Biff Fowler
Brian Ian Francis "Biff" Fowler is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, played by Stuart Wade from 1994 until 1999. Biff later returned for Seth Armstrong's (Stan Richards) funeral in October 2005.
| Biff Fowler | |||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Stuart Wade | ||||||||
| Duration | 1994–1999, 2005 | ||||||||
| First appearance | 10 March 1994 | ||||||||
| Last appearance | 1 November 2005 | ||||||||
| Created by | Mervyn Watson | ||||||||
| Introduced by | Mervyn Watson (1994) Kathleen Beedles (2005) | ||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||
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Casting
Three weeks after starting drama college, Wade was cast as Biff. He was initially contracted for five months.[1] Of his character, Wade commented "He's a bit of a thug. He strikes up a friendship with Luke because they share a passion for bikes. And he's just the type of guy to lead Luke astray."[1]
Storylines
Biff first appeared in Emmerdale as a biker and school friend of Luke McAllister (Noah Huntley). He had a romance with Luke's sister, Jessica McAllister (Camilla Power) and was Betty Eagleton (Paula Tilbrook) and Seth Armstrong's (Stan Richards) lodger. He then began dating Linda Glover (Tonicha Jeronimo) and they married on 24 December 1996, the same day that Linda's brother Dave Glover (Ian Kelsey) died in a fire at Home Farm.
Biff and Linda had a happy marriage and were delighted when Linda fell pregnant in early 1997; but their happiness was cut short when she had a miscarriage. Linda died in a car crash in October 1997 leaving Biff devastated. He had a one-night stand with Kelly Windsor (Adele Silva), his brother-in-law Roy's (Nicky Evans) girlfriend, in November 1997. She became pregnant but miscarried after she was pushed down the stairs by Kim Tate (Claire King). The following year, Biff had a fling with Lady Tara Oakwell (Anna Brecon) but she dumped him to marry Lord Michael Thornfield. Biff then began dating Kathy Glover (Malandra Burrows), Linda's former sister-in-law, and they planned to marry but on their wedding day, Graham Clark (Kevin Pallister) showed up and Biff began to have doubts about marrying Kathy as he realised that Kathy saw a lot of Graham and was close to him. He jilted her at the altar, leaving Kathy distraught. Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) wondered whether he would see his good friend again and Biff rode off on his motorbike, into the sunset.
In October 2005, Biff briefly returned to Emmerdale, following the death of Seth. He first made an appearance when Betty relived the memories of Seth in his shed, when to Betty's astonishment, Biff walked in. Biff told Betty that she could stay in Keeper's Cottage for as long as she liked, despite her offering to move out. Biff comforted Betty as she explained that she did not want Seth to be cremated and he suggested that she stop the cremation after the wake. Biff attended Seth's wake in The Woolpack and left again, following the funeral.