The Sugdens are a fictional family in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Introduced during the show's conception in 1972, they were the main family for storylines between the 1970s and 1980s and remained as such for many years. The families original unit consisted of widowed farmer Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier), alongside her children Peggy Skilbeck (Jo Kendall), Jack Sugden (Andrew Burt and Clive Hornby) and Joe Sugden (Frazer Hines). 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 deaths of the Skilbecks, Jack's affair with Rachel Hughes, Sarah Sugden's death, rivalry between Robert and Jack's adopted son Andy, Andy's abuse on his wife Jo Stiles, a house fire, Robert murdering Andy's ex-wife Katie Addyman as well as his homosexual affair with Aaron Dingle, Andy being framed for murder and going on the run, Jack's daughter Victoria's rape and Robert being sent to prison for murdering her rapist Lee Posner.
As of 2026, Robert, Victoria and her son Harry Sugden, remain the only Sugdens by blood on the show. Additionally, Andy's daughter Sarah Sugden remains on the show but she is not a Sugden by blood. On 7 August 2024, a relative named John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth), revealed to be another son of Jack and Victoria's half brother, joined the series. On 10 June 2026, another relative named Serena Sugden (Casey Al-Shaqsy) was announced to be joining the soap.
Creation The Sugden family were created in 1972 by Kevin Laffan as one of the show's original family. The Sugden family were the owners of Emmerdale Farm from the programme's early days. Jacob Sugden worked as a local farmer in Emmerdale. With his wife Annie he had two sons, Jack in 1947, Joe in 1949 and a daughter Peggy in 1948. Jacob always neglected his family and was an alcoholic, whereas Annie was left to manage the farm and look after their children. Eventually their daughter Peggy married Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne) and had two children Sam and Sally. Jack left the village in the spring of 1964 after an argument with father Jacob over intensive farming, wanting to see more of the world than Beckindale, and went to London. He had unknowingly got his childhood sweetheart Ruth Harker (also known as Pat) pregnant. She married local thug Tom Merrick (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). 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."" 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 Pat Merrick (Helen Weir). Robert Sugden was introduced as their child played by Richard Smith. In 1989, Christopher Smith took on the role. He remained in the show until 2001, when the character was recast to Karl Davies and he remained until 2005. After a brief return in 2009, the character was recast to Ryan Hawley in 2014. Mercier retired in 1994 appearing in only a handful of Emmerdale episodes, making guest appearances in 1995, 1996 and 2009, whilst Joe Sugden was killed off off-screen in 1995. Jack remarried Sarah Connolly (Madeleine Howard/Alyson Spiro). Their daughter Victoria Sugden (Jessica Heywood/Hannah Midgley/Isabel Hodgins) was born on-screen in 1994. Jack lastly remarried to Diane Blackstock (Elizabeth Estensen) 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;
Matt Skilbeck whose first wife was Peggy, long after she died Matt lived at Emmerdale Farm, he even brought his second wife; Dolly Skilbeck to live at Emmerdale Farm in 1978 where Dolly herself was treated by Annie, Joe & Jack like a daughter and sister, Matt & Dolly had a son of their own in 1982; 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 Annie Sugden in the soap's first episode in 1972. It was a time of sadness for the Sugden family, as they were burying their recently deceased father, Jacob, who had died after spending much of his later years in the pub, The Woolpack, drinking away the family's farming profits. Early central storylines in the serial followed the Sugden family, especially Annie as she struggled to come to terms with the death of her husband, support her family, and run Emmerdale Farm, set in the Yorkshire Dales in Beckindale. Matriarchal Annie aimed to rebuild the ailing farm by reuniting her two feuding sons, Jack and Joe. She sold part of Emmerdale Farm to village outsider, Henry Wilks, who had made his fortune in the wool industry and brought his business acumen to Beckindale. In 1973, Peggy dies of a brain hemorrhage a few months after giving birth to twins and three years later, Peggy's twins were killed on a level crossing, leaving Annie to comfort their father Matt. Soon after Jack returned to London and Joe married Christine Sharp. 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 on board, 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 Jackie Merrick (Ian Sharrock) and her daughter, Sandie Merrick (Jane Hutcheson) after leaving her husband Tom for good and reunited with Jack. During this time, Jackie discovered that Jack was his biological father and took the news badly and there was an unease between the two. In October 1982, Jack and Pat married but less than two years into the marriage, Jack began an affair with local newspaper reporter, Karen Moore (Annie Hulley). Pat found out and demanded Jack choose between her and Karen and he chooses Pat and they reconciled. In 1985, Pat learned that she pregnant and gave birth to Jack's second son, Robert (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 Kate Hughes (Sally Knyvette), and her two teenage children, Rachel (Glenda McKay) and Mark Hughes (Craig McKay). Initially Kate and Joe argued after he shot her dog for bothering his sheep but eventually they fell in love. They married in 1989 after Joe proposed but with Mark and Rachel opposed and wanting Kate to reconcile with their father, David) (Martyn Whitby), Joe became worried. They married and Kate's children eventually came round to their mother's new marriage. In 1990, Kate accidentally ran over Pete Whiteley, killing him and was jailed for a year but was released the following January. Kate told Joe the marriage was over and returned to Sheffield. Rachel and Mark decided to stay and Joe formed a closer relationship with them. After a lengthy period of grieving, Jack began dating again when he met mobile librarian, Sarah Connolly (Madeleine Howard), in 1988; Sarah also became a mother figure to Robert. Jackie disliked Sarah at first and felt that she was trying to replace Pat but warmed to her thanks to intervention from his wife Kathy (Malandra Burrows). Jack was left bitter and angry when Jackie died in a shooting accident in August 1989 and Sarah was there for him. The couple moved in together in 1990, and Jack often proposed but she keeps turning him down. Sarah fell pregnant in 1993 and gives birth to a daughter in March 1994, Victoria (Jessica Heywood).