ITV.COM

New Face

Tuesday | 30.09.03

Emmerdale welcomes a new - and very young - face next week.

Young actor Luke Tittensor has joined the cast as teenage troublemaker Daz Hopwood and his arrival signals big changes for Andy Sugden.

Daz turns up as Andy’s half-brother - the son of jailbird father Billy - and begs the farmer and his belle Katy Addyman to take him in.

The benevolent pair are faced with a difficult choice - especially since Daz seems to have inherited his bad dad’s troublesome gene.

Luke is already a seasoned soap professional having already starred alongside identical twin brother Elliot in Brookside.

And - in fact - Elliot was also one of the auditionees for the role of Daz.

Luke step-dad explains, “Luke was made up to get the part in Emmerdale, and Elliot was very good about not getting it. When the phone call came Elliot knew he hadn’t got the role, but he was very brave and patted Luke on the back.”

ITV.COM Daz Automatic

Friday | 23.01.04

Emmerdale tearaway Daz Hopwood wants to go straight at last.

The troubled teenager has wreaked havoc on the village with his dangerous penchant for stealing cars and making all kinds of mischief.

However, having got into so much trouble is such a short period of time, Daz wants to turn over a new leaf.

And he decides the man to help him change is stepbrother Andy’s adopted sibling Robert Sugden.

Robert has never had much time for Daz, writing him off as a lost cause. But when the repentant youngster begs him for help, Robert reluctantly agrees.

All Daz wants is to carry out his community service alongside resident mechanic Scott Windsor. But having got on the wrong side of the hunky local already, Daz knows it will take a lot of persuasion.

Will Scott soften his stance on troublesome Daz?

Extract from The Mirror's Weekly Guide to the .Soaps, click here to read it in full
TOO HOT TO HANDLE! Jan 23 2004

Emmerdale, ITV1, Sun-Fri

There’s a lot of arson about in Soapland this year. First, Billy No-Mates torched Angie’s Den in ’Enders and almost turned Vicki into crispy pork scratchings. And now juvenile delinquent Daz takes a match to Scott’s garage in Tateville.

With 2004 barely a month old, the village is one of the most life-threatening places on Earth after the storm that seriously injured Ashley and killed Tricia. And, even though Cain is behind bars for contempt of court, and ‘the prossie poisoner’ Charity is doing life after being convicted for Lord Tate’s ‘murder’, Dangerous Daz is still on the loose and a terrible threat to public safety.

For when scumbag Scott refuses him a job as part of his community service, the tearaway decides to burn his business down.

But if he’s too hot to handle, imagine how Randy Robert and cheating Katie feel as they secretly stoke their flames of desire inside the garage when it goes up in smoke. And, as Daz rushes to the rescue with a bucket of cold water and discovers them in an embrace, he doesn’t know whether to douse the fire or dampen their ardour.

Ignoring Robert’s threats not to tell brother Andy, a remorseful Daz reveals all. And it’s then that a cold-hearted Katie deceives her fiance yet again and seals the young offender’s fate.

‘Look how he thanks me, sayin’ those horrible things,’ she simpers to Andy. ‘I love you and I want to be with you more than anything. But Daz has got to go. If he stays, he’ll destroy us.’ Or Robert will…

ITV.COM Checkmate!

Monday | 26.01.04

Emmerdale's illicit lovers Robert and Katie have been caught out.

The cheating twosome were rumbled by Daz Hopwood - and it looks like only a skilled bit of blackmailing will conceal the truth.

When Daz set fire to Scott Windsor's garage, he had no idea that he was about to stumble on a terrible secret. He has been under the care of kindly step-brother Andy and feels that his older sibling and fiancée Katie are his closest friends.

The realisation that Katie is sleeping with Andy's adopted brother is a huge shock, as is Robert's plan to keep him quiet.

Actress Sammy Winward - who plays adulterous Katie - says, "Robert warns Daz to keep quiet and - to ensure his silence - Robert takes the blame for starting the fire.

"They hope that will be the end of it, but they are still nervous. Daz is quite unreliable and Katie is terrified that he will tell Andy the truth. She is worried about these near misses they keep having - but that worry obviously isn't enough to stop her sleeping with Robert. "

Will Daz stay true to his word?

ITV.COM Double-Crossed

Tuesday | 27.01.04

Emmerdale's Daz Hopwood is double-crossed by bad boy Robert Sugden.

The tearaway teen has stumbled upon Robert's secret affair with brother Andy's fiancée Katie Addyman but his troubles are just beginning.

When Robert and Katie realised that they had been caught, their first thoughts were of how to keep young Daz quiet. The cheating duo struck a deal with Daz, where Robert agreed to take the blame for the fire in exchange for Daz's silence.

