Tom King | |||||||||||||||||
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Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Ken Farrington | ||||||||||||||||
Duration | 2004–06 | ||||||||||||||||
First appearance | 29 February 2004 | ||||||||||||||||
Last appearance | 27 December 2006 | ||||||||||||||||
Created by | Steve Frost | ||||||||||||||||
Spin-off appearances |
Emmerdale: Text Santa special (2013) | ||||||||||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
Profile | |||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Businessman | ||||||||||||||||
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Family | King |
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Father | Albert King |
Wife | Mary King (until 1986) (deceased) Rosemary King (2006; his death) |
Sons |
Jimmy King Matthew King Carl King Max King |
Daughters | Scarlett Nicholls |
Grandsons |
Thomas King Elliot Windsor Carl |
Granddaughters |
Angelica King Anya King |
Aunts | Phyllis King |
Thomas Albert "Tom" King is a fictional character from the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, who appeared on the show from 29 February 2004 before being killed off on 25 December 2006 in a long-running whodunit storyline dubbed Who Killed Tom King?. He was last seen on 27 December 2006 as a dead body in a morgue. Throughout his time on the show he was portrayed by Ken Farrington. Farrington decided to leave the show in 2006 but reprised the role briefly as a ghost in a Text Santa special on 20 December 2013.
Born into a family of successful businessmen, Tom King grew up in Emmerdale where his father Albert ran a successful business. As an adult, Tom grew away from the family business and founded his own haulage firm, becoming familiar with fellow businessmen such as Frank Tate (Norman Bowler) and Alan Turner (Richard Thorp). Tom fell in love with a woman named Mary, and he went on to marry her. From their marriage they produced four sons: Jimmy (Nick Miles), Matthew (Matt Healy), Carl (Tom Lister) and Max (Charlie Kemp). When his sons grew up Tom began running his haulage firm with them (with the exception of Max who became a vet), renaming the firm King & Sons.
Mary became ill with terminal cancer and Tom hired nurse Carrie Nicholls (Linda Lusardi) to look after her. Mary eventually died in 1986 and Tom and Carrie began an affair. In 1991, Carrie gave birth to Tom's daughter, Scarlett (Kelsey-Beth Crossley). Tom decided not to tell his sons about their half-sister but did pay for her to attend private school. The last time Tom ever saw Scarlett was when she was one year old.