Louise Appleton is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, Play (theatre), play, Radio series, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or b ...

from the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

ITV

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffa ...

'', played by

Emily Symons Emily Symons (born 10 August 1969) is an Australian-born actress, active on both Australian and British television. She is known for playing Anne Costello in the short-lived soap opera '' Richmond Hill'' in 1988 and when that series ended, from ...

. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 20 June 2001. Louise arrived in the village as a temporary barmaid and ended up as co-landlady with best friend

Diane Sugden Diane Sugden (also Blackstock) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Elizabeth Estensen. Since her first appearance in 1999, she has been involved in several high-profile storylines, including her marria ...

(

Elizabeth Estensen Elizabeth Estensen (born 10 August 1949) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Diane Sugden on the ITV soap opera '' Emmerdale'' from 1999 to 2021, with a guest stint in 2022. She has also made appearances in various British te ...

), before selling to Diane's sister Val Lambert (

Charlie Hardwick Claire Elizabeth Hardwick (born 3 November 1960)
''

The producers were looking for an Australian to play their "sassy new Woolpack barmaid", Louise Appleton. They were so keen to have Symons that they did not audition her. The actress was given an initial six-month contract and Symons commuted up to Leeds from London for filming. Symons began filming her first scenes in May 2001 and she told Allison Maund of ''

Inside Soap ''Inside Soap'' is a weekly magazine published in the United Kingdom, released every Tuesday. It covers current and future storylines in soap operas in the United Kingdom, including ''Coronation Street'', '' Doctors'', '' EastEnders'', ''Emmerda ...

'' that Louise would be nothing like her "ditzy" ''

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tr ...

'' character,

Marilyn Chambers Marilyn Ann Taylor (née Briggs; April 22, 1952 – April 12, 2009), known professionally as Marilyn Chambers, was an American pornographic actress, exotic dancer, model, actress, singer and vice-presidential candidate. She was known f ...

Storylines

The men of Emmerdale couldn't believe their luck when gorgeous

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

Louise arrived and started work at The Woolpack. Bright, beautiful and classy, Louise was the full package but much to the young men's disappointment, she started dating older lothario

Rodney Blackstock Rodney Blackstock is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Patrick Mower. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 24 October 2000. He was introduced as the estranged father of ...

. The couple had a fun relationship and enjoyed each other's company but it didn’t last as Rodney was still in love with his ex-wife,

Diane Blackstock Diane Sugden (also Blackstock) is a fictional character from the British soap opera '' Emmerdale'', played by Elizabeth Estensen. Since her first appearance in 1999, she has been involved in several high-profile storylines, including her marr ...

. Unfortunately Diane was also Louise’s best friend and when she discovered that Rodney and Diane had slept together, Louise dumped Rodney but forgave Diane and continued to work at the Woolpack. Her next boyfriend was shady businessman

Ray Mullan ''Emmerdale'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 16 October 1972. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the show in 2001, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by series producer Steve Frost. ...

. Louise was happy with Ray and moved in with him but Ray wasn't the man Louise thought he was. Wanting to control her, Ray made her think she was being stalked so she would agree to emigrate to Italy. As they drove to the airport, Louise discovered Ray was her stalker and a vicious fight ensued, culminating in her accidentally killing Ray and concealing it in Boxing day 2002.

Terry Woods Terence Woods (born 4 December 1947 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish folk musician, songwriter/singer and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his membership in such folk and folk- rock groups as The Pogues, Steeleye Span, Sweeney's Men, ...

, helped by making it look like someone had broken in (which the police believed as he mixed with many dangerous criminals.) Besotted, Terry would do anything for her but her gratitude didn't mean she was prepared to date him so Terry had to accept that they would only be friends. Louise was further shocked when Ray's brother came to the village and told her she was the only woman to survive her relationship with Ray and following the ordeal Louise spent much of 2003 on a downward spiral of depression and self-destruction alienating those around her. Diane acknowledged she had become a cold, cruel woman since Ray's murder and a bitter tension arose between them, particularly after Louise began seeing local married man, Ronnie Marsden. When their affair was exposed, the rift got stronger and Louise was humiliated and hated being the centre of local gossip but she and Diane eventually reconciled when Louise told Diane what really happened. The next day, Ronnie's wife Frances Marsden confronts and realizes that Louise had slept with Ronnie. She soon found herself in the thick of it again when she began dating vicar, Ashley Thomas. Their affair was short-lived and Louise agreed to a date with Carl King, but dumped him when she realised he was married. Meanwhile, Terry moved on by marrying teenager, Dawn Hope. Seeing them together made Louise realise that she did have feelings for him after all and started dating after Terry and Dawn split up in 2004. Realising their relationship was serious, Terry and Louise decided to buy Alan Turner’s B&B. Newcomer Matthew King offered financial advice and helped organise a mortgage - but wanted more than Louise's business. After pursuing her for weeks, Louise and Matthew began a passionate affair. Although she hated lying to Terry, Louise couldn't resist Matthew but eventually decided that she wanted to be with Matthew and ended things with Terry – just as they were about to complete the sale of the B&B. Louise shocked the village with her actions and even Diane was unable to feel any sympathy when Matthew abruptly dropped her days later. Realizing she’d been played, Louise threw herself on Terry’s mercy but he didn't want to know. Alone and distraught, Louise went home to Australia. When she got back, Louise tried to put her life in order. She kept her head down, tried to make amends with her friends and steered clear of men but she wasn't alone for long. When she met police officer Martin Crowe at a kid's judo class, Louise felt a frisson of attraction. They became friends and after a while, romance blossomed. However, Louise was taking on Martin's daughter,

Kayleigh "Kayleigh" is a song by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was released as the first single from the concept album '' Misplaced Childhood''. It was the band's most successful single in the UK, where it peaked at number-two and ...

