List of Emmerdale Farm characters introduced in 1972–1973
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera Emmerdale Farm in 1972 and 1973, by order of first appearance. The first episode of Emmerdale Farm was broadcast on 16 October 1972. Marian Wilks is the first character to be seen on screen, riding her horse past Peggy Skilbeck who speaks the serial's first lines of dialogue asking her husband, Matt Skilbeck who Marian is. Peggy's widowed mother, Annie Sugden, brother, Joe Sugden and grandfather Sam Pearson are the next to be seen, preparing for Jacob's Sugden's funeral. Jack Sugden is seen in The Woolpack along with landlord Amos Brearly, watching his father's funeral procession go by. Following the funeral, Marian's father, Henry Wilks visits Annie to discuss right of way over adjoining land to Emmerdale Farm.
Janie Harker makes her first appearance on October 23. In November, Janie's sister, Ruth Merrick, arrives along with her husband, Tom and their children Jackie and Sandie. George Verney first appears in January 1973. Louise Jameson appears as Sharon Crossthwaite, as does Jim Latimer. The following month, Reverend Edward Ruskin and his wife Liz makes his first appearance, followed by Alison Gibbons. In April, The serial's first birth occurs when Matt and Peggy's twins Sam and Sally are born. The serial's original doctor Clare Scott debuts in May and shopkeeper Lena Dawkins is introduced in December.
Marian Wilks
Marian Rosetti was first played by Gail Harrison from 1972 to 1978, then by Debbie Blythe for two stints in 1987 and 1988. She first appeared on the show's first ever episode and was the first character to be seen on screen, riding on horseback. She was the daughter of wealthy retired factory owner Henry Wilks who later ran the Woolpack with long standing landlord Amos Brearly. Marian embarked on a brief affair with Jack Sugden in the first few months of the show.Peggy Skilbeck
Peggy Skilbeck was one of Emmerdales original characters, the second eldest child and only daughter of Jacob andAnnie Sugden, born on 28 August 1948. She was the first character to speak in the show; her line being "Matt, who's she?" Peggy married Matt Skilbeck in 1968 and had two children, twins Sam and Sally Skilbeck, in April 1973. Peggy died on 16 July 1973 of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 24.
Matt Skilbeck
Annie Sugden
Joe Sugden
Sam Pearson
Jack Sugden
Amos Brearly
Henry Wilks
Pat Sugden
Janie Harker
Janie Harker, played by Diane Grayson made her first appearance in the episode airing on 23 October 1972. When the character returned in 1986, she was played by Lesley Duff. Janie is the younger sister of Pat Sugden. Janie visits Joe Sugden in hospital, following his car crash and suggests he takes her out when he recovers but he declines. Later, Janie dates Frank Blakey a few times and the pair quickly become engaged and marry in March 1973. The following year, Janie discovers she is pregnant and neglects to tell Frank. However, Frank finds this out when Joe congratulates him on his child. Frank remains silent, allowing Janie to tell him about the baby in her own time. Ruth also returned to the village, having divorced her husband Tom and left the kids with him. She attempts suicide but is rescued, and Janie, Frank and Pat leave the village soon after. When Ruth, now known as Pat dies in a car accident in 1986, Janie returns to the village for the funeral.Tom Merrick
Tom Merrick is the first husband of Ruth Harker. He appeared in 1972, 1980–1982 and 1984–1986, followed by a brief reappearance in 1988 at Jackie Merrick's wedding.Jackie Merrick was born just under seven months after the wedding in early November that year, although Tom believed he was the father and spent years bringing up Jackie. Pat even told Tom Jackie was born two months premature so Tom believed he was the father. Very little is known about his early background before his marriage to Pat but he had a sister and his mother was a friend of Annie Sugden.
Tom returns to the village in 1972 and picks a fight with Joe Sugden after seeing Joe and Pat together in "The Woolpack". Tom is suspicious of how Jackie bears a strong resemblance to Jack, as well as sharing his name, and Jack is later revealed as Jackie's father. Tom blackmails Jack when he finds out that he had been sleeping at Inglebrook while Henry Wilks was laid up, and Jack later fires Tom. The Merricks then move to Leeds to live near Tom's sister.
