Steve Marchant
| Steve Marchant | |||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Paul Opacic | ||||||||
| Duration | 1996–99 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 26 March 1996 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 20 January 1999 | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Mervyn Watson | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation | Businessman | ||||||||
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| Father | John Kenyon |
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| Mother | Ms Marchant |
| Wife | Kim Tate (1998–99) |
| Stepsons | James Tate (1998–99) |
Steven "Steve" Marchant is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Paul Opacic. He made his first screen appearance on 26 March 1996.
Opacic originally auditioned for the role chef Sean Rossi. An Inside Soap writer said he proved perfect for the role of "shady dealer" Steve instead. Opacic was initially signed for six episodes and his casting was announced in February 1996. The Daily Mirror's Sarah Hey said "He turns up as entrepreneur Steve, who's a blast from Rachel's past. The pair went to university together and it isn't long before Chris feels jealous."
In September 1998, Matthew Wright of the Daily Mirror reported Opacic and two other cast members had been axed by new series producer Keiran Roberts. Of his departure, Opacic said "I will miss being on Emmerdale, but it's time to move on and do other things. The door has been left open for me to return once Steve gets out, though. It would be great to be a recurring character."
Steve was introduced as an old university friend of Rachel Hughes (Glenda McKay), whose husband Chris (Peter Amory) was jealous of him. When Chris and Rachel split up, Steve and Rachel dated, but Steve soon got bored and had a fling with Charlie Cairns (Sarah Graham). He then became involved with Chris's stepmother Kim Tate (Claire King) and they married just around the time when their finances were running low. He tried to steal a horse as a means of gaining money, but accidentally ran Kathy Glover (Malandra Burrows) over on the way, and later tried to suffocate her to death in the hospital, only to be detained by his wife. While Kim escaped in a helicopter, she set Steve up and he was imprisoned for 12 years in total for the robbery and hit and run. He was released in 2011.
Steve was named as one of "The 30 greatest Emmerdale residents" by a writer for Inside Soap. They said "The Emmerdale girls thought this Mulder from The X-Files lookalike was out of this world when he arrived - well, Rachel Hughes did at least! His downfall was getting involved with Kim Tate, who left him facing jail while she jetted off with a fortune." Diana Hollingsworth of Soaplife included Steve in her feature on wide boys and she said "City slicker Steve married wealthy superbitch Kim Tate in the knowledge that he'd lost a fortune on the stock market. Unfortunately for him, Kim also had a secret. She wasn't quite as loaded as he'd hoped..."
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