Adam John Barton is the son of James and Moira Barton, although it was always assumed that he was the son of James' brother John. He has three half-siblings on his mother's side, Holly, Matty (formerly known as Hannah) and Isaac and three half-brothers on his father’s side Pete, Ross and Finn. He is the ex husband of Victoria Sugden.
Storylines[]
2009-2010: Arrival and Aaron's sexuality[]
Adam arrived with his family in July 2009 after they had bought Butlers Farm from Andy Sugden and Andy was hired to work on the farm with Adam. He soon befriended troublesome teen Aaron Livesy despite John’s issues with him. Towards the end of 2009, Adam's sister Holly started flirting with Aaron and it looked as though a relationship might have been brewing between them. At first, Adam wasn't keen on the idea but came round to her and Aaron being a couple. When Aaron suddenly started playing hard to get with Holly, Adam questioned it, but Aaron said it was all part of the plan. On 10th December, when the boys and Holly go on a boys night out, Aaron and Adam were involved in a car crash in which Aaron cut his head and as Adam was checking it out, Aaron leaned in for a kiss. Adam was horrified and pulled away, questioning Aaron's sexuality, but Aaron made him think it was all in his head. Not completely convinced, Adam told Holly after realising that she had slept with Aaron but his parents insisted he dropped it when Holly, refusing to believe Adam, got annoyed with him. Aaron watched jealously as Adam got closer to Scarlett Nicholls and started dating her.
In April 2010, Adam witnessed Aaron kissing his secret boyfriend Jackson and was then positive of his sexuality. He confessed he saw them kissing but told Aaron his sexuality would have no bearing on their friendship and his secret was safe.
2010-2012: John's death and garage fire[]
Towards the end of 2010, Adam had less and less time for Scarlett, he began ignoring her phone calls and not answering her texts. Adam then devastated Scarlett by kissing Mia Macey on New Year's Eve, resulting in Scarlett leaving for a holiday in Canada. Adam began to show more and more interest in Mia, but she played hard to get. Eventually, Adam and Mia start going out. Later, Mia's mother Ella Hart is upset that Declan Macey won't pay any attention to her and starts an affair with Adam. Adam tries to end the affair but Ella tells him if he ends it with her he'll have to end it with Mia. Declan finds out about the affair and sacks Adam and promises to make his and his family's life hell. Declan then kicks Ella out of his house and he also bans Mia from seeing Adam. A few weeks later Mia and Adam start dating again, unknown to anybody but are soon caught out by Declan. A furious Declan then tells Mia about Adam and Ella's affair, resulting in a disgusted Mia ending her relationship with Adam.
In 2011, Adam was devastated when his parents went through a rough patch after John kissed Eve Jenson. They later reconciled but the family faced more struggles as Adam’s sister Holly descended into drug addiction and Adam tried to support her. The farm was also struggling, leading to Moira making a deal with mechanic, Cain Dingle, to pay for a Land Rover but she kept this a secret from Adam and John. Adam was furious when he later learned of Moira’s affair with Cain and refused to speak to her out of solidarity with John.
In February 2012 John and Moira rekindled their relationship after Moira’s affair, so Adam, Hannah and Holly booked a weekend away for them. On the way to the hotel, the jeep skidded on some black ice on the road leading John and Moira to crash. John died in the hospital with Adam, Hannah, Holly and Moira all watching. Afterwards, Adam is out to get Cain as he blames him for his dad's death believing that if he didn't have an affair with Moira, then his dad would still be alive.
Later that month, Adam goes looking for Aaron at the garage but meets Cain. They talk and Cain provokes him, leading Adam to fight with him and knock him to the ground. Adam then goes further, pouring petrol over the garage and holding a blowtorch to him, telling him to "say sorry". Cain refuses to say it and tells him if he was going to set the place on fire then he would have already done it. Adam angrily throws the blowtorch then watches the place catch on fire, but he panics after he realises what he has done and runs out, closing the door and locking Cain in the garage. Later Adam comes back and gets Cain out of the fire, saving his life. Afterwards, Adam tells Aaron about the fire and Aaron begs Cain not to tell the police. As the investigation about the fire goes on Aaron tells the police that he started the fire in the garage, protecting Adam. Adam wants to own up that he did it but Aaron talks him out of telling the police he started the fire. Adam then helps Aaron run from the police bringing him to the airport where Aaron meets up with his boyfriend Ed Roberts and they go to France together.
