The Clayton family have been living in the village since 2012.
Their storylines include the birth of Johnny Woodfield, Tracy Shankley and Vanessa Woodfield finding out they are half-sisters when Frank Clayton arrived in the village, Tracy's marriage to David Metcalfe and the death of Frank.
Backstory[]
In March 1976, Frank Clayton had his first daughter Vanessa with an unknown woman. When Vanessa was about 10 years old he left them as he met Evette Shankley with whom he had another daughter, Tracy, in September 1989. He kept the sisters secret from each other, claiming that Vanessa's mother never would have let her anywhere near Evette.
Two days after returning from a holiday in Skegness in July 1998, Frank left Evette and Tracy which caused Evette to develop a drinking problem. When Tracy tried to stop her from drinking, she threw her out, but still demanded money for rent. Desperate for money Tracy turned to prostitution but later gave it up moved onto adult chat lines. Frank who was a conman, eventually landed himself in prison for fraud and had no contact with either of his daughter. He would go on to contact them, sending visitation orders, but they rejected them.
Storylines[]
2010s[]
Vanessa arrived in Emmerdale in December 2012 to cover for Paddy Kirk as a locum vet at Emmerdale Veterinary Surgery. During her early years in the village, Vanessa would go on to buy a share in the surgery, have a brief affair with friend Rhona Goskirk while covering for her addiction to painkillers, and enter into a relationship with much younger Kirin Kotecha.
Tracy first arrived in the village in July 2014 to meet Sam Dingle, after they began talking via an adult chat line. Tracy went on to con Sam out of money and leave the village but would later return the following year and started working at The Grange.
In September 2015, Vanessa gave birth to her and Kirin's son, Johnny Woodfield. However, for the first few months, he was raised as Adam Barton's son after Kirin's father changed the DNA results. In January 2016, after his true parentage was revealed, Adam was devastated and kidnapped Johnny. He returned him the following day but Vanessa confessed that the kidnapping had helped her realise how deeply she cared for her son as she had previously had problems bonding with him.
In April 2016, Tracy entered a relationship with David Metcalfe and supported him as he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. In July, David proposed to Tracy for the first time but would go on to do it again multiple times throughout the year while they were simultaneously planning their wedding as stubborn Tracy refused to give him an answer until their wedding day. In August 2016, Frank first appeared when David visited him in prison in an attempt to bring father and daughter back together so he could attend their wedding. Following the visit Frank called Vanessa, believing her to be the daughter David was marrying, revealing Tracy and Vanessa were half-sisters. Originally, the newfound family didn't get along but they eventually grew close. In September 2016, Tracy married David, with Vanessa and Frank by her side.
Since arriving in Emmerdale, Frank vowed not to return to his old ways of fraud and deception, however, he was tempted on a number of occasions and was involved in a diamond scam with Charity Dingle in February 2017 and also took part in a failed plot to sell fraudulent art with a man named Clive in November the following year. Frank has had an on-off relationship with Megan Macey since they first got together in 2017. In late 2017, Vanessa got involved with Charity as she rediscovered her sexuality. David and Tracy's relationship started falling apart in early 2018 as he discovered her past as a prostitute and reacted badly. The pair finally divorced after Tracy found out David had cheated on her with his ex. Tracy went through a trial against a former client, Phil Webb, who was blackmailing and harassing her, and came out victorious.
In January 2019, Vanessa was stabbed and left for dead by Donny Cairn who then took off with her car, unaware Johnny was still in the back. Charity manged to get Johnny back but Vanessa was in a critical condition and needed surgery. To the family's relief, she made it, and the incidence prompted Charity to propose the following week, which Vanessa accepted.
In August 2019, Frank passed away after saving Tracy from a burning building. The blame for the fire soon turned on Frank as evidence pointed towards it being started when someone destroyed the CCTV footage after robbing the safe, and he had both motive and opportunity. However, in October 2019, Tracy and Vanessa found out that their friends Kerry and Amy Wyatt were the ones responsible and after they'd confessed their involvement to Tracy she accidentally pushed Kerry making her fall and hit her head, when she was trying to stop her from leaving and spilling their secret. She luckily recovered in hospital but they used it as blackmail to keep Tracy and Vanessa from telling on them, threatening to then reveal that Tracy was the one who had put Kerry in hospital. Although they struggled, the sisters decided to try to put it behind them and move on with their lives.
2020s[]
In February 2020, Vanessa and Johnny got kidnapped by murderer and rapist Pierce Harris and were held captive at Mulberry Cottage for two weeks. Meanwhile, it was revealed Vanessa had been diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Family Members[]
- Frank Clayton (deceased).
- Vanessa Woodfield, daughter of Frank and an unknown woman.
- Johnny Woodfield, son of Vanessa and Kirin Kotecha.
- Tracy Shankley, daughter of Frank and Evette Shankley, married David Metcalfe (2016-2018) and Nate Robinson (2023).
- Frankie Robinson, daughter of Tracy Metcalfe and Nate Robinson.
- Vanessa Woodfield, daughter of Frank and an unknown woman.
Key Dates[]
Births[]
- 9th April 1954 - Frank Clayton
- 7th March 1976 - Vanessa Woodfield
- 27th November 1981 - David Metcalfe
- 9th September 1989 - Tracy Shankley
- 27th April 1991 - Nate Robinson
- 11th September 2015 - Johnny Woodfield
- 25th February 2021 - Frankie Robinson
Marriages[]
- 22nd September 2016 - Tracy Shankley and David Metcalfe
- 4th July 2023 - Tracy Metcalfe and Nate Robinson