Played By: Lorraine Chase. Lorraine was born 16 July 1951, South London, England, UK

See IMDB entry for: Lorraine Chase

First Apparance in Emmerdale: 3rd September 2002

Character's Birthdate: In the official books said to be Born: 1956, however this has now been revised and she was born July 1953.

Probably the eldest of Alan Turner's two children as when her brother appeared in th series he was a undergraduate student. However Steph's daughter Tricia would have already been born.

Character Married: ?? Stokes

Relatives: mother of Tricia Stokes, daughter of Alan Turner and probably his 1st wife Jill (played by Patricia Maynard and appeared in the series around 1984-1986). She has a brother Terence Turner (who appeared in Emmerdale in 1985-1986 and was played by Stephen Marchant. However this is the first time we have met "Steph"

Thank You! The Following has been Written & provided by Eithne
© 2003

Character: Stephanie “Steph” Stokes

Biography:

Steph arrived in early September 2002 and immediately made a lasting impression on then son in law to be Marlon Dingle, by leaving him flat on the floor. Steph had punched Marlon, thinking that he had been cheating on Tricia with another girl. Tricia demanded her mother leave, but Steph had driven all the way from London and wanted to catch up with her shocked daughter.

Alan stepped in and said that his daughter Steph could stay with him in the B&B for the night. But Steph decided to stay in the village and eventually made up with her daughter, Tricia, whom she had been fighting with because Tricia had caught her mother in bed with her then boyfriend.

On the night before Tricia’s wedding to Marlon, Steph ended up kissing Marlon. But in the end the wedding never happened and Paddy and Emily ended up getting married.

Steph later started selling dodgy items to the villagers and blew out most of the lights in the village, with her Christmas lighting display. Steph started working with Rodney in the antiques barn, but he was soon put out by her sales techniques. He said that she couldn’t sell her gear in the barn, but was forced to offer her a return to his business, after he wasn’t pulling in near as many customers after she left.

Taken From:- 1st September 2002: The Sun Online:- Your Guide To This Week On Emmerdale
The Sun Newspaper Online - UK's biggest selling newspaper

Tricia is not happy to see her mother Steph

"" TRICIA'S mother Steph makes a shock entrance in The Woolpack - and lays out Tricia’s fiancé Marlon with a
single punch!

Steph, played by TV favourite Lorraine Chase, wants to get back into her daughter’s life.

Steph’s had a call from her father Alan Turner, who left a message on her answering machine saying that Tricia was having trouble with a guy called Marlon.

So when she arrives in Emmerdale, she’s no idea she has walked into Tricia’s engagement party.

“Naturally Steph has raced to defend her daughter,” says Lorraine. “But unfortunately she acts first and asks questions later.

“She belts Marlon and then rushes to comfort her astonished daughter. It makes for a memorable reunion.”

But Tricia is horrified. She hasn’t seen her mother for years - and then she marches back in and knocks the man Tricia loves to the ground.

Steph protests that she was only protecting her, but Tricia is furious with her mother, both for hitting Marlon and for presuming she can walk back into Tricia’s life.

And she’s livid with her grandfather for getting in touch with Steph in the first place. Any trouble she had with Marlon was nothing to do with anyone else, argues Tricia angrily.

“Steph is just as stunned as Tricia,” says Lorraine. “She didn’t know Tricia was getting engaged.

“But Steph’s not the sort of woman to apologise for her actions. She’s every bit as headstrong as her daughter.

“Steph felt unloved as a child and rebelled against her busy father, Turner, when she was younger. Eventually she ran off and married a man her family didn’t approve of.

“It’s clear she’s flirted with the wrong side of the law as she sneers that her husband was ‘the biggest waster in north London’.

“Turner’s phone call prompted her to try to build bridges with her family. She’s getting to the age where she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life on her own.

“Her hard-hitting entrance is a bit of a shock for all concerned, but it’s a great way to join the show.”

Tricia orders her mother to leave, but Steph has driven all the way from London and flatly refuses to go straight back.

So Turner steps in and insists his daughter must stay until the next day at least. He wants to revive his relationship with Steph - however difficult that might be.

Next day, Steph sets off to try to talk to Tricia, and Turner goes along to keep an eye on them.

“Steph announces that she wants to stay in Emmerdale to heal the family rift,” says Lorraine.

“Tricia is horrified, but Steph won’t be put off. She is determined she’s not going to travel all this way without trying to get to know both her father and her daughter a lot better.”

Steph is clearly the sort of person who has a whole rack of skeletons in her cupboard and Lorraine, famous for the Campari ads in the 1970s, is delighted to be playing the role.

She was particularly impressed to receive a royal seal of approval on her first day on the show - the Queen
visited the set as Lorraine arrived to start work.

“She was very interested in the programme and she wished me luck,” said Lorraine.

“Steph’s the sort of lady who is used to getting her own way. I like her, and I think we’re going to have some fun together.” ""

Teletext: Diary 4th/5th September 2002

Today's the day when Lorraine Chase finally arrives on the Emmerdale scene to play Tricia's mother and it's a pretty explosive entrance too.

"She's the sort of woman who puts out that she's concerned for averyone else," says Lorraine. "But she is just in it for all she can get. But I don't think she's a malicious soul."

Lorraine reckons her character, Steph, is one of those who thinks she can "pick up precisely where she laft off". She wants to be a mum again.