A few months later Adam goes to France to visit Aaron and Ed. In September 2012 Adam is shocked when it is revealed that Moira has been having an affair with his friend Alex Moss and as a result cuts Alex out of his life. He and Moira later make up after Alex leaves the farm. In October 2012 Adam starts going out with Victoria Sugden.
2013-2014: Hit-and-run and relationship with Katie[]
Adam is infuriated when Moira announced that she and Cain are a couple on New Year’s Eve 2012. He attempts to break them up but Moira refuses to end it, driving a wedge between her and Adam. With Adam and Cain still not seeing eye to eye, Moira goes to London to visit Hannah and Holly in April 2013 leaving Adam and Cain in the house together. Adam throws a house party to annoy Cain and makes a bet with a girl called Natalie to sleep with Cain. With the party and bet well underway, Cain knows what Natalie and Adam are up to and plays along. Natalie follows Cain into the bedroom still trying to seduce him, and Adam then walks in to catch Cain cheating on Moira but finds that Cain hasn’t taken the bait. Seeing his plan has failed, Adam becomes enraged and a row breaks out between them. A drunken Adam continues to provoke Cain so Cain tells Adam about Moira's miscarriage, to which Adam says that he is glad that she had a miscarriage and that the baby had a lucky escape, so Cain punches Adam. When Moira arrives home, Adam shows her his black eye, but is shocked when she sides with Cain, leading Adam to leave the farm and move in with his girlfriend Victoria.
Soon Victoria gets annoyed with Adam taking advantage and not doing anything so she tells him to go back to the farm, but Adam refuses to out of stubbornness. Adam then tries to make money so he can pay his way with Victoria, and gets into dodgy dealings with Robbie Lawson while he's selling vodka for Debbie Dingle. When Adam and Robbie get stopped by the police, Robbie says that Adam had nothing to do with the vodka dealing and Adam gets off. Later he goes home with Victoria and they have an argument. After Robbie comes home from court, he and Adam drink all day in the pub, causing Cain to have words with him as he gives him and Moira dirty looks, so they leave. Robbie grabs the keys of Cain's BMW, telling Adam that this is how he can get his revenge on Cain and Adam hesitates for a moment but then agrees, so they take off to sell the car. However, on their way, a drunken Kerry Wyatt is walking alone and accidentally they run her over. Adam is about to go back and help her, but Robbie tells him not to as they'll get arrested. They drive off and Robbie leaves Adam to handle everything as he temporarily leaves the village. Adam hides the car in an old barn but Moira finds the car and thinks Cain ran Kerry over. Cain confronts Adam about the hit and run and after Adam confesses, he helps Adam torch the car.
Eventually, Victoria gets sick of Adam's behaviour and dumps him, leaving him miserable. A few weeks later, Katie Addyman uses Adam for sex to get back at her ex-husband Declan Macey to prove that their marriage is over. She intentionally makes Declan walk in on them but Adam is shocked to learn that he was being manipulated. A few months later, the police find Alex Moss' body on Declan's land. With the police questioning everyone they eventually go to Adam and Moira. As Adam is muttering comments when they question Moira on hers and Alex's affair, they begin to question Adam over Alex. Cameron Murray later starts hanging around Adam as the police question him on Alex's murder and he provokes Adam to hit Declan in the street in front of the police, leading them to become even more suspicious of Adam. Cameron sets Adam up as he plants one of his gloves near the area where the police are investigating. As the police investigate the farm for further evidence Adam asks Cain to help him run from the police. Cain hesitates but Adam tells him that if he doesn't help him he'll do it on his own anyway. Adam leaves the country and doesn't make any contact with anyone for weeks.
In September 2013, Cameron is finally arrested for the murders of Carl King, Alex Moss and Gennie Walker and Adam comes home. A few months later Adam's cousin, Ross Barton causes trouble at the farm with his dealings. A group of thugs beat Adam up, lock Moira in a van, then destroy the farm and the house, taking what Ross owes them. With Adam still interested in Katie, Ross makes a bet with him to see who can pull her first and later on that day Adam and Katie sleep together. However, Ross walks in on them and announces the bet handing Adam the money, leaving Katie furious as she leaves. Adam apologises to Katie about the bet and later Katie ends up befriending Vanessa Woodfield who encourages her to put the bet behind her and to give him a chance seeing as she used him to get back at Declan making them even. Katie then forgives Adam and start they going out.