However, Andy knows that his brothers are keeping something secret from him and figures that they know the true circumstances surrounding the blaze. But when Andy presses Robert for information, Daz is horrified to discover the true extent of his treachery.

Breaching their pact entirely, Robert tells Andy the truth that Daz was to blame for the fire, knowing that the revelation will diminish his trust in the troubled youngster.

So when Daz offers Andy the truth about his deceitful loved-ones, will the trusting farmer believe his wild tale?

The Sun 26th January 2004

EMMERDALE

Sun to Fri - ITV1

NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE

ROBERT and Katie’s hot affair almost ends with them being burned alive when tearaway Daz sets Scott’s garage on fire.

The lovers manage to get out safely, but Daz then spots Andy’s bride-to-be and adopted brother kissing.

At first, Robert tries to persuade Daz into keeping quiet. But when the truth comes out, Katie says the wedding is off unless Daz is put back into care.

"It’s a horrible thing to do," says Sammy Winward, who plays Katie. "But she is so infatuated with Robert that she is not really thinking straight."

Daz decides to torch the garage after Scott refuses to let him do his community service there, which means he will be sent back to Manchester and placed in a youth offenders’ scheme.

As Daz starts the fire outside, Robert and Katie are enjoying a steamy liaison inside - and have locked the doors so they are not disturbed.

The pair realise the place is ablaze and escape just in time, but are seen kissing by Daz.

Realising the boy is on to them, Robert promises to take the blame for the fire if Daz keeps quiet.

But Andy doesn’t buy Robert’s story - he rightly suspects that half-brother Daz was the culprit.

Trying to get the truth out of Daz gets nowhere, but when Andy talks to Robert again he admits that Daz started the blaze.

When an outraged Daz then blurts out to Andy that he saw the lovers together, bride-to-be Katie is forced to take action.

"Andy doesn’t believe Daz," says Sammy, "and Katie insists that Daz has got to go because of all his lies."

Disgusted with Daz, Andy tries to send him back to his mother, Denise, but she wants nothing to do with him.

"Katie tells Andy straight that if he doesn’t get rid of Daz, it will be the end of their relationship," Sammy explains. "Andy sends Daz into care, despite the boy’s pleas that he is telling the truth."

When a social worker arrives to collect Daz, Andy is upset as his young half-brother reminds him of his promise to stand by him.

"Katie does feel guilty afterwards," says Sammy. "She tries to end the affair because of all the troubles it’s causing.

"She is supposed to be getting married in three weeks, but is so attracted to Robert she can’t resist him, and they finish up in bed again. Next day, they almost get caught in bed when Paul calls round.

"Robert wants them to go to a hotel for more privacy, but Katie refuses. She is feeling guilty about the whole thing.

ITV.COM Guilty Conscience

Thursday | 29.01.04

Emmerdale cheat Katie Addyman is troubled by her deceitful antics.

The blonde beauty is troubled by her affair with bad boy Robert Sugden and the way they have destroyed a young life.

Ever since Robert and Katie were caught in a passionate clinch by her fiancé Andy’s stepbrother Daz, she has been in a panic.

Desperate to conceal the truth from unsuspecting Andy, the pair have gone to great lengths to ensure Daz's silence. But after their blackmailing failed, Katie told Andy it was either her or Daz and he was promptly dispatched into a care home.

Now Katie’s conscience has started to bother her, and she decides the only way to appease it is to end her affair for good.

But when she tries to finish with Robert, she ends up back in his arms again.

Actress Sammy Windward explains, "Katie feels terrible about what she is doing, but something keeps drawing her back to Robert.

‘She hasn’t intentionally allowed it to carry on, but Robert adds excitement to her life and as a young girl, she feels she needs that at the moment.

‘Katie loves Andy but they have so much responsibility that they are old before their time. Robert keeps her feeling young."

ITV.COM An Unwelcome Guest

Thursday | 12.02.04

Emmerdale bridegroom Andy Sugden gets ready for his wedding day.

The hunky farmer can't wait to make pretty fiancée Katie Addyman his wife and start a new life together on Butler's Farm.

But a cloud is hanging over Andy's happiness - the recent problems his step- brother Daz Hopwood has caused him.

When Daz was unceremoniously dumped on Andy by his errant mother Denise, the responsible young man decided to become a parent to him. But Daz's penchant for stealing cars and causing mayhem soon convinced Andy he had taken on more than he could handle.

However, it was only when Daz accused Katie and Andy's adopted brother Robert of having an affair that Andy finally decided to put him into care.

Unfortunately for both Andy and Daz, the teen tearaway was actually telling the truth and ruthless Katie convinced Andy to send him away when she realised he could expose her sordid secret to the whole village.

But with the wedding only a few days away, Andy wonders if he should include Daz in the festivities - and whether his younger sibling has forgiven him for abandoning him.

Will Daz ruin the happiest day of Andy and Katie's lives?