Former Coronation Street star Oliver Farnworth has joined the cast of Emmerdale.
We’ll first seen him on our screens next week as John Sugden, with the character heralding a new generation of the family who were introduced during the show’s first episodes in 1972.
John will shake things up for Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins), one of the only remaining family members in the show alongside Andy’s daughter Sarah (Katie Hill).
Next week, Pollard (Chris Chittell) is saddened when he hears that his old friend Barbara (Angela Down), a former Beckindale school teacher, has died. When Vic accompanies him to the funeral, she runs into Barbara’s son John – whose surname is Sugden!
Eric goes on to explain about the fling her father Jack (Clive Hornby) had with Barbara back in 1988, and it becomes clear that John could be her half-brother.
But whilst he’s a new face to the Dales, actor Oliver Farnworth is incredibly familiar to viewers of Emmerdale’s cobbles-based sister show.
But who did he play in Corrie, and what happened to his character Andy Carver? Metro.co.uk has all the answers…
Who was Andy Carver in Coronation Street?
Andy was a friend of Michael Rodwell’s (Les Dennis) estranged son Gavin. When the two had a falling out, Andy decided to pose as his friend in a bid to fool Michael.
He was shocked to learn that Michael was suffering a heart condition which was hereditary and attempted to reach out to the real Gavin to inform him, but was unable to.
After realising that the victim of his cruel prank was actually a good man, hopeful of a reconciliation with his son, Andy was riddled with guilt and confessed to his Bistro colleague Steph Britton (Tisha Merry) about his deceit.
The real Gavin then began to blackmail him, but just days later he died in a car accident. When his mum Susan sent a photo album of pictures through to Michael, Andy awkwardly sat beside him as it became clear he wasn’t the same person.
Despite the revelation, nobody ever reported him for identity theft and he continued to work at the restaurant and moved into the builder’s yard flat with Steph.
What happened to Andy?
It wasn’t long before he crossed murderous Pat Phelan (Connor McIntyre), who had left Michael to die after he suffered a heart attack.
Andy was extremely protective of Michael due to how close they’d become during the Gavin saga, and confronted Phelan over his theory that he was somehow involved in the death at the funeral.
Later, he attacked Phelan with a brick and a huge war erupted between the pair.
On the day of Pat’s wedding to Eileen, Andy threatened to expose everything – including his flat development scam. A huge row broke out in the flat, and Andy was bludgeoned over the head with a laptop.
We presumed he was dead, and Steph left for Portugal under the assumption he’d separated from her… though the text was actually sent by Phelan.
Seven months later, in a huge soap twist, it was revealed that he’d actually been held hostage in a derelict house!
In some of the most harrowing scenes ever to be broadcast, Phelan then led Andy and fellow hostage Vinny Ashford (Ian Kelsey) to an abandoned warehouse. There, he forced Andy to shoot Vinny, telling him that he was responsible for leaving Michael to die of a heart attack.
Mortified, he broke down and turned the gun on Phelan. As he complied with his request to put down the gun, Phelan quickly grabbed it and pulled the trigger – killing him with a single bullet.
The two men’s bodies were then thrown into a pond on the site, though when it was dredged they were dragged out and encased in cement, used as pillars to support a new building.
It wasn’t until March 2018 that they were both found by Gary Windass (Mikey North) and Seb Franklin (Harry Visinoni), who were looking to bring Phelan down.
