Sugden family

Sugden family
Emmerdale family
First appearance	Episode 1 16 October 1972
Created by	Kevin Laffan
Introduced by	Kevin Laffan
Duration	1972–present
Family members Annie Sugden Jack Sugden Joe Sugden Peggy Skilbeck Jackie Merrick Sam Skilbeck Sally Skilbeck Robert Sugden Victoria Sugden Andy Sugden Sarah Sugden Jack Sugden Sebastian White Harry Sugden

The Sugdens are a fictional family in the

). Subsequently these characters went on to produce more generations of Sugdens.

The Sugden family are characterized as a hardworking bunch, but the family has struggled with various types of dramatic moments such as Peggy's death and the death's of the Skilbecks, Jack's affair with

Lee Posner

.

As of 2023, Jack's daughter, Victoria and her son Harry Sugden, remain the only two Sugdens by blood on the show. Additionally, Andy's daughter Sarah Sugden remains on the show but she is not a Sugden by blood.

Creation

The Sugden family were created in 1972 by

(David Hill) that year and tricked him into thinking the baby was his, by telling him the baby was premature. Sometime in the mid-to-late 1960s Jack met and married Lynn Wallace. Shortly afterwards he wrote and published his best seller The Field Of Tares.

Kevin Laffan created the character of Annie Sugden as he was said to be "keen on dominant women" and it has been said that he created a "memorable heroine" in Annie Sugden, "the wife of the ne'er-do-well…who drank himself to an early grave" (the first episode opened with his funeral).^[1] Actress (Sheila Mercier) — whose career had been mainly theatrical — was chosen to play the role and went on to be the serial's longest running original actor. Mercier has commented "I had done a lot of television from the stage of the Whitehall, but very little else before joining Emmerdale Farm…I remember, at first, playing to the Gods! Tristan de Vere Cole, one of the first directors on the programme, told me to take [my performance] down until it was so low I was almost muttering. Then, Gordon Flemyng - another of the directors - played back to me a scene I did so that I could see what I had done wrong."" ^[2] In her 1994 autobiography, Mercier recalls how on so many occasions she wanted Annie to cry but the director, David Green, said "Annie does not cry. She cries all her tears into the pillow at night."

Peggy and her family were killed off in 1973, and Jack married

) who remains the Sugden matriarch.

Apart from the blood related Sugden's there were many others who were related to the Sugden's and were treated like other members of the family, these were;

Sam Skilbeck

who was treated by Annie like a grandson, even after Matt left Beckindale in December 1989, Dolly & Sam were always welcome at the Farm.

Sandie Merrick

was Jack's step-daughter, she is the only child of Pat and her first husband; Tom Merrick, however this didn't stop her and Jack from being close themselves, Jack was supportive to Sandie when she fell pregnant at the age of 17 in 1983, The Sugden's made sure that Sandie was part of their family, Joe even gave his step-niece a job at NY Estates over Eric Pollard who was more qualified.

Rachel Hughes and her younger brother Mark Hughes were the children of Kate and her first husband; David, much like the Merrick family a decade before, the Hughes family would become related to the Sugden's through Kate's marriage to Joe who at first found it hard being a stepfather, sought Jack's advice on how he became close to his own step-daughter; Sandie, Jack said that it would take time but admitted that Sandie was more mature than Mark when she had been his age, and easier to get on with than the Hughes siblings, eventually Rachel and Mark settled down at Emmerdale Farm and became close with other family members, Mark even got a crush on his older Step-cousin; Sandie, Joe reassured Kate that he would look after Rachel and Mark when their marriage ended in 1991, and the Hughes siblings were more or less adopted by Joe, since he had no children of his own, something which bothered him in the 1980s when he saw how settled and happy Jack and Matt were with their own families, so having Rachel and Mark gave Joe the family he always wanted.

In Emmerdale

The audience was introduced to farmer's wife

. Joe and Christine's marriage was short lived as Christine decided that she did not want to be a farmer's wife. Christine returned the following year to reconcile but Joe wanted a divorce and she left for good. Three years later, Jack returned, and it was revealed he was suffering from writer's block and needed some time away from London. Annie offered him some advice and he took it onboard, before departing back to London on good terms with his family.

