Steph Stokes in Emmerdale was the ex-convict mum of Tricia Dingle, and daughter of Woolpack landlord Alan Turner.
She arrived with a bang for daughter Tricia’s engagement party when she and Marlon were planning to tie the knot. Steph showed up and punched the groom to be!
So what was her story?
Steph Stokes in Emmerdale
After causing trouble at the engagement party and then planting a smacker on poor Marlon the night before the wedding, Steph decided she wanted to stay in Emmerdale.
And it wasn’t a surprise to anyone when she caught the eye of Rodney Blackstock.
Steph started working for his antiques business and they became an item.
They even got engaged!
But when Steph discovered Rodney wasn’t as flush as she’d thought, she went off him!
Fat Shelley arrives
Steph Stokes was delighted when her old friend ‘Fat’ Shelley Williams arrived in Emmerdale.
The pair went into business together thanks to Alan investing, and for a while it seemed like life was good.
But in 2004, Tricia was tragically killed in the dramatic storm that hit the village and Steph was plunged into the depths of depression after losing her daughter.
Shelley threw herself into comforting her friend and Alan, who was grief-stricken, and she and Alan fell in love.
Steph turns nasty
When Alan and Shelley decided to move to Spain together, Steph planned to split them up.
She spread awful rumours about poor Shell, and when the plan worked and they split, she was delighted. But after a dramatic confrontation with her dad, Steph shoved him down the stairs!
She kept Alan medicated to stop him revealing the truth. And when Shelley returned, she pushed her down the stairs too and locked her in the cellar.
The villagers were shocked when Steph was arrested for Shelley’s murder – and so was Steph because she didn’t know Shelley was dead.
Shelley’s alive!
Shelley turned up at her own memorial service much to Steph’s shock!
She wanted to get back together with Alan, but he said he wouldn’t cut all ties with Steph.
Steph felt bad, and decided to convince Shell to change her mind.
But when she followed her on to a ferry to try to persuade her to come back to Emmerdale, there was a bit of a tussle and Shelley fell overboard. Steph didn’t raise the alarm and instead threw Steph’s suitcase in after her.
We know!
Steph and Alan
Back in Emmerdale, Steph met doctor Adam Forsythe. They fell in love and she opened up to him about her childhood abuse at the hands of her brother, Terence.
Alan had recently got in touch with Terence and Steph was horrified when he turned up in Emmerdale.
Terence – a violent alcoholic – began terrorising his sister. Then things got really dark! Adam killed Terence and buried his body in the woods.
Then he began drugging a traumatised Steph to keep her under control.
Eventually Terence’s body was discovered in the aftermath of the Kings River explosion. Steph was charged with his murder and though she was innocent, she confessed in an attempt to make amends for Shelley’s death.
Adam killed himself in prison.
Steph returned briefly for Alan’s funeral.
Who played Steph Stokes?
Steph was played by national treasure Lorraine Chase.
She was already a household name thanks to her modelling career, parts in TV shows including Worzel Gummidge and Lame Ducks, and of course her Campari ad with Leonard Rossiter.
Since her stint in Emmerdale, Lorraine has had roles in Casualty and Holby City, and she’s appeared in several reality shows including I’m A Celebrity.
She’s survived cervical cancer and skin cancer, and in 1995 she nursed her former partner John, through his treatment for lymphoma and his tragic death.
In June this year, she joined former Emmerdale co-star Patrick Mower, AKA Rodney Blackstock, on the 1970s bus that travelled down The Mall as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Read more: Who is in the cast of Emmerdale 2022? Meet this year’s full line-up
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
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