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 in Spain. They were still living in Spain when Dawn met and fell in love with Terry Woods (Billy Hartman), 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 master plan – to win Bob back. 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/stepbrother, Scott Windsor (Ben Freeman). Jean rushed to her daughter’s side and decided to move in to help with her financial situation, evicting Dawn's lodger Jo Stiles (Roxanne Pallett), for non-payment of rent, in the process. Despite her efforts, Dawn was imprisoned briefly 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 realized that they had fallen in love. Attempting to keep the romance secret, Jean started dating her boss Tom King (Ken Farrington) and led him to believe there was hope for them as a couple. Tom discovered Jean – who was working as his PA – was sleeping with Terry (his chauffeur) 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. However, Jean and Terry were in love and defied Dawn. When she returned, she announced she and T.J. were going to live in Cornwall, breaking Terry’s heart. He decided to fight for custody but Jean implored him not to hurt her daughter and between them, they came to an amicable arrangement. However, tragedy struck when Dawn died after being injured in the Kings River Showhome. Jean and Terry continued their relationship after Dawn's death but Jean soon tired of the relationship, life in the village and was sick of the controversy that had ensued over Dawn's death. Jean emigrated to Morocco in December 2006, taking T.J. with her as she felt Bob and Terry were ignoring him, after receiving £300,000 compensation for Dawn's death. Terry followed her to the airport but it was too late and Jean's flight was just leaving. However, Terry followed them and returned with T.J. several weeks later.
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 for Christmas. While they were with Jean, a small taxi ran into her, bruising her hip and breaking her leg, so Terry and T.J. extended 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.