Jack eventually returned in 1980 vowing to stay for good as he wanted to settle down. Ruth Harker, now calling herself "Pat", returned to the village with

(Richard Smith), on 22 April 1986. Jack was left devastated when Pat died in a car crash four months later, leaving him to bring up Robert with the help of Annie.

In 1988, Joe meets divorcee

(Jessica Heywood).

A plane crashed into Emmerdale village and left Annie comatose and her new husband

).

Andy began dating

). They attempted to cover up their crime and burned the car. After living with guilt, the group confessed and everyone apart from Marc (who was driving) were given community service. Andy and Katie decided to have a baby to change his mind, but when Brian (Katie's father) learned that Katie was pregnant, he sent her to live with her mother. She returned and moved in with Andy, but had a miscarriage. Despite this, she and Andy decided to get married and started planning their wedding. Katie, however, felt neglected by Andy working long hours and turned to Robert when he promised her excitement.

When Andy discovered Robert (now

), Robert fled from the village.

Jack and Diane assumed responsibility for Andy's half-brother, Daz Eden (Luke Tittensor), as they did with Andy a decade earlier. Andy and Daz's father, Billy (David Crellin), Andy and Daz's real father, was released from prison and returned to Emmerdale much to the Ire of various residents, having robbed the Post Office and killed Vic Windsor (Alun Lewis) on Christmas Day 1998. Meanwhile, Andy saw Jo was better with Sarah and restarted their affair. Andy was about to tell Katie when she announces that she could be pregnant, which soon became clear is a false alarm. Andy told her about his and Jo's affair. Katie threw them out but they soon returned as Andy was the leaseholder so Katie moved out instead and moved her business to Home Farm. Before Katie left, she wished Jo luck, telling her she will need it. Andy and Katie subsequently divorced.

Victoria (now played by Isabel Hodgins) returned from Annie in Spain, later than expected, prompting Jack and Diane to worry but returned safely. Victoria and Kayleigh went clubbing but Kayleigh left early. Victoria flirted with an older boy and he tried to force himself on her but Billy Hopwood (David Crellin) stopped him and rescued her. Billy drove her home but his brakes failed, due to Kelly Windsor (Adele Silva) sabotaging them, and they crashed into a lake. Victoria almost drowned, only escaping as Jack, Andy and Daz arrived. Jack blamed Billy until Victoria told him that Billy had saved her life.

Victoria began looking for answers to the cause of Sarah Sr's death. She tracked down Richie who told her to ask Jack. In an attempt to force a confession, she doused the furniture in petrol and demanded the truth, Andy confessed but a fire soon ignited. Following Andy's confession, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment in January 2008 after confessing to manslaughter. Andy and Jo married on 19 February 2008 in prison. When Andy was released, he was not pleased to find that things had changed. He began lashing out at Jo, giving her a black eye in one instance. The abuse continued for months and culminated in Andy getting seriously injured during a confrontation in a barn. Jo eventually left after

) helped her sell the farm equipment to fund her escape.

Jack visited Annie in Spain in 2008 and remained for several months until Annie informed the family of Jack's death of a heart attack on 5 February 2009, leaving them devastated. Robert returned briefly for the funeral and left Emmerdale again. Daz and Victoria slept together in a deserted barn. Victoria was thrilled, thinking she and Daz were a couple now but Daz told her that he wasn't going to dump Scarlett. He felt guilty about cheating on Scarlett and told Victoria that it was a mistake and they should forget about it. Victoria hoped Daz would change his mind but when he didn't, Victoria told him that she was pregnant, just as he and Scarlett were going away for a weekend.

