Sandie Merrick
| Sandie Merrick | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by |
Jenny Mayors-Clark (1972) Jane Hutcheson (1980–89) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1972, 1980–89 | ||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 21 November 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 11 May 1989 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by |
David Goddard (1972) Anne Gibbons (1980) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||
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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.
Early Storylines
Romances with Andy, David and Graham
Sandie found romance with Andy Longthorn in 1982. Their love blossomed but Andy could not compete when Sandie was swept off her feet by agricultural student, David Blackmore, who arrived in Beckindale in his flash car to help Joe at NY Estates. Not wanting a serious relationship, she later switched her attentions to unemployed Graham Jelks, a keen mechanic who was a friend of her brother Jackie and Seth Armstrong's son, Fred.
Teenage Pregnancy
When Sandie announced she was pregnant and refused to reveal who the father was, Dolly Skilbeck gave her the support she needed. Only later was it discovered that Dolly herself had given birth to an illegitimate son years earlier. The father of Sandie's baby was, in fact, former schoolfriend, Andy Longthorn, who had left the village to go to university. After deciding to have the baby but finding her mother, Pat Sugden, unsympathetic, Sandie joined her father, Tom, in Aberdeen where he was working on the oil rigs and gave birth to her daughter, Louise, there away from the wagging tongues of Beckindale. Pat disapproved again when Sandie put Louise up for adoption and tried to rebuild her life.
Affair with Phil
There was more friction when builder Phil Pearce left his wife, Lesley, and young daughter, Diane, to move with Sandie into Mill cottage The Mill had been converted into a flat by the company that Phil had formed with Joe Sugden. Phil and Sandie started an affair which was unveiled by Diane when she found out, to a packed audience in The Woolpack. Sandie's affair caused another village scandal, and Annie Sugden made her disapproval clear.
Later years
When Sandie subsequently passed her auctioneer's exams and took over Eric Pollard's job, he mounted a hate campaign against her. It culminated in him breaking into the mill conversion she had previously shared with Phil and drunkenly threatening her with a poker. Matters only worsened for Sandie when NY Estates decided to close Hotten Market and pull out of Beckindale altogether and she lost her job. Following this, Sandie left the village to live in Scotland with her father.