Rachel Hughes
Encyclopedia
Rachel Hughes is a fictional character
on the ITV
soap opera
Emmerdale
. She was played by Glenda McKay
.
and brother Mark
after her parents divorced. Her mother began a feud with Joe Sugden
in late 1988 after he shot and killed her dog because it was bothering his sheep. However, in early 1989, Joe and Kate fell in love and were married in April that year and Rachel was more accepting of her mother's new relationship unlike her brother Mark who wanted their parents to reconcile. Rachel began an affair with married man Pete Whiteley on her 18th birthday. He ended it when his wife, Lynn, became pregnant and they moved away from the village. Pete later returned and began seeing Rachel again until he was accidentally run over and killed by Rachel's mother, Kate. Lynn later got her revenge on Rachel by embarking on a relationship with Rachel's former stepfather, Joe. On 30 December 1993, a plane exploded over Beckindale, killing Rachel's brother, Mark. The disaster also left Chris Tate in a wheelchair. Rachel then began giving Chris swimming lessons and they embarked an affair. Chris's wife Kathy
saw them kissing on their third wedding anniversary and attacked Rachel, banging her head against a wall. In December 1994, Rachel discovered that she was two months pregnant with Chris's baby and in June 1995, she gave birth to their son, Joseph Mark Tate, on the same day her former stepfather Joe Sugden died, naming her son in his honour. Kathy was present when Rachel went into labour and stayed with her on the journey to the hospital as Chris was nowhere to be found. This led to the two women becoming best friends and Rachel named Kathy as Joseph's godmother. On 7 December 1995, Rachel and Chris got married with Jack Sugden
and his wife, Sarah, as witnesses. Chris wanted them to have another child and went for fertility treatment but Rachel secretly went on the pill. Chris and Rachel split up after Chris betrayed Rachael by stealing private information from her work file and Rachel was granted custody of Joseph. In November 1997, Rachel received news that her mother Kate had died of a brain haemorrhage. Rachel then embarked on an affair with Jack Sugden, her former stepfather Joe's brother, after he comforted her and attended the funeral with her for support. This was her third affair with a married man. However, Jack had no intention of breaking up his marriage and returned to his wife, Sarah.
In late 1998, Rachel started dating schoolteacher Graham Clark and he began to exert control over her, by getting her to dye her hair and dress like his late wife Rebecca. In May 1999, Graham and took Rachel on a picnic and she tried to end their relationship. When Graham tried to force himself on her, Rachel tried to flee but he cornered her on a clifftop. Rachel then told Graham that she knew he had killed his wife. Graham panicked and pushed Rachel off the cliff to her death. Graham then went back to the village and asked if anyone had seen her and most of the village went out to search for her. Graham looked on as a horrified Jack Sugden discovered Rachel's body.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
. She was played by Glenda McKay
Glenda McKay
Glenda McKay is a British actress.She is best known for playing the character of Rachel Hughes on the popular ITV soap Emmerdale from 1988 until the character was killed off in 1999, in an iconic scene where she is pushed of a cliff by Graham Clark.Glenda's brother Craig McKay also starred...
.
Storylines
Rachel arrived in Beckindale in 1988 with her mother KateKate Sugden
Katherine "Kate" Sugden was a fictional character on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Sally Knyvette.Kate arrived in the village in 1988 and started a war with Joe Sugden after he shot her dog...
and brother Mark
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....
after her parents divorced. Her mother began a feud with Joe Sugden
Joe Sugden
Joseph "Joe" Sugden is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale. He was played by Frazer Hines.Joe was one of the main characters in the Yorkshire-set soap for a 22-year period between 1972–1994 with a brief intermittancy of three years in the 1980s...
in late 1988 after he shot and killed her dog because it was bothering his sheep. However, in early 1989, Joe and Kate fell in love and were married in April that year and Rachel was more accepting of her mother's new relationship unlike her brother Mark who wanted their parents to reconcile. Rachel began an affair with married man Pete Whiteley on her 18th birthday. He ended it when his wife, Lynn, became pregnant and they moved away from the village. Pete later returned and began seeing Rachel again until he was accidentally run over and killed by Rachel's mother, Kate. Lynn later got her revenge on Rachel by embarking on a relationship with Rachel's former stepfather, Joe. On 30 December 1993, a plane exploded over Beckindale, killing Rachel's brother, Mark. The disaster also left Chris Tate in a wheelchair. Rachel then began giving Chris swimming lessons and they embarked an affair. Chris's wife Kathy
Kathy
Kathy is a feminine given name. It is a pet form of Katherine, Kathleen and their related forms. Kathy may refer to:-In sports:* Kathy Bald, Canadian freestyle swimmer* Kathy Radzuweit, German volleyball player...
saw them kissing on their third wedding anniversary and attacked Rachel, banging her head against a wall. In December 1994, Rachel discovered that she was two months pregnant with Chris's baby and in June 1995, she gave birth to their son, Joseph Mark Tate, on the same day her former stepfather Joe Sugden died, naming her son in his honour. Kathy was present when Rachel went into labour and stayed with her on the journey to the hospital as Chris was nowhere to be found. This led to the two women becoming best friends and Rachel named Kathy as Joseph's godmother. On 7 December 1995, Rachel and Chris got married with Jack Sugden
Jack Sugden
John Jacob "Jack" Sugden is a fictional character in the British television soap opera Emmerdale. The character was originally played by Andrew Burt from 1972 to 1974 with a brief return in 1976, when he left for Italy to write a book. On his return in 1980 he was played by Clive Hornby...
and his wife, Sarah, as witnesses. Chris wanted them to have another child and went for fertility treatment but Rachel secretly went on the pill. Chris and Rachel split up after Chris betrayed Rachael by stealing private information from her work file and Rachel was granted custody of Joseph. In November 1997, Rachel received news that her mother Kate had died of a brain haemorrhage. Rachel then embarked on an affair with Jack Sugden, her former stepfather Joe's brother, after he comforted her and attended the funeral with her for support. This was her third affair with a married man. However, Jack had no intention of breaking up his marriage and returned to his wife, Sarah.
In late 1998, Rachel started dating schoolteacher Graham Clark and he began to exert control over her, by getting her to dye her hair and dress like his late wife Rebecca. In May 1999, Graham and took Rachel on a picnic and she tried to end their relationship. When Graham tried to force himself on her, Rachel tried to flee but he cornered her on a clifftop. Rachel then told Graham that she knew he had killed his wife. Graham panicked and pushed Rachel off the cliff to her death. Graham then went back to the village and asked if anyone had seen her and most of the village went out to search for her. Graham looked on as a horrified Jack Sugden discovered Rachel's body.