2014: Relationship with Katie, realising James is his father and going off the rails[]
Adam starts feeling insecure as Vanessa winds him up saying that Katie won't stay with him for long along with his cousin's Ross, Pete and Finn around getting in the way. Adam then feels the need to prove himself to Katie, whilst doing that he questions Katie on if she really loves him or whether he is just a laugh to her. Katie makes it clear to Adam that she does love him for who he is and to stop worrying but she just wants to take thing slow. Adam asks Katie if he can move in with her and Katie declines his request. Adam is desperate for somewhere else as it is getting too crowded up at Butler's. Adam moves in with Andy along with Pete and Moira is upset when Adam breaks the news to her. However, after Pete's drug dealer is discovered by Ross, Andy doesn't want Pete to move in so Pete gives Ross permission to take his room as Andy's leaving. Adam is unimpressed but warms up to the idea after Moira reminds Andy of how she and John stuck by him when he was going through a hard time.
A few weeks later Victoria Sugden sleeps with Adam's cousin Ross Barton and Adam gets jealous. As a result of this Adam won't stop talking about it and Katie gets increasingly annoyed at him telling him that Victoria isn't his little sister and to stop worrying about what she does. Adam then feels bad as he genuinely loves Katie, so he brings her out for a meal in the poshest restaurant in town to prove to her how much he loves her. Unfortunately, things don't go as according to plan as Adam's credit card is declined which leads them to both do a runner from the restaurant. He is surprised when Katie tells him that it's the best fun she had in ages. The next day their recklessness is exposed as it turns out the restaurant they went to has a contract with Pete and, as a result of Adam’s actions, the owner of the restaurant cancels his contract with the Bartons. This leads James, Pete and Moira to be angry with Adam and Katie for their stupidity.
With tensions still remaining high between James and Adam, James goes out to buy Adam a present for his birthday thinking he is 21 but to his surprise, he finds out he is actually 22. This leads James to question whether Adam is actually his son and not his brother's, John. James questions Moira on this and she tells him that Adam was born two months early and is not. This satisfies him for a while but then he gets suspicious once again and steals one of Adam's socks and orders a DNA kit to prove it. James receives the results of the test and it turns out that Adam is in fact James' son and not John's. He confronts Moira telling her she must tell Adam the truth or he will.
On Finn's birthday, he and Victoria find some old home videos of Finn and his brothers when they were children and decide to play them at the party, unaware that there is a video that shows James and his ex-wife Emma Barton arguing about how he slept with Moira. They play them at the party which forces both, James and Moira to come clean about their affair. Adam is furious and he punches James and tells Moira exactly what he thinks of her. Later on, Cain forces Moira to tell Adam the truth and Adam is left devastated by the news that John was not his dad. Angry about everything, Adam decides to go up to Wishing Well Cottage to get Zak's gun. He tells Sam Dingle that Cain had asked him to go and get the gun as there are rabbits in the field, unaware that Adam is actually planning to chase James into the woods with the gun. Adam waits for James to come out of the Woolpack so he can get him alone but Cain finds him first. Adam says that he was never going to hurt James, he was just going to "point the barrel at his head, make him sweat, scare him a little". Cain manages to get the gun away from Adam and leaves him with Katie. Katie supports him and spends the whole night trying to talk him down.
The next morning Adam wants to quit at the farm but Katie convinces him to stay and that he can't just walk away from his family business when he has done nothing wrong. Adam comes to work much to Moira's relief but makes it clear that he won't make it easy for her and that he doesn't forgive her. The following day, Adam and Ross have drinks together in the pub as they make comments towards James about his affair. Ross then gets Adam to distract James while he goes down in the cellar to steal some alcohol for both of them. Adam creates a scene to provoke James, but Katie steps in and tells Adam to come back home with her. Adam ignores her, then leaves and meets Ross, who hands him the booze but Katie comes out and realises what Adam is up to along with Diane and Donna Windsor.
