Notes 5th April 2004 & 22nd September 2004

Diane's sister Val arrived in Emmerdale in February 2004. She claims Rodney broke her heart when she was 19 after they had an affair. She doesn't seem too worried then or now by the fact he was married to her sister Diane at the time of the affair.

Rodney and Val's affair began one night when Val went over to Rodney & Diane's home. Diane was out and Rodney was babysitting Bernice who was in bed. The affair continued for a while until one morning Diane woke up to find a note saying Rodney had left her for Rita "the hatchet girl" with whom Rodney had been seeing. Rodney would live with Rita for five years.

The end of Rodney's marriage to Diane also signaled the end of his affair with Val. They would not see each other again for nearly 30 years at which point they would continue where they left off. However their newfound relationship was rocky from the start.

Diane did not know about the affair between her then husband Rodney and her sister Val until 5th April 2004.

Two weeks after Rodney left the sisters, Val began seeing Jimmy Pepper and was soon pregnant supposedly with his child. However from the first moment Val's back story was introduced, there have been subtle hints to the viewers about Paul's true parentage.

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In September 2004. Rodney declared his love for his ex-wife Diane. Val finally trellised that Diane was Rodney's true love and he didn't love her at all. Angry and heartbroken Val dropped her biggest bombshell first to Diane on the 20th and then on the 21st to Rodney and the rest of the village; Paul is the product of her affair with Rodney all those years ago.

These revelations put an end to Val and Rodney's relationship!

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Some re-writing of back histories have occurred. Rodney is supposed to have been born in 1949 and Diane 1947. Her sister Val is 10 years younger than Diane which would make her born around 1957. Bernice was born in 1968 and Rodney left Diane when Bernice was about five or six years old circa 1973/1974. Rodney's daughter Nicola was born to Rodney's 2nd wife Maureen in 1978. However since Val arrived in Emmerdale on the 1st February 2004 the past facts are starting to alter.

If Val was 19 at the time of her affair to Rodney, this means the affair occurred around 1976. It also was revealed/confirmed in the 5th April 2004 episode that Rodney spent 5 years with Rita "the hatchet girl." If this is the case where does Nicola fit in? It means her age has changed or Rodney and Diane's birth years have changed?

There is another explanation, the scriptwriters got Val's age wrong. It seems the only real error is Val's age. If the writers had made Val seven years younger than Diane - not ten years - everything would fit nicer and this is why.

Val born in 1954 and we do know from the scripts that she has an affair with Rodney which would mean 1973. We know Rodney left Diane around 1973/1974 (the book says 73) when Bernice was around 5 years/6 years (the book says 5 years I think the scripts over the years have said both).

We know Rodney spent 5 years with Rita the hatchet girl form the scripts, so that would be 1973-1978. Then he met and married Maureen and Nicola was born in 1978. We don't know what order was Nicola born before her parents married?

Well putting Val born in 1954 is the only way any of it can fit and would make Paul born 1974.

This information put together by Lane Kent
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