commemorate the event TVTimes featured a promotional souvenir photograph for readers prior to the epidode's airdate.^[4]

Storylines

Joe was one of the main characters in the Yorkshire-set soap for a 22-year period between 1972–1994 with a gap 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 Jackie's 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. Kate's children wanted their mother to get back with their father, David, and Joe 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, his wife Pat's daughter, 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 in the village after their mother had left, and Joe enjoyed 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 being injured at a rave after saving Dave Glover from being run over by a car, 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.

Reception

The character was selected as one of the "top 100 British soap characters" by industry experts for a poll to be run by What's on TV, with readers able to vote for their favourite character to discover "Who is Soap's greatest Legend?"^[5]

References

• Hayward, Anthony (1997). The Emmerdale Companion: A Celebration of Twenty-five Years. Orion Media. ISBN 978-0-7528-1043-0. 

External links

• Joe Sugden at MTV3
• Joe Sugden at the Internet Movie Database