The next day, Katie asks Andy to talk to Adam, and Andy agrees to speak to Adam about his actions from the day before, but Adam is annoyed to hear that Katie has told him about the previous day's events. Later, a drunk Adam arrives on the farm and James tells him to go home, but Adam refuses to listen. He gets on the tractor and starts it, unaware that Andy is fixing the hay baler on the tractor. Adam starts it and Andy gets his arm stuck in the baler. Adam is shocked to see Andy as he and James run to help. Adam panics and feels terribly guilty, so James covers for Adam saying he was the one that started the tractor. At the hospital, Adam confesses it was him who started the tractor to Andy. Adam is consumed with guilt after the accident with Andy and he reassures Andy that he will help him with anything he needs, but Andy just tells him to sort out things between him, Moira and James. The next day, an awkward Adam is present at Andy’s welcome home party. Katie soon figures out that Andy checked himself out of hospital and announces it to everyone there, but Andy then snaps at Adam saying that it's all his fault. Adam reacts by bringing up Andy's past with Jo and all that his family had done for him. An annoyed Adam then leaves followed by Katie, who Adam is also annoyed at for not backing him up and for always being on Andy's side. Katie then dumps Adam and Adam informs her that it is okay because he was dumping her anyways. Katie tells Adam that the old him was much nicer and that he deserves to be alone. Andy kicks Adam out of Dale View after Adam attempts to make it up to him.
That night Adam and Leyla Harding start talk, leading to them sleeping together. The next morning Leyla tries to get Adam out of Tug Ghyll before Katie arrives back from a course, but Katie discovers that Adam and Leyla have slept together. Katie gets annoyed and then Leyla realises that Adam used her to just get a bed for the night. Leyla takes Adam's trousers and throws them out on the street. Adam then arrives back at Andy's and announces that he is not moving out. After this, Ross tries to get Adam in on a dodgy job but accidentally lets it slip that he is the reason why Finn ended up in hospital, so Adam blackmails him saying if he doesn't pay his rent he will tell Finn. He is shocked when Ross owns up to Finn and Ross tells Adam that he is now on his own. Adam heads out for a job interview and he is soon let down as he doesn't get the job. When Katie tells him that she hopes he gets a job, Adam thinks she misses him and wants him back. Later on, Bernice Blackstock gives Adam money so he can take Katie out into town, to stop Katie from rekindling her romance with Andy who Bernice is in love with. Adam takes the money but is present when Bernice later announces in the Woolpack that Andy and Katie are together. Adam is annoyed and upset, so he leaves and tells Andy that Katie was coming onto him earlier that day, causing Katie to lash out at him. The next day Adam arrives home to see Katie leaving Andy's house much to his annoyance. Katie throws some smug remarks at Adam annoying him some more, and things become worse as Andy then asks Adam for the rent money he owes.
Adam meets up with Robbie, who helps him come to the idea of selling his Play Station and all his games to earn money. Adam heads to the farm and ends up bumping into Moira. As the pair throw some snide remarks to each other, Adam sees some of Vanessa's medication and takes it. Adam tries to get Pete to go sell them for him but Pete gives him a telling off, refusing to do it. Later, Adam suggests he and Robbie do the drugs themselves. After they take the drugs, Adam is high and decides to head up to the farm to win Katie back, but Adam throws up and passes out before he can get there. The next day, Moira is in the hospital waiting for Adam when he wakes up and she tells Adam they need to talk. Adam refuses, then discharges himself so he won't have to talk to Moira. Moira is annoyed at Adam's efforts to get out of talking to her, so she makes a deal with him that if he comes with her then she will pay for his next months' rent, to which Adam agrees. Moira brings Adam to the house where Holly went to get drugs and Moira pleads with Adam to not go down the same road Holly did just to hurt her. Adam gets out of the car and makes his way back to Emmerdale, where he meets up in the pub with Robbie Lawson. Moira walks in and is disgusted to see Adam drinking after yesterday's events, so she grabs him by the arm threatening to tell the police that he took the ketamine, Adam pushes her off him and Moira trips, after this Adam goes back to the house Holly went to and gets some heroin. Adam goes back to see Robbie and he is unhappy with Adam for pushing Moira and they argue. Robbie pushes Adam, causing Adam to fall and his heroin falls out of his pocket. Robbie tells him to get rid of it making it clear it could kill him if he takes it. Then Adam heads back to Dale View and contemplates taking the drugs, and he thinks about ringing Holly or Moira, but he then decides against it. Suddenly, Moira knocks on the door and Adam is happy to see her but she is there to disown his, telling him that she no longer has a son. Adam is extremely upset by this and once again thinks about taking the drugs. He then pours them down the sinks and rings Aaron to see if he can stay with him, Adam also informs Ross that he wants in on his next big job.