He told Victoria that she'd have to see a doctor and that people would think he was a pervert if they announced that she was expecting his baby, so Victoria admitted she'd lied. Furious, Daz moved back into Dale View with Jake. Knowing Daz would be annoyed, Victoria reconciled with Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller). In May, Aaron and Victoria slept together and, thinking Daz and Jake would be at work, she "borrowed" Jake's keys and took Aaron to Dale View. Unfortunately Daz and Scarlett went home for lunch and found them there. Angry, Daz went for Aaron and trying to stop them fighting, Victoria blurted out that Daz didn't want her any more, making Aaron and Scarlett realised Daz and Victoria's relationship was more than brother/sister.

Sarah became ill and was diagnosed with

) being unhappy with this situation, they choose to go ahead regardless but were unsuccessful, despite trying repeatedly. Debbie believed the only way to conceive is for them to sleep together. Desperate to save her daughter, Debbie got Andy to meet her at a hotel and apologized for her previous actions and seduced him, telling him it was just about them and that she wanted him. Debbie discovered that she was pregnant and Andy was delighted, while Cameron felt left out but believed the baby was a result of artificial insemination.

Andy took in

), she told Andy that she was never pregnant but that she loved him. Angry at her behaviour, he rejected her and dated Amy for a while.

Victoria was heartbroken to learn that Adam had slept with local vet

) drunkenly announced that Ashley has died while in hospital, unaware that he was still comatose. Victoria could not deal with her guilt and handed herself in to the police, and she is arrested. She was later released, and was delighted to hear that Ashley is alive. Adam and Victoria rekindled their relationship and decided to run away and get married, with the help of Aaron.

In 2014, Andy started a romantic relationship with his stepsister,

Lachlan White

(Thomas Atkinson). Andy and Katie eventually remarried. Andy and Katie planned to buy Wylies Farm and restore it. Robert tried to sabotage the sale as his future father-in-law, Lawrence White owned the farm. Katie was also convinced that Robert was cheating on Chrissie with another woman. Robert cottoned on to this and tried to lead Katie on by pretending it was Alicia. Katie confronted Robert over his "other woman" on numerous occasions in The Woolpack, which Robert denied.

In February 2015, Katie died after finally discovering that Robert had been having an affair with a man,

) and Andy agreed to shoot each other's brother therefore giving them an alibi with no evidence that either of them was involved in either of the shootings. Later that night, Ross shot Robert on Andy's behalf, although he survived and Andy backed out of the plan to kill Pete. Andy later went on the run after being framed. Robert was shocked when Aaron revealed that Gordon had raped him as a child. Robert learned that Chrissie had begun a relationship with his brother Andy.

Robert asked Chrissie's sister,

) to come to the village to help him with his vendetta against Chrissie. She sent a DNA test off to prove Lawrence was not Chrissie's biological father. After rejecting Rebecca's advances Robert confided in Victoria that he is going to propose to Aaron. Lachlan told Aaron that Robert was sleeping with Rebecca. With Lachlan back in the boot, Robert admitted to Aaron that he was bisexual and did have an affair with Rebecca before getting serious with Chrissie. Robert told Aaron that when he was 15 he had a feelings for a male farmhand. Jack caught them together and beat Robert. Robert got drunk, destroyed his and Aaron's home, and sought comfort from Rebecca, telling her that he and Aaron were over. They slept together, but Robert immediately regretted it the next morning. Rebecca became pregnant tried to force Rebecca to have an abortion, but she refused. Rebecca went into labor and, with Robert present, delivered a baby boy named Sebastian. In early 2017, Victoria and Adam decide to try for a baby. Victoria was horrified to find a man had broken into her Diddy Diner truck, and even more so when the culprit knew her. She was shocked but pleased when the man turned out to be Hannah Barton, who had transformed into a man and went by the name , despite Victoria's offers to allow him to stay with her. She drops Matty off at the train station when Cain fails to convince him to stay. After being beaten up, Matty decides to come back and stay with Moira at Butler's farm.

Generations

Reception

The episode which saw Andy set fire to the barn won the "Spectacular Scene of the Year" award at the 2001

References

External links

• Andy Sugden at itv.com
• Robert Sugden at itv.com
• Victoria Sugden at itv.com
• Chrissie White at itv.com
• Aaron Livesy at itv.com