, too. As she didn't have children, Louise didn't know how to behave around Kayleigh – who worshipped her from the start. Louise muddled through with advice from Diane and Martin and Kayleigh moved into the Woolpack with Louise. They were happy together until Martin learned that

Sam Dingle Sam Dingle is a fictional character from the British television soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by James Hooton. He made his first appearance in the episode broadcast on 14 February 1995. Storylines Sam arrives in Emmerdale village followin ...

had helped his wife,

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

, die of

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cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

, and set out to arrest him. Louise stood by Martin, causing friction between her and Diane and during a row, Diane mentioned Louise's involvement in Ray's death, which Martin overheard so Louise had to come clean. Martin promised not to report her but ended their relationship so Martin and a tearful Kayleigh moved out of the Woolpack. Devastated as Louise had thought Martin was "the one", she blamed Diane for the break-up and deliberately sold her share of the Woolpack to someone who Diane wouldn't like working with, her sister, Val Lambert, putting the money into the B&B with her ex, Terry and his girlfriend,

Jean Hope Bob Hope is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Tony Audenshaw. Prior to playing Bob, the actor had previously made a guest appearance in the show as a security guard. Bob was introduced as a hosiery salesman ...

. They had planned to buy the B&B together but Jean couldn't raise the money needed so Louise stepped in. In May 2007, it was stated that a "much loved" character would be killed at the village's anniversary and rumours arose that it would be Louise. She was involved in a car crash after ex-fiancée Hari Prasad ran her off the road. He knew that she was going to the police to admit that she had given a false statement, leading to Hari's arrest. Luckily Louise survived and told the police about her and Hari's lies so he was arrested for attempted murder and perverting the course of justice and was jailed for his crimes, selling his share of the veterinary surgery to

Rosemary Sinclair Rosemary King (also Sinclair) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera '' Emmerdale'', played by Linda Thorson. She first appeared on 23 March 2006 and became one of the show's central antagonists until her departure on 13 Sep ...

. In 2008, Louise received a lot of comments about her relationship with Jamie, who is younger than her. Believing that she wasn't good enough for him, she accused him of having an affair with a wine tasting woman. However, Jamie was having lessons so they could drink together so they reconciled. Later in the year, Louise feared she was pregnant but Jamie's relief to discover she wasn't made Louise unsure of their relationship. Jamie apologized repeatedly but he kept saying the wrong things. They became friends again and Jamie even proposed. The two were then engaged. In May, Louise provided an alibi for Viv Hope who was charged with conspiracy to defraud. She is among a few villagers who believe Viv is innocent. However, Louise blackmailed Viv when she discovered that Viv had kissed Freddie Yorke in order to obtain Viv's businesses. Viv's husband, and Jamie's father, Bob found out and told Jamie but the two stuck together. After visiting her family in Australia, Louise returned to the village in September and they decided to get married at Christmas. In October, Terry began suspecting Louise was having an affair when T.J. drew a picture of her with two boyfriends. Louise angrily refused to discuss the matter when questioned so Terry and Bob told Jamie who confronted Louise and grew frustrated by her refusal to divulge Jonty's identity. In the pub later on, Louise quashed speculation by revealing she won a beauty contest in Australia and that Jonty is her manager. However, hurt by Jamie's lack of respect and trust, she called off the wedding. Bob and Terry were horrified to see Louise and Jonty kiss when he arrived. Jonty asked Louise to return to Australia with him, but Jamie saw them and hit Jonty before storming off. Bob and Terry talked to Jonty, who shocked them by producing the volume of publicity Louise’s competition win had generated. With the promise of more work heading her way, Louise returned to Australia. In a race against time, Bob and Terry found Jamie as the villagers threw an impromptu going away party to stall Louise’s exit. However, Terry’s car broke down on the way back and they had to take Jamie's ice cream van. Back in the village, Jamie was a no-show and Louise prepared to leave in a horse-drawn carriage. However, Jamie arrived at the last second and begged Louise to marry him. Louise agreed and they left for Australia together. In June 2009, Jamie returned from a visit to Australia, despondent, as Louise was now with a man who, according to Val, looked like

Crocodile Dundee ''Crocodile Dundee'' (stylized as ''"Crocodile" Dundee'' in the U.S.) is a 1986 action comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee, and American actress Linda Kozlowski as ...

and gave Jamie his ring back. She also sold her share of the B&B to Eric and Val Pollard, much to Terry's horror and her share in The Woolpack to Val Pollard. After leaving the village, Louise has been mentioned often. In January 2017, Diane mentioned that Louise donated £100 from Australia to a donation page set up to raise money for Diane's adoptive stepgranddaughter Sarah's cancer treatment.

Reception

For her portrayal of Louise, Symons earned a nomination for Most Popular Newcomer at the

8th National Television Awards The 8th National Television Awards ceremony was held at the Royal Albert Hall on 15 October 2002 and was hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and j ...

References

External links

Louise Appleton
at itv.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Appleton, Louise Emmerdale characters Television characters introduced in 2001 Female characters in television Fictional Australian people Fictional female businesspeople Fictional bartenders Fictional criminals in soap operas Fictional murderers