Adam tells Andy that he is moving out of the house so he doesn't need to worry about his rent or him for much longer. Ross is annoyed at him shouting that he is coming into money and makes it clear to him that he has to keep his mouth shut. Adam, Donna Windsor and Ross start to prepare for their big job and Adam is shocked to discover the dodgy cop that Ross has on his side is Donna. The day arrives that they have to do their job and Adam is disturbed by Aaron Livesy who has come back to help Adam and to save him from himself. Adam is annoyed and panics as the man he is supposed to be watching gets away. Adam arrives back too late and the nightclub owner is already with Donna and Ross, Adam pushes Aaron out of his way, getting into the car and crashes it into his car to distract the club owner. Donna and Ross manage to get away along with Adam and Aaron. Adam later arrives back to the pub and is looking for Donna, but Charity Macey tells Adam that Donna died. Adam immediately blames himself and Aaron unaware to the fact that Donna actually killed herself and villain Gary North by jumping off a car park rooftop to protect Ross and her daughter, April. Although Ross knows Donna killed herself because of these reasons, Ross blames Adam for Donna's death.
A few weeks later, Adam makes a confession of arson to the police after Aaron prepares to hand himself in. Adam is charged and Moira gives Adam his job back at the farm, letting Adam to move back to Butler's Farm as well. The day of Adam hearing and Moira gives him 20% of everything she owns, before Adam is sentenced to nine months in prison. While Adam is in prison, Moira is being blackmailed about his safety by Maxine, the mother of Adam’s cell mate. Then Adam ends up in hospital as Moira doesn't pay the blackmailer. Moira visits Adam in hospital and he begs her to let Cain sort it out. She does and Maxine then agrees to call her son off Adam and leave Moira alone.
In December, Adam is released from prison but is tagged for three months. He tells Victoria that she was all he thought about in prison and vows he will win her back.
2015-2016: Relationship with Victoria and false fatherhood[]
In January 2015, Adam and Victoria eventually get together. Adam sets up a scrapyard with Aaron and with the help of Victoria's brother Robert. After being with Victoria for a few months Adam decides that he wants to marry her, so Adam gives Victoria a car for her 21st birthday and proposes to her. Victoria says yes but she soon calls off the wedding as she felt she was too young. He storms off before Victoria gets the chance to explain this, upset at her rejection. He seeks comfort from Vanessa Woodfield, who is also broken-hearted. The pair spend the night together but after they wake up the next morning they are full of regret and agree to never tell Victoria or Kirin Kotecha, Vanessa’s boyfriend. Later, Victoria asks Adam to move in with her, giving him a key and leaving him feeling extremely guilty.
Vanessa tells Adam she is pregnant and it might be his baby. Adam is shocked and agrees to have nothing to do with the baby, so he and Vanessa can keep their one-night stand under wraps. However, Vanessa can't deal with the guilt and she decides to take a DNA test to see if the baby is Adam's by stealing Adam’s beer bottle. While discussing this, Adam and Vanessa are disturbed by Kirin and soon the one night stand is revealed. A distraught Kirin makes a scene at Adam and Victoria's moving in party, announcing Adam's fling with Vanessa and leaving Victoria devastated. Victoria leaves but Adam follows her and she attempts to run Adam over but swerves at the last minute. They then argue and Victoria speeds off, accidentally running over Ashley Thomas. Adam helps her through the whole situation and tells her that she shouldn't be with him as he is no good for her. However, she tells him she wants to be with him and asks him to marry her. Soon, Victoria and Adam share the news with close family and friends and they aren't impressed, but they tell them that they will choose each other over them. Victoria and Adam head off to go on a holiday to get away from the village and to get married. In late July 2015, Adam and Victoria return from their honeymoon and focus on their life as a married couple, but it is interrupted by the existence of Adam's unborn child, as it is still believed that Adam is the father. Adam fails to arrive at Vanessa's scan, which angers her. Then she makes the decision to leave Emmerdale because she does not want Adam involved in the baby’s life.
In August 2015, Adam considers him and Victoria leaving to start a new life, but Victoria thinks Adam is mad for wanting to leave. As he continues to neglect Vanessa, Adam gets grief from Rhona Goskirk so he gets drunk, rather than attend the wedding of Pete Barton and Debbie Dingle. Adam falls asleep in a car at the scrapyard but is unaware that a fire has been started nearby. Adam wakes up in the car as Robert and his wife Chrissie get him out before the car exploded.
