Dolly Skilbeck (also Acaster) is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale. Dolly made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 22 February 1977. The character was initially played by Katharine Barker, before Jean Rogers took over the role in 1980. She remained in the role until her departure from Emmerdale in 1991. Dolly is characterised as kind, generous and a homemaker. She is a "townie" from Darlington who arrives in Beckindale to work at the local pub, The Woolpack. Writers quickly developed a romance with Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne). He was a widower and had previously has two children that had died.
Writers shifted this tragic arc onto his relationship with Dolly as her pregnancies lead to further trauma. Dolly's first pregnancy ends in a still birth, her second a miscarriage but the third is successful and she gives birth to a son, Samuel Skilbeck (Benjamin Whitehead). Another storyline for Dolly features the revelation that she has an illegitimate child, Graham Lodsworth (Ross Kemp). Dolly and Matt live with Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier) at the farm and Dolly has aspirations of owning her own family home at Crossgill farm. When the property burns down, Dolly's dreams of a better life are ruined and she almost has an affair with Stephen Fuller (Gregory Floy). Dolly and Matt later divorce when Pyne left the series. Rogers remained part of the cast until 1991, when executive producer Stuart Doughty had decided axe the character. Dolly leaves the show alongside Sam to live in Norfolk.
Development Recasting Dolly Dolly was originally portrayed by actress Katharine Barker but the role was recast in 1980.Hayward 1991, p.122. While playing Dolly, Barker had lived in southern England but travelled to Yorkshire to film Emmerdale. She also had two sons and an actor husband who became ill. She decided to leave Emmerdale to alleviate the strain on her family commitments. Producers assessed that Matt had already suffered too much trauma over the deaths of his wife and two children. Matt was now happily married to Dolly and believed it would be better to recast Dolly than to have him suffer another tragedy.
Recasting characters was common practise in American shows but an unusual occurrence in a British soap opera. Jean Rogers' agent put her forward for the role but then the 1979 ITV strike occurred and delayed the casting process. Months after the strike, the agent informed Rogers about the part and she went to audition with around fifty other actresses. Of the audition process, Rogers stated that "we all must have looked like Katherine who played it before. Yeah and then I got the part." First Rogers made it onto the short list with five other actresses but her mother died from leukaemia before she won the role. Rogers later revealed that this made her casting a "bitter sweet" experience. She also had to move to Yorkshire and initially spent her working weekdays apart from her family. Rogers told Daniel Falconer from Female First that "I remember feeling so happy to be doing television drama again. The cast were very warm and welcoming."
Recasting the role did gain some disapproval from viewers and Rogers recalled "a lot of chatter" about it. To help facilitate the recast and have it appear more authentic on-screen, writers conjured up a way to temporarily write Dolly out of the series. They sent the character off for convalescence because she'd had a still birth. This meant that she would not be on-screen for a couple of months. However, the 1979 ITV strike ruined their plans as the network chose to rebroadcast old episodes. These episodes featured Barker's portrayal of Dolly and their intention of resting the character did not work. Rogers' first week on the show consisted of visiting sets and locations and her rehearsals for the part commenced the following week. The Emmerdale wardrobe team had offered to purchase new clothes for her. She refused because she believed that viewers would have a difficult time adjusting to a new face, so Dolly's attire should remain unchanged. With an agreement reached, Dolly's reintroduction saw her exiting a car having returned from the convalescent home in her original attire. Rogers regretted this decision and later requested clothing that fitted herself better, but the production team had removed the allocated budget.
Rogers recalled that Emmerdale producers were concerned about how she would portray Dolly. She believed it was an achievable acting challenge but they still gave her video tapes of Barker's portrayal to study. Rogers was approached by another producer at Yorkshire Television who advised her to play Dolly on her own terms. She realised that Emmerdale producers were pressurising her to copy Barker's portrayal of Dolly. Rogers noted that she could have copied Barker's mannerisms but any new storylines would have proved more difficult. Rogers explained that it would have been "far too convoluting" to continually interpret how Barker would have approached the scene. Thus, Rogers decided to make the role authentically her own and was confident on how to play Dolly after her first week on-set.
Characterisation and pregnancies
Dolly is characterised as a kind and generous woman. She is a "townie" who arrives in Beckindale to escape unhappiness. She is portrayed as "bright and bubbly" which is in stark contrast to her "silent and placid" husband Matt Skilbeck (Frederick Pyne). Despite their differences, they appreciate one another's personalities and initially make their marriage a success. Dolly is also a "cheerful and good humoured" person. Dolly is also played as a "homemaker" and she used her spare time to help Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill) serve beer at The Woolpack pub. Rogers viewed Dolly as a "special sister" and felt protective of her. Dolly and Matt are a serious couple with stories to match. Rogers believed that people thought she was "boring" but she viewed her as a "generous person who needed a bit of protecting". Dolly would often be depicted washing dishes, waiting for Matt to return for his dinner and life of a farm. Rogers believed that it was "comfortable viewing" but reflected the reality of farming life. She went to farmers markets and discussed the realism of the characters with other actual farmers. In her later years she takes a job as Kim Tate's (Claire King) housekeeper and the two characters were completely different. Rogers branded Kim a "wonderful bitch part" she would have liked to play, buy playing a female like Dolly "was a responsibility".
