Donald De Souza

Donald De Souza
Emmerdale character
Portrayed by	Michael Jayston
Created by	Kathleen Beedles
Duration	2007–08
First appearance	28 October 2007
Last appearance	20 November 2008
Classification	Former; regular
Profile
Date of birth	8 July 1933 (1933-07-08)
Date of death	18 November 2008 (2008-11-19)
Occupation	Businessman
Family Wife Christine De Souza (deceased) Nicola Blackstock (2007–08) (Widowed) Sons Miles De Souza Daughters Anna De Souza

Donald De Souza is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Michael Jayston. Appearing between 2007 and 2008, Donald De Souza arrives as the husband of Nicola Blackstock, although their marriage quickly falls apart. During his year in the programme, Donald falls out with both his children and is estranged from his daughter before he dies of a heart attack.

Storylines

Donald makes his first appearance in Emmerdale when he is on life support in hospital after a brain haemorrhage. His second wife, Nicola Blackstock, arrives back in Emmerdale, telling people that she was a widow. Jasmine Thomas, an aspiring local journalist, soon finds out that Donald is still alive when she follows Nicola to the hospital. In late December 2007, Donald regains full consciousness and is aware that Nicola only married him for his money.

When Donald's alcoholic son Miles - who Jasmine had tracked down - finds out Nicola is having an affair with David Metcalfe, he tells Donald who presents her with divorce papers. However, she manages to talk him out of the divorce and agrees to end the affair. When he comes home from hospital, he moves into Holdgate Farm, which Nicola has bought. He hires an actress, Cindy Burton, who claims to be his nurse so Nicola will not have to look after Donald. This has the desired effect of annoying Nicola, who then tries to murder Donald repeatedly, often hoping people will blame Cindy. David ends his relationship with Nicola when Donald offers him a position in the business, and later tells him about Nicola's attempts to kill him.

Nicola and Donald on the moors when he tells her to push him off the cliff

When De Souza takes Nicola out to the moors, he tells her she has the perfect opportunity to push him off a cliff. He taunts her by pushing his wheelchair near the cliff edge and nearly falls. On their return to the village - in exchange for not telling the police - he tells Nicola to leave his house immediately. The subsequent divorce battle sees Nicola try to get as big a settlement as she can. His final offer is £20,000, which she accepts days before his death.

A successful businessman, Donald's company, "De Souza Enterprises", takes the refuse collection contract from the King family and persuades Carl King to join him. Miles De Souza, after various arguments with his father and splitting from his girlfriend Jasmine, leaves the village in August 2008.

In July 2008, Donald's daughter Anna arrives in the village, having lived in Dubai for years after arguing over a man Anna was in love with. However, they reconcile and she gets a position in the company - coming into conflict with Carl King. Carl later betrays the De Souzas when he gives a contract to his brothers. Donald then buys Carl out.

Determined to get revenge on the Kings, Donald and Anna agree on a plan - she will ingrain herself with the Kings so she can get the details on important contracts from them and steal it. However, she finds herself falling in love with Matthew King, and cannot betray him by giving the contract details to her father. Donald is furious when he finds out and attempts to break them up. When Matthew and Anna get engaged, they have a dinner party to celebrate. In the hope of making amends, Anna invites Donald - but he soon starts arguing and saying Anna only wants Matthew for his money. After he leaves, Matthew goes to visit Donald at Holdgate Farm and during a heated argument, Donald suffers a heart attack. Matthew withholds Donald's pills until Donald agrees to come to the wedding and put Anna back in his will, but Donald dies due to Matthew not giving him the medication. Matthew leaves and does not tell anyone what happened. A coroner later rules Donald died from natural causes and he is buried in the village.

Reception

On 13 September 2008, the Daily Mirror reported that Michael Jayston and Matthew Bose - who plays Paul Lambert - had both quit the soap. The article said that morale was said to be at "an all-time low" and the cast and crew "have slammed the show's tacky storylines and lack of direction since the arrival of producer Anita Turner." An ITV spokesman confirmed the two were leaving but denied it was because of low morale.^[1]

Writing on his "Soapland" blog for the Daily Mirror, Tony Stewart wrote on 15 November 2008 that for an actor of Jayston's "calibre", the storyline of the Kings versus the De Souza was "dull" and rarely did "justice to his talents". However, he says that there "are flashes of passion as Donald makes his exit in a body bag".^[2]

External links

• Donald De Souza at itv.com/emmerdale

References

1. ^ "Exclusive: Emmerdale stars Paul Lambert and Donald de Souza quit". Mirror.co.uk. 13 September 2008. http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/2008/09/13/exclusive-emmerdale-stars-paul-lambert-and-donald-de-souza-quit-115875-20734864/. Retrieved 2008-11-21. 
2. ^ "Emmerdale: Donald's broken heart". Mirror.co.uk. 15 November 2008. http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/soapland/tag/donald%20de%20snooza. Retrieved 2008-11-21. ^{[dead link]}