In September 2015, Vanessa In gave birth 14 weeks prematurely to a baby boy who she named Johnny after Victoria gave her blessing despite the previous day asking her not to name him Johnny. Adam and Vanessa visited Johnny in the NICU, but Vanessa became distressed at how little her son was. When Johnny was a few days old Adam became annoyed that Vanessa wasn't with Johnny and when he went into the hospital to see him. Then his incubator alarm when off but the doctor gave him more oxygen to stabilise him. The doctor then told Adam that it was likely caused by an infection and that he has put Johnny on antibiotics. Adam phoned local vicar Ashley Thomas and asked him to perform an emergency baptism for Johnny. Victoria managed to persuade Vanessa to go to the hospital when Ashley baptised Johnny. In early October 2015, Johnny's incubator alarm went off again and Adam couldn't get hold of Vanessa. When Vanessa finally arrived at the hospital, the doctor revealed that Johnny had necrotizing enterocolitis and would need surgery the following day. Johnny's surgery went well.
On Christmas Eve, Johnny was allowed to come home and he moved into Tug Ghyll with Vanessa. In January 2016, it is revealed Adam was not Johnny's true father after Vanessa does a second DNA test. It turns out Rakesh Kotecha, Kirin's father, decided to fake the test so Kirin wouldn't have to face being a father. When Vanessa breaks the news to Adam, he is devastated and asks for some alone time with Kirin. However, when Vanessa leaves he takes off with Johnny, driving away with him and Victoria without telling Vic what is going on. Adam was forced to reveal to Victoria he was not Johnny's father. Victoria talks Adam into returning Johnny to Vanessa before it gets serious. They returned the next day and Vanessa promised Adam would still be allowed to see Johnny despite his actions. Adam later attacks Kirin's father after he learns that it was him who switched the DNA results.
2016-2018: Holly's death and departure[]
In February 2016, after learning that Aaron had been repeatedly raped at the hands of his father when he was younger, Adam is livid and offers to help Cain deal with Aaron's dad. After Aaron returns from giving evidence at the police station he hugs him and apologises for not being there for him.
In April 2016, Adam supports Aaron through the court case where Gordon is found guilty and sent to prison. A few weeks later, Adam celebrates with the rest of the family when Aaron gets his deed poll letter officially declaring him as a Dingle.
In September 2016, Adam was heartbroken by the sudden loss of his sister Holly, who died from a heroin overdose. He and Victoria moved back to Butlers to support Moira. Pete then told him that Holly’s secret boyfriend was Jai Sharma, another addict. Adam assumed that Jai had supplied Holly with the drugs and punched him, but Jai soon made it clear that he was clean. On the day of the funeral, Adam was angry and upset that his sister Hannah was unable to attend and comforted Moira as they said their final goodbyes to Holly. The following week, Adam was left fearful when Aaron fought for his life following a motorway collision and was devastated when James died as a result of the same accident. On the day of James' funeral, Adam tried to put a brave face on everything, insisting to Moira that he has already buried his dad. However, when a confused Ashley interrupts the service Adam gets upset and asks Laurel to take her husband away, saying he's ruining his dad's funeral. Adam is surprised to learn that James has left him an equal share in his will, much to Ross' displeasure. They clash over the issue and Adam admits he wasn't going to take it but changes his mind and decides to accept it. Adam fights with Ross after he learns that he tried it on with Victoria. Vic tries to break them up but ends up getting hurt. She is taken to the hospital where she tells a shocked Adam she might be pregnant. The test comes back negative but Vic confides in Finn that she wants a baby and she's not sure how Adam feels. Later at Butlers, Vic tells Adam she wants a baby and Adam says that if that's what she wants then they will start trying. The next day, Adam confides to Aaron his doubts about starting a family after his experience with Johnny but Aaron assures him he's already proven he'll be a great dad and to go for it. Later, Ross apologises to Vic and Adam for his earlier behaviour and they call a truce. Adam tells Moira that he and Vic are trying to start a family and she is delighted.
