Jake Doland

Infobox Emmerdale character 2


name=Jake Doland
portrayer=James Baxter
years=2008-
born=June 2, 1990
death=
first = 22 January 2008
last =
occupation=Chef
spouse =
father= Greg Doland
halfbrothers= Daniel Thomas

Jake Doland is a fictional character on ITV's "Emmerdale". He is played by James Baxter.

There were rumours that Baxter would leave the serial in the autumn, however these have been denied by Baxter himself in an interview, as he stated he wished to stay in the soap for the foreseeable future.

Character background

Jake arrived in the village for the christening of his half brother Arthur, in December 2007, where he also served a godfather. He returned to the village again in January 2008 to help his father Greg with the re-building of Annie's Cottage.

Jake didn't take to building so when Jack offered him a chance to work on the farm to help out after Andy Sugden was sent to jail, Jake agreed. Having Jake around really helped to improve Victoria Sugden's mood. She was smitten with Jake but he only thought of her as a friend.

With Andy in prison, Jake set his sights on his fiancée, Jo Stiles. At Jo's hen night in the Woolpack, Jake started putting shots into her champagne glass. However when Sam Dingle spotted him, he confronted Jake and told him to leave Jo alone. After an argument with Val Lambert and Louise Appleton, Jo left and Jake tried to follow but Sam wouldn't let him leave.

After the wedding, Jake spotted Jo kissing a stranger, who happened to be jailbird and Andy's enemy Charlie, in her bedroom. What Jake didn't realise is that Jo was kissing him so she could bite his tongue and run off. Jake initially didn't believe her when she told him about the blackmail. When Jake learned Charlie was using the farm for criminal activities, he alerted the police. Charlie was eventually run off by Jo, Debbie Dingle, and Chas Dingle. Jake then had little story interaction with Jo, and was fired from the farm by Andy Sugden in June 2008.

Matters closer to home complicated Jake's life, as Greg and Mel learned Arthur was not their biological child, that he had been switched at birth with Laurel and Ashley Thomas' son Daniel. Jake assisted them in their efforts to go on the run. When this was thwarted at the airport, Mel later ran off with Arthur, but secretly kept in contact with Jake. Jake, unsure of what to do, told Laurel, who then told Ashley. Jake denied the truth to Ashley, but Greg knew his son was lying. Jake took Greg to see Mel, who convinced her to bring the baby back home. A few weeks later, Greg and Mel were forced to go to court on the hearing of Arthur's custody. Ashley and Laurel won custody, devastating Greg and Mel. They left town several weeks after losing Arthur. Jake was offered the option of going with them, but said he had too much to stay for.

Jake and Jasmine Thomas were initially wary of each other, since she was Ashley's niece, but after Jasmine reminded Greg and Mel of Jake's 18th birthday and got Jake a job at Woolpack. They became closer and closer, to the point where Jasmine's boyfriend Miles De Souza warned Jake off. When Jasmine heard, she ended their relationship.

Jake took over as head chef at the Woolpack when Marlon Dingle quit in a huff. Jake didn't tell Diane and Val that he was buying most of the food from other places, because he couldn't cook. When Jasmine was helping him, they shared their first kiss. Marlon soon returned to the fold and Jake went back to being assistant. A few weeks later, at Donald De Souza's birthday party Jasmine and Jake kissed again, unaware that Miles was behind them. They decided to take their relationship slow.

Jake became close friends with Daz Eden. They even stole a van from the Kings.