Originally credited as Dolly Acaster, she appeared in the series as a barmaid. Dolly's introduction storyline saw her arriving in Beckindale from to take part in a brewery training scheme at the local pub, The Woolpack. Dolly had moved to the area from Darlington.Hayward 1991, p.121. Dolly meets farmhand Matt and they fall in love. Matt was a widower after his first wife Peggy Skilbeck (Jo Kendall) died. They had two children Sam (Jamie Bell) and Sally Skilbeck (Justine Bell), who were killed in an accident when a train hits their car. She described Matt as a "salt of the earth" type character. She also had a good rapport with Pyne, Rogers recalled that "Freddie is professional, he was so welcoming in his own quiet way. I've kept in touch with him ever since."
Many of Dolly's early stories revolved around her failed pregnancies and becoming a mother. Dolly's first pregnancy ends in a still birth. She was later given a job working with children at a play group and she became pregnant once more. Writers continued her down luck trend and she has a miscarriage. Rogers was pleased with the story because it portrayed a taboo subject. She explained "It was a good storyline to do, because it was amazing how many women were pleased to see that whole trauma on the screen." It transpired that writers were not keen on seeing Dolly's pregnancy through because of past experiences with the babies who played Sam and Sally Skilbeck. They would often cry together and interrupt filming. Rogers decided to convince them, reminding them that the on-set "mayhem" was bound to have happened with two babies as opposed to one. They agreed and fully developed the story.
On-screen, Dolly gives birth to their first child Samuel Skilbeck (Benjamin Whitehead), who was hired from two weeks old. Rogers' was partly responsible for Whitehead's casting following a chance meeting on public transport. Rogers had a conservation with a viewer, named Mrs Lee. She informed Rogers that her friend Sue Whitehead was pregnant and Rogers suggested that her friend contact the show about casting her baby after the birth. Mrs Lee did not inform her friend and applied on her behalf. When Sue discovered her friends actions she did not mind and one week after the birth of her son they went to the Emmerdale studios. Casting directors were looking for parents who would not be overly protective during filming. Adhering to this requirement, Sue secured the role for her son. Whitehead enjoyed working on the set and never cried even though scenes required it. The production team visited the Whitehead's home to record the crying scenes they required for storylines. Rogers was entrusted by Whitehead's mother to look after him on-set. She watched from monitors to avoid interrupting scenes with her presence. Whitehead eventually called Rogers "mamma" in scenes and they carried on avoiding the earlier disruptions that occurred on-set with the Bell twins. She also praised him for quickly learning to act during location filming as he grew older.
Writers also explored another parental story for Dolly involving an illegitimate child. Richard Roper (David Horovitch) is introduced into the series and it is revealed that he and Dolly had a son together. The baby was born out of marriage and Dolly gave him up for adoption.Hayward 1997, pp.185. Writers later introduced Dolly's illegitimate son, Graham Lodsworth played by Ross Kemp.
Divorce and departure Writers decided to break-up Dolly and Matt following failed plans for their own home. This began with a "brief encounter" themed storyline featuring Dolly becoming involved with a timber consultant Stephen Fuller (Gregory Floy). Emmerdale writer Michael Russell devised the story over six episodes. Dolly has to decide whether or not she should have an affair. She ultimately remains loyal and sends him away. Floy who played Stephen had asked for more money to continue the storyline but his request angered producers who quickly killed the character off-screen. On-screen Dolly learns of Stephen's death in a fatal car accident via a radio news bulletin. The story was a result of Russell being pressurised to make Emmerdale's stories more racy to compete with the rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Rogers recalled that "I think there was pressure to make it slightly tacky, which it wasn't."
Rogers could understand why Dolly ended up in such a predicament. She explained that Dolly had hoped of a home of her own with Matt at Crossgill farm. In addition, she did not want to live with Matt's mother-in-law Annie Sugden (Sheila Mercier). Rogers said that Dolly loved Annie but she wanted to be a housewife without her always around. Then Crossgill is burned down and they have to give up on their dream home. This caused further problems and Matt's relieved attitude further impacts their marriage. Rogers explained that Crossgill burning down suited Matt because he liked living with Annie because "it suited his nature". She further defended Dolly's behaviour and stated that "I don't think [Matt] quite understood that Dolly had more sort of longing, it wasn't that she didn't love him and Sam, Sam was very previous, but she just needed more from life and needed more to be in control really, and then this happened." She added that it was a "terrible tug" for Dolly but was glad that she decided to remain loyal to Matt.