Emmerdale's Dawn and Terry Woods and Bob Hope
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Dawn Woods’ controversial age-gap marriage and family drama in Emmerdale

Was Jimmy King really responsible for her death?

Dawn Woods in Emmerdale first arrived as Dawn Hope, the fiancée of Terry Woods in 2003.

It was quite the scandal at the time due to the huge age-gap between the pair. Dawn was 18 and Terry was 45.

It was quickly revealed she was the estranged daughter of Bob Hope. He had not seen much of her and her brother Jamie since breaking up with their mum, Jean.

Bob was thrilled to have his daughter back in his life, but less happy about her plans to marry Terry, who was 27 years older than she was.

Bob Hope is fuming at Dawn and Terry Woods relationship in Emmerdale
Bob was not happy about Dawn and Terry being together (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

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When did Dawn and Terry Woods get married in Emmerdale?

Terry and Dawn had met while he was staying in a hotel in Spain run by Jean.

They arrived back in the village and quickly revealed their plans to wed – in three weeks.

Bob was fuming, but then-vicar Ashley Thomas agreed, providing they attended marriage guidance sessions in the days leading up to the nuptials.

Bob set about being the dad he never was to Dawn in the hope she would realise that was what she was after.

However, despite Bob’s objections, stubborn Dawn went ahead with the wedding in 2003.

The newlyweds were delighted when Dawn got pregnant and gave birth to a son, Terry Junior – known as TJ.

Terry Woods and new wife Dawn Woods beam for the camera
Terry and Dawn were blissfully happy for a while (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

When did Terry have a stroke in Emmerdale?

It wasn’t long before the age gap became a problem for Dawn and Terry.

TJ was born on October 19 2003, but days later Terry had a stroke and nearly died.

Dawn helped nurse him back to health, but the strain started to show.

Caring for a newborn alongside a sick husband soon became too much and Dawn left him for Scott Windsor.

Emmerdale: Dawn watches on as Scott angrily grabs Danny by the colour
Dawn, Scott and Danny were involved in a love triangle (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Dawn Woods in Emmerdale after her divorce

After her romance with Scott didn’t work out, Dawn fell for Danny Daggert.

But when Scott wanted revenge for her dumping him, he reported the struggling single mum for benefit fraud.

Poor Dawn went to prison for three weeks and to her horror, when she was released she discovered her mum Jean was now in a relationship with Terry!

Eventually, Dawn went to Cornwall for a break and fell in love with someone down there. She made the decision to leave Emmerdale and move to the South West for good.

Terry was annoyed that she would be taking little TJ away and vowed to fight for custody. But Jean begged him not to stop Dawn finding happiness and in the end he agreed.

Before leaving, Dawn went with her stepsister, Donna Windsor-Dingle, to view her new house, which was part of the swanky King’s River development.

King's River explosion in Emmerdale
The show home at the King’s River development exploded (Credit: ITV/YouTube)

Dawn’s tragic death

Meanwhile Jimmy King  – who owned the King’s River development – was furious with his ex-wife Sadie who had secretly got engaged to his brother, Matthew.

Matthew and Sadie wanted to destroy Jimmy, and paid Cain to bulldoze the show home at King’s River, causing all sorts of damage.

Jimmy was determined to open the show home on time, despite the problems, so he patched up the damage, intending to have it properly repaired after the launch.

But on the day of the launch, in July 2006, as Donna, Dawn and others viewed the show home, Jimmy’s bodge job came back to haunt him when the house exploded.

The explosion killed three people – including Dawn, who was dragged from the rubble in front of her horrified dad.

Jimmy was badly injured but recovered, and has always blamed himself for Dawn’s tragic death.

Dawn Woods in Emmerdale funeral
Dawn’s funeral was emotional (Credit: ITV/YouTube)

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What happened to Terry Woods in Emmerdale?

Terry recovered well from his stroke and enjoyed many more romances in the Dales.

He was finally settled with Brenda Walker, but had also grown close to Viv Hope.

When Viv was caught in a fire, he went in, along with Bob, to rescue Viv and the twins, Heath and Cathy.

Although Bob got out, along with his kids, Viv and Terry were both inside when the Post Office exploded and they were killed in January 2011.

Julia Mallam clutches her British Soap Award in the press room in 2007
Julia has left the limelight since her Emmerdale days (Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock)

Who played Dawn in Emmerdale?

Dawn was played by Julia Mallam.

After Dawn’s death in 2006, she went on to appear on Soapstar Superchef alongside Sherrie Hewson.

She then had small roles in Doctors, The Bill and Casualty.

Julia landed the role of Tracy Trickster in CITV series Captain Mack and starred in 50 episodes of that in 2008.

Her last known acting credit was in short film That Day in 2012.

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Kerry Barrett
Freelance Soap Writer