The Pollard family tree in Emmerdale: Eric Pollard and all his wives!

When you think of Emmerdale, you think of Eric Pollard and his family. As the longest-serving character in the soap, Eric has been a resident of the village for nearly 40 years.

He arrived in the Dales on September 30, 1986, and quickly made his mark as a villainous schemer.

Over the years, Eric’s family have entered the picture. To date, Eric has been married five times. His fifth wife, and one true love Valerie Pollard, left him a widower after she died in 2015.

Eric’s son, David Metcalfe, also spent 17 years in the Dales, and gave Eric his two grandchildren, Amba and Theo.

Here’s all you need to know about the Pollard clan.

Eric Pollard – head of the family in Emmerdale

The Pollard family is headed by the one and only, Mr Eric Pollard. The village veteran is played by Chris Chittell, who’s the longest-serving actor on Emmerdale.

Eric was introduced to the soap in 1986 and was only meant to stay for 12 episodes. However, his immoral antics were an instant hit with viewers and he was soon made a permanent character.

From the off, Eric made himself unpopular with the locals. The sly and cunning schemer was always up to no good, whether it was committing theft, fraud, or even bigamy!

Eric has always had a taste for alcohol and an eye for the ladies. He’s had five marriages, and plenty of flings in between. One of these resulted in his son David, who was born in 1981. Eric knew nothing of David’s existence until he rocked up in the village in 2006.

The pair made up for lost time and grew close. Whilst far from a model parent, Eric has proved himself to have a paternal instinct. As well as being there for David, he and wife number five, Val, took in wayward teen Amy Wyatt (now Barton).

Time has mellowed Eric, that and his ailing health. In 2023, Eric was dealt a shattering blow when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Thankfully, there’s still life in the old dog yet, and Eric is being supported by his friends and neighbours.

David Metcalfe – the son of Eric Pollard

David Metcalfe is the son of Eric Pollard, father to Amba and Theo Metcalfe, and stepfather to Jacob Gallagher.

He was the product of an affair between Eric and a lady called Lydia. Eric had walked out on Lydia when she was pregnant, but didn’t know about David’s existence. When David revealed his true identity, Eric demanded he take a DNA test. This confirmed he was his son.

David settled in the Dales and went on to open David’s Shop, which is located in the heart of the village. Much like his father, David was a ladies’ man. The David Beckham doppelganger’s conquests included Delilah Dingle, Jasmine Thomas, Nicola King (before she was married to Jimmy) and Leyla Harding.

David was married three times. Twice to Leyla’s sister Alica Harding, and once to Tracy Shankley, who supported him through his battle against testicular cancer in 2015.

He has three children. His stepson, Jacob came into David’s life in 2010 after he started dating his biological mum, Leyla.

His daughter Amba was conceived during a fling with her mum, Priya Sharma. And David’s son Theo is the product of his ill-fated romance with schoolteacher Maya Stepney.

Maya was sent to prison for grooming Jacob, and baby Theo arrived on the doorstep on Christmas Day 2019. The paternity of the tot was in question, but a DNA test confirmed David was the daddy.

David started an on/off relationship with Victoria Sugden, but was heartbroken to discover she’d fallen for Jacob. Devastated by the betrayal, David quit the village in November 2023, taking Amba and Theo with him.

The Pollard family in Emmerdale: Eric’s wives

Eileen Pollock

Eileen Pollock was Eric’s first wife. They married in 1964 and had already split by the time Eric came to Emmerdale. She appeared in seven episodes of the soap in 1994 and was played by actress Arbel Jones.

During their time together, Eileen and Eric had had a son, Edward, who was tragically stillborn. Eric and Eileen parted ways a few years after Edward’s passing but never actually divorced. Eric then changed his surname to Pollard in a deliberate move to stop Eileen from finding him.

However, Eileen discovered Eric’s whereabouts after reading about the death of his new wife, Elizabeth Feldmann, in the plane crash of December 1993.

In March 1994, Eileen turned up in the village. She threatened to expose Eric as a bigamist unless he paid her off. Eileen got what she wanted and left the village, never to be seen again.

Elizabeth Pollard

Elizabeth Pollard (nee Jeffries) was the second wife of Eric. She came to the village in 1990 along with her two children from a previous marriage – Michael and Elsa.

A love triangle formed between Elizabeth, Eric and Alan Turner, but it was Pollard who won her heart. The couple became husband and wife in October 1992, but Elizabeth had no idea that Eric was still married to Eileen.

Elizabeth thought she was the woman who could tame Eric. But she then found out he was planning to commit fraud and frame her son for the crime. She threatened to report Eric to the police, but didn’t get the chance after being killed when an airliner exploded over the village.

Speculation was rife amongst the locals that Eric had murdered his wife. It was concluded in 2011 Elizabeth had died after being struck by falling debris.

