Jean Hope
| Jean Hope | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||||
| Portrayed by |
Julie Higginson (2003–04) Susan Penhaligon (2006) | ||||||||||
| Duration | 2003–04, 2006 | ||||||||||
| First appearance | 17 February 2003 | ||||||||||
| Last appearance | 15 December 2006 | ||||||||||
| Introduced by |
Steve Frost (2003) Kathleen Beedles (2006) | ||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||
| Occupation | Wine Bar manageress | ||||||||||
| Residence | Morocco | ||||||||||
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Jean Hope is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Initially she was a recurring character and played by Julie Higginson, but when she returned in 2006 as a regular character, Susan Penhaligon took over the role.
Storylines
Jean was the first wife of Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw). They had two children, Dawn (Julia Mallam) and Jamie (Alex Carter). Bob and Jean divorced after he walked out and Jean raised her children alone in Spain.
They were still living in Spain when Dawn met and fell in love with Terry Woods (Billy Hartman), a friend of her father’s when Terry stayed at the hotel Jean owned. She returned to Emmerdale with Terry. Jean followed her back and they got married – much to her parents' disapproval. The couple seemed madly in love and were overjoyed when they had baby T.J. (Connor Lee). However, the marriage didn't last and Jean worried about Dawn when she found herself bringing T.J. up alone and with little money.
When she discovered that Bob was remarrying his ex-wife Viv Windsor (Deena Payne), Jean decided to attend the ceremony in the place of her son, Jamie. Little did the congregation know that Jean had a masterplan – to win Bob back for herself. She kidnapped Bob on the morning of the wedding. He escaped and remarried Viv and Jean got drunk in shame – and woke up in bed with her ex-son-in-law, Terry.
Dawn was horrified by her mother's action but Jean promised it would never happen again. She left Emmerdale, hoping things would improve for Dawn – but they got worse. Dawn found herself in a difficult position when she was reported for benefit fraud by ex-boyfriend and stepbrother Scott Windsor (Ben Freeman). Jean rushed to her daughter’s side and decided to move in with Dawn to help her with her financial situation, evicting Dawn's lodger Jo Stiles (Roxanne Pallett), who was slow in paying her rent, in the process. But despite her best efforts, Dawn was imprisoned and the Hopes went into crisis mode. As they shared responsibility of T.J. while Dawn was in jail, Jean and Terry got close again and realised that they had fallen in love.
In an effort to keep the romance secret, Jean started dating her boss Tom King (Ken Farrington) and leading him to believe there was some hope for them as a couple. Tom discovered Jean – who was working as his PA – had been sleeping with Terry when they were caught cavorting in a layby by the police, arrested and put in the cells for the night.
The incident meant everybody in the village knew what had been going on and, in disgust, Dawn ordered them to end the relationship and went on holiday to get away from them. But Jean and Terry were in love and defied Dawn. When she arrived back, she announced she had decided to take T.J. and go and live in Cornwall, breaking Terry’s heart.
He decided to fight for custody of his son, but Jean implored him not to hurt her daughter and between them they came to an amicable arrangement.
However tragedy was to strike when Dawn died from internal injuries after being injured in the Kings River Showhome when it collapsed. Jean and Terry continued their relationship after Dawn's death but Jean soon tired of the relationship and life in the village and was sick of all the controversy that had ensued over Dawn's death. Jean left the village for Morocco in December 2006, taking T.J. with her, after receiving £300,000 in compensation from Tom King for Dawn's death. Terry followed her to the airport but it was too late and Jean's flight had left.
Post departure
However, Terry followed her to Morocco on Christmas Day and returned to the village with T.J. several weeks later, after having persuaded Jean to give T.J. back to him.
In December 2008, Jean sent Terry a postcard, telling him she'd split with her boyfriend Mohammed and asking if he and T.J. wanted to join her in Morocco for Christmas. While they were with Jean, a small taxi ran into her, bruising her hip and breaking her leg, and causing Terry and T.J. to extend their stay.
On 21 January 2011, T.J. is sent to live with Jean in Morocco permanently after Terry is killed in an arson attack.