In February 2017, Adam helps the Sugdens and the Dingles to organise Robert and Aaron's impromptu wedding. The next day, Adam is gutted when his best friend is sent to prison for 12 months on a GBH charge. Adam strikes up a friendship with Ronnie Hale and offers to help him with repairs on The Mill. After months of trying to get pregnant, Victoria’s step-mother, Diane pays for Adam and Vic to get fertility tests done and Adam is devastated when he learns he is infertile. A few days later, Adam decides to end his marriage to Victoria, convinced it is for the best and leaving her heartbroken. A distraught Adam then makes a pass at Vanessa; they share a kiss before they come to their senses and Adam leaves. After deciding to give things with Victoria another go, the couple start looking into adoption. However, Emma Barton spitefully tells Vic what happened between Adam and Vanessa, so Victoria ends their relationship for good.
However, they later make up and decide to keep trying to adopt. In October 2017, Adam is shocked when Moira gives birth to his half-brother after being attacked by Emma. It is then revealed that Emma killed James and Finn, leading Adam to be furious with her. Emma is later found dead and Adam is suspected of killing her. Moira’s newborn son is soon found to be Cain’s but he doesn’t want anything to do with his child. Moira continues to struggle with her baby and bursts into Adam and Vic’s adoption meeting to tell them that they can have Isaac. They return Isaac to Moira but Cain volunteers to take care of him until she recovers.
In December 2017, Moira tells Adam that she killed Emma so Adam confesses to the murder in an attempt to save Moira from prison. On the day of his sentencing, Aaron and Cain ambush the prison van and break him out. They take Adam to the docks and provide him with money and a new passport and tell him there's a cargo ship waiting to take him to Amsterdam and then France where a friend of Aaron's will provide him with work. Victoria suddenly arrives to stop him from leaving but Adam tearfully assures her he needs to do this. He leaves Moira an emotional voicemail before departing on the cargo ship.
2018 to present: Life after Emmerdale[]
Adam made his way into Budapest, Hungary where he began to rebuild his life. Whilst over there, he met a girl, unaware that Victoria discovered Adam was innocent and planned to track him down so they could be together. Adam instructed Aaron not to tell Victoria but Robert found out and felt she had to know.
In December 2021, after the murder of his boyfriend and his sister being locked up for it Aaron decides to accompany Adam on the run. In 2022, Adam contacts Cain to tell him that Aaron has gone off the rails, leading to Cain taking him home. In 2024, Moira is diagnosed with a brain tumour and goes to see Adam before her surgery.
Personality and traits[]
Mirroring his mother, Adam's first priority was his family, as he confessed to Emma's murder to protect Moira. Despite this, he did like to enjoy time with his friends, and one of his hobbies was quad biking. However, the revelation of his "uncle" James being his father brought out his dark side, and he went after him with a weapon. He also ran over Kerry Wyatt and covered it up, slept with Vanessa Woodfield when he was dating Victoria (however, he mistakenly thought she had dumped him), and set fire to the garage with Cain Dingle in it, although he later came back to save him. When Adam was believed to be Vanessa's baby son's true father he was a loving dad.
Residences[]
| Address | Duration |
|---|---|
| Butlers Farm | 17th July 2009 to 30th May 2013 |
| Keepers Cottage | 30th May to 13th June 2013 |
| Butlers Farm | 13th June 2013 to 30th January 2014 |
| Dale View | 30th January to 23rd September 2014 |
| Prison in Middlesbrough | 23rd September to 16th December 2014 |
| Butlers Farm | 16th December 2014 to 25th June 2015 |
| Keepers Cottage | 25th June 2015 to 10th May 2017 |
| Butlers Farm | 10th May to 9th October 2017 |
| Keepers Cottage | 9th October to 18th December 2017 |
| On remand | 18th December 2017 to 2nd January 2018 |
| On the run | 2nd January 2018 to present |
Quotes[]
"Who are you?" - First line, to Andy Sugden
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"Hiya, mum. I know you're mad at me. Really mum, but I'm good, alright. I'm excited. I can get to have this adventure now. See the rest of the world for once. Although I'll be sure I'll be able to walk it. Probably living up for these happy days or what? Just look after my little bro. Make sure he grows up to be a legend, just like me. And keep an eye on Vic and Aaron, will you? Tell Hannah to get off her bum and come visit. We're all lucky to have you, cos you're the best mum. And you deserve this chance. So don't waste it feeling guilty. Cos I'm going to be okay. More than okay. I'm gonna have the time of my life out there, I promise ya. But you have to promise me the same, okay. So make the most of it. For me. Cos I love you, mum." - Final lines, as a voicemail left for Moira Dingle