Emmerdale Teletext Diary 28/29 August 2002

Emmerdale is going to be a huge challenge for Lorraine Chase, who has joined the soap as Tricia's mum.

Not only is this her first major TV role for some time, it also marks a return to work for the courageous actress. Last year she was horrifically injured in a car crash.

Her face was badly damaged and one ear was almost severed, but she was determined to battle on. "I feel lucky to be alive," she says, after 18 months out of work

The Sun 24th March 2003

EMMERDALE

Weekdays ITV1

STEPH'S dreams of a fabulous new life in the south of France are shattered - in the back of a rubbish lorry.

Antiques dealer Steph is in her element after reaching a deal with Rodney to share the £100,000 proceeds from a sale of a valuable figurine he had found in a house clearance. The couple sleep together, but in the morning Steph dumps him, leaving him very hurt.

"Steph doesn’t care about anyone but herself," admits Lorraine Chase, who plays Tricia’s pushy mum.

"She has a real go at Nicola, which leaves her speechless - for once! Rodney is keen on Steph but she is just keen on manipulating him."

Steph pretends to leave behind the other statues she has in her collection as security when she gets ready to go off and sell the figurine, but in fact all she leaves is a case full of bricks.

Steph is all packed and ready to go, but Nicola - upset to see her dad cast aside - grabs her bags and hurls them in to the dust cart, smashing the ornament.

"Steph goes ballistic when she finds out," says Lorraine.

"She can’t believe her fortune has been snatched away. She screams that the figurine was worth a fortune and her life is wrecked. She locks herself in Mill Cottage and refuses to come out."

ITV.COM The Stokes – Is This It?

Thursday | 07.08.03

Emmerdale schemer Steph Stokes is playing the dutiful daughter tonight.

The cocky Cockney has realised that her own hope of financial stability is if father Alan Turner makes her his main benefactor.

In the light of this revelation, Steph decides she has to put on a charm offensive to convince her fed-up father that she deserves his cash.

However, despite having suffered a health scare, Alan is not that naive and when Steph suggests he should put his will in order just in case the worst happens, he reacts pragmatically.

The ailing B&B owner knows that his relationship with Steph has been patchy at best and is smart enough to realise giving her his life savings will only lead to more trouble.

So, although he heeds her advice, Alan's new will names Steph's daughter Tricia and her husband Marlon Dingle as his beneficiaries.

When Steph discovers this she flies into a rage, but can she persuade her doubting dad that she deserves the loot?

ITV.COM

Steph's Evolution

Thursday | 11.09.03

Emmerdale troublemaker Steph Stokes has undergone a radical personality overhaul.

Ever since the revelation that dad Alan Turner left her out of his will, Steph has been trying to reform her image.

The prime motivation of her plan is to convince her ailing dad that she is responsible adult that he wants her to be and not an overgrown kid who thinks the world owes her favours.

And by taking a job at Alan Turner's factory, Steph hoped to prove that her attitude had improved and that she could hold down a job.

But the one time bad girl is having trouble retraining her wayward tenancies. After using her feminine wiles to charm the socks off boss Eric Pollard, Steph decides to treat her fellow workers to a cruel but hilarious impression of their unsuspecting employer.

But will her satire come back to haunt her as she struggles to make her new persona believable?

ITV.COM The Stokes - Is This It?

Thursday | 15.01.04

Emmerdale's Steph Stokes is going through hell after losing Tricia.

The bereaved mother is struggling to get on with life as she faces the prospect of never seeing her beautiful daughter again.

Thanks to her own selfishness, Steph and Tricia never had the strong mother and daughter bond shared by many other families. But after Steph decided to follow her offspring to the Dales, they formed a good friendship.

But Tricia's horrific death after suffering the full force of the New Year's Eve storm, has robbed poor Steph of the one person she really loved and she is finding the loss hard to bear.

However, everyone is far more focused on the anguish of Tricia's heartbroken husband Marlon, who has fallen to pieces in the wake of the tragedy. And since funeral arrangements are being taken care of by him, Steph feels she has no say in her daughter's farewell.

This week she is horrified when Marlon invites Tricia's boss Diane Blackstock to talk at her funeral and wonders if anyone has given her a second thought.

Will Tricia's nearest and dearest realise the suffering poor Steph is going through?

The Sun 1st February 2004

Emmer so naughty

Kissed off ... shocked Steph walks in and catches her best pal Shelly snogging her dad Alan in Emmerdale


EMMERDALE is set to sizzle when Steph comes home to find her dad in a steamy clinch with her BEST FRIEND.

Shocked Steph is left fuming when dad Alan Turner admits his feelings for her pal Shelly.

The pair became good friends since the tragic death of Steph’s daughter Tricia in the great New Year storm.

But fans will be stunned when they watch that friendship turn to LUST.

It all sparks off when Alan (Richard Thorp) admits that if he was a few years younger he would take out Shelly (Carolyn Pickles).

But she stuns him when she takes his hand and starts kissing him.

Bad girl Steph (Lorraine Chase) is furious and lays into her friend, accusing her of being a “gold-digger”.

Yesterday an Emmerdale insider revealed: “Shelly has become a rock for Alan since Tricia’s death.

“They are friends — but very soon it becomes more than that.

“Steph is horrified when she sees what is going on. She shows her true colours.”

The explosive episode will be on ITV1 on Tuesday February 10 at 7pm.

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