Dee de la Cruz

Diwata Margharita ‘Dee’ de la Cruz (previously Pollard) was the third wife of Eric Pollard. The couple met when Eric made a trip to the Far East in 1997 and ended up falling for Filipino student Dee.

Following a whirlwind romance, Eric popped the question and then Dee followed him back to the village. Their unlikely courtship raised a few eyebrows amongst the locals, but it seemed like the real deal when Eric and Dee married in May 1997.

Their union didn’t last long due to Eric’s possessive behaviour. When a letter arrived saying Dee’s mother was ill, Eric thought it was a scam to get money out of him. He hid the letter, preventing Dee from getting the chance to see her mother – who died shortly afterwards.

When Dee discovered what Eric had done she left him and the Dales. Their marriage was annulled.

Gloria Weaver

Eric’s fourth wife was veterinary surgery receptionist Gloria Weaver. She was introduced to Emmerdale in May 2000 as a member of Reverend Ashley Thomas’s congregation. Gloria disapproved of Ashley’s relationship with Bernice Blackstock and was very vocal in making it known.

Eric and Gloria became involved when he purchased some of her old antiques and the pair hit it off. After their marriage in 2002, Gloria set her sights on a career in politics.
Her ruthless nature became apparent when she told Eric to bed fellow councillor Glynis Hardy to increase his chances of becoming mayor.

Eric did as he was told and was duly elected, but when his dalliance with Glynis became public knowledge, Gloria refused to stand by her man.

She stood for election and won her own seat, then relocated to London and began an affair with her young male colleague.

Gloria was caught out by Steph Stokes and forced to tell Eric she’d been unfaithful. He responded by throwing her out on the street. As a final act of revenge, Gloria faked her own death and went off to start a new life elsewhere.

Val Lambert

The love of Eric’s life was his fifth wife, the late Valerie ‘Val’ Pollard (nee Lambert), played by Charlie Hardwick.

Val was an irrepressible force – outspoken, opinionated, with a huge lust for life and tendency for troublemaking. She was the younger sister of Diane Sugden and mother of Paul and Sharon Lambert.

Eric more than met his match in Val and their chemistry was an instant hit with the viewers. The couple set up their own fabrics company, but their relationship ran into trouble when Eric started putting his political career ahead of Val.

They reconciled, married in 2008 and purchased The Grange B&B. Two years on, Val and Eric took on teenage tearaway Amy Wyatt.

The Pollards’ marriage hit the rocks not long after and Val fled to Portugal. She returned with a little more than a suntan after finding out she’d contracted HIV from her holiday fling, Ian Chamberlain.

Val’s diagnosis caused her and Eric to split up for a while, but they found their way back to one another and soon started cooking up new scams.

In 2015, Val planned to fake her own death after she helped Carly Hope and her dad Bob commit fraud. The idea was for Val to ‘die’ to avoid going to prison, then she and Eric could start a new life abroad together.

Unfortunately Val never got that far when she was one of the villagers killed off in the Summer Fete storyline of August 2015.

Val met her maker in the Hall of Mirrors after being impaled by a shard of glass – a gloriously gothic exit for her character. She rose from the dead a few days later, appearing as a ghost to bid a final farewell to Eric.

The Pollard family in Emmerdale: Eric’s grandchildren

Jacob Gallagher

Although not biologically Eric’s grandson, for all intents and purposes these two are close family. Jacob, played by Joe-Warren Plant is the adopted son of David and calls Pollard grandad.

Eric has been by Jacob’s side supporting him through lives ups and downs – including his affair with teacher Maya Stepney. Although Pollard and Jacob fell out when the young Gallagher started dating Victoria Sugden, they have reconciled.

Jacob is now supporting Eric through his Parkinson’s diagnosis and is there for his grandad every step of the way.

Amba Metcalfe

Amba Metcalfe is David Metcalfe’s daughter from his relationship with Priya Kotecha and Eric Pollard’s granddaughter. The character was played by Ava Jayasinghe.

She was born in May 2014 on the back seat of a car after Priya went into labour six weeks early. Amba was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with sepsis, but thankfully made a full recovery.

The youngster left the Dales in January 2023 when Priya accepted a job offer in London. Dad David went to join the family when he departed the village in November 2023.

Theo Metcalfe

Theodore Eric ‘Theo’ Metcalfe is the son David fathered with his ex-girlfriend Maya Stepney. He’s the half-brother of Amba Metcalfe and Eric Pollard’s grandson.

Maya gave birth to Theo in November 2019 and gave him the name, Alex. On Christmas Day she abandoned her baby son on David’s doorstep with a note asking to look after him. Theo now lives with David full time.

Read more: The Sugden family in Emmerdale – from Jack to Victoria and where newcomer John fits in

Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm.