Emmerdale legend returns to soap ahead of ending as its axed after decades

Emmerdale legend Frazer Hines reprised his role in Doctors earlier this year, ahead of its final ever episode.

The actor is best known to audiences for playing Joe Sugden in ITV soap Emmerdale from its debut episode in 1972, appearing for two decades before leaving the role in 1994.

Joe was killed off, off-screen, the year following Frazer’s departure.

Frazer Hines in Doctors.

Frazer, meanwhile, has gone on to appear in numerous programmes following his exit from the Dales, one being BBC One daytime soap Doctors.

The actor portrayed Sonny Troughton, a former criminal, during two episodes broadcast in 2020 and reprised the role once again earlier this year.

Sonny’s surname is a nod to actor Patrick Troughton, who Frazer starred alongside in Doctor Who.

Frazer portrayed Joe Sugden in Emmerdale (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

The much-loved afternoon series was axed by BBC in October and the cast wrapped production on March 1, with the final episode slated to air in December.

Many of TV and film’s finest actors have rose to fame on Doctors, including Game Of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke, who had one of her first ever roles on the BBC serial – the year before she would go on to land the part of Daenerys Targaryen in the HBO fantasy drama.

Fantastic Beasts actor Eddie Redmayne also guest starred in Doctors, as did Emmerdale’s Gemma Oaten, who recently returned to the daytime serial in a different role.

Ian Midlane, who played Al Haskey, took the opportunity to pay tribute to Doctors following its conclusion.

Frazer previously appeared in Doctors in 2020 (Picture: BBC Doctors/Facebook)

‘[I’m] So ridiculously, embarrassingly proud to have played Al for over eleven years on the most lovely and life changing of jobs,’ he wrote.‘My heart is full of love for the people of that show and the joyful, creative environment we forged and worked our butts off in…….’

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