Pat, Jackie and hers and Tom's daughter Sandie Merrick return in 1980, having left Tom. He reappears later that year, a much nastier and more menacing man than in 1972, although Pat is now seeing Jack. Pat tells Tom that she wants a divorce and he hits her. Tom tries framing Jack for arson in 1981 but Jack has an alibi and is never charged. Seth Armstrong later forces Tom out of the village with threats of disclosure about the fire and Pat soon divorces him. Tom returns in 1982 and finds out the truth over Jackie's parentage. He has a fight with Jack outside the Woolpack. Tom thinks it is a bit too late to change his ways completely from his drinking, due to his age, and leaves for Aberdeen in February 1982. Tom returns a few years later when is persuaded to look after the farm while Jack and Pat keep a bedside vigil for Jackie, who is in a coma following an accident. By then we see a mellower side to the character. He returns in 1986 for Pat's funeral and made his final appearance in February 1988 at Jackie's wedding to Kathy Bates. He has not been seen or heard from since.
The second actor who played him, Edward Peel went on to play Tony Cairns in the late 1990s, making him the only actor in Emmerdales history to play two different characters in regular roles.
Jackie Merrick
John Jacob "Jackie" Merrick was played by Ian Sharrock from 1980 to 1989. Jackie was originally seen as a silent young boy in the earliest episodes of Emmerdale Farm before becoming a fully-fledged regular character in September 1980. He is the son of Pat Merrick, a former girlfriend of Jack Sugden. Jack had left the village in 1964 and Pat subsequently married Tom Merrick and made him believe he was the father, even claiming that Jackie was born prematurely, which was not the case. Jackie celebrated his 18th birthday in November 1982.In 1985, Jackie almost died after being run over by Alan Turner while fixing his motorbike. During his slow recovery after waking from a coma, he finally acknowledged Jack as his father by referring to him as his father.
Jackie married Kathy Bates in 1988 but the marriage did not last long as Jackie was killed the following year, in an accident while he and Seth Armstrong were hunting for a £10 bet. Jackie tried to take a shotgun out of his car, but it got caught and went off by mistake, killing him in the process. The character also had a brief fling with Angie Richards, who was played by Beverley Callard.
Sandie Merrick
Sandie Merrick was played by Jenny Mayors-Clark in 1972 and played by Jane Hutcheson from 1980 to 1983 and then again from 1984 to 1989, Sandie first arrived in Beckindale with her mother, father and half-brother in 1972 but left not long after. She later returned for good with her mother and half-brother in 1980.Sandie found romance with Andy Longthorn in 1982. Their love blossomed but he could not compete when Sandie was swept off her feet by agricultural student David Blakemore, who arrived in Beckindale in his flash car to help Joe Sugden at NY Estates. Sandie then moved on to unemployed Graham Jelks, a keen mechanic who was a friend of her brother Jackie and Seth Armstrong's son, Fred.
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, 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, away from the wagging tongues of Beckindale. Pat disapproved again when Sandie put Louise up for adoption and tried to rebuild her life.
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 just formed with Joe Sugden. Phil and Sandie started an affair which Diane unveiled to a packed audience in The Woolpack. Sandie's affair caused another village scandal, and Annie Sugden made her disapproval clear.
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 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. Phil got involved in scams and this annoyed Sandie. They began to drift apart and they split up in July 1988. She bought Phil out of the mill. Phil was later jailed for organising a robbery on Home Farm. In May 1989, Sandie left the village to live in Scotland with her father.
In December 1991, Sandie was mentioned when Frank Tate bought Mill Cottage from her.
In January 2006, Sandie was mentioned by her former step father Jack when he mentioned how she once dated Terence Turner.
George Verney
George Barton Verney, Lord Miffield was the owner of the Miffield estate and lived at Miffield Hall until 1974.He first appeared in 1973, when his marriage to second wife Laura was falling apart. He approached the local vicar Edward Ruskin for help. Meanwhile, Laura began a secret affair with Jack Sugden and went on holiday to London with him. This led to Jack selling a false story to a newspaper about George. As a result, George beat Jack with a hunting crop outside The Woolpack, making people believe this was because Jack supposedly seduced Laura, however, it was later revealed that it was due to Jack's false story defaming George. The matter dropped as Jack saw the attack as a punishment.
Laura left Beckindale, but returned when she found out George was planning on leaving fortune to his nephew, Mark Proctor. The couple divorced in 1974 and he subsequently moved to Cannes. He died off-screen in 1978.