Grayson Sinclair
Grayson Sinclair is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, played by Christopher Villiers.
| Grayson Sinclair | |||||||||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Christopher Villiers | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2006–2008 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 3 March 2006 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 2 September 2008 | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | Kathleen Beedles | ||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Solicitor | ||||||||||||||
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History
Grayson is part of the wealthy Sinclair family. He was married to Perdita Hyde-Sinclair (Georgia Slowe) and is the eldest son of Rosemary King (Linda Thorson) and brother of Alasdair Sinclair (Ray Coulthard). He first appeared at a family dinner party with Perdita, Alasdair and Sadie Campbell (Patsy Kensit). He appeared again at Alasdair and Sadie's wedding and was present when Sadie and Rosemary agreed Sadie would annul her marriage to Alasdair in return for the Sinclair business that had the most sentimental value to Rosemary.
Grayson and Perdita got together, following the death of Perdita's brother, Harry. Harry died in action during the Bosnian war. He and Grayson were best friends. Rosemary told Tom King (Ken Farrington) that Grayson and Perdita met at Harry's funeral and fell in love. However, Perdita told local vet, Hari Prasad (John Nayagam), that Grayson was unfaithful. He had a gambling habit, which saw him sell some of Rosemary's paintings to Rodney Blackstock (Patrick Mower) and made friends with Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen) and she accompanied him to casinos until Perdita asked her to stop. Grayson was shocked to learn that Perdita has had five miscarriages. During a heart to heart, she confessed and seemed to resent his philandering.
Grayson is an experienced solicitor advocate. He advised Bob Hope (Tony Audenshaw) and the villagers about how they could sue King and Sons for the show home collapse but changed sides, defending the Kings when they were charged with corporate manslaughter.
Grayson is very close to his mother, Rosemary, due to the death of his father when he and his brother were young. Rosemary, Grayson and Perdita lived at Oakwell Hall until Gray and Perdita bought Mill Cottage.
When Grayson was away, Perdita slept with Matthew King (Matt Healy). Worried she was pregnant, she told Grayson and admitted that Matthew could be the father. Fortunately, Perdita wasn't pregnant but the damage was done. Matthew and Grayson despised each other as Matthew felt Grayson was an idiot for not treating Perdita right while Grayson resented Matthew for trying to steal his wife. Matthew called Grayson, "Larry", a reference to comedian Larry Grayson, which Grayson hated. Matthew did this until he and Grayson had a fight over it. Matthew still did it but not to his face.
In December 2006, Paul Lambert (Mathew Bose) rescued Grayson from a homophobic attack in Hotten. Paul asked Grayson what happened and Grayson told him that he is bisexual. Grayson and Paul became good friends because of this and also made friends with Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward) after Perdita became Katie's business partner. Grayson advised her about her divorce from Andy Sugden (Kelvin Fletcher).
Marriage difficulties
Grayson and Perdita's marriage was always rocky but the final straw was when he had her sectioned. Grayson struggled to cope as Perdita was refusing to see him so Paul visited for him. In Perdita's absence, Rosemary ran Mill Cottage, looked after Grayson and helped Katie run the stables. Consequently, she and Rosemary became friends. Rosemary saw Katie had feelings for Grayson and encouraged her, hoping Grayson would move on and have a family. Katie, however, kept her distance as she refused to steal her best friend's husband. Only Matthew knew Perdita was telling the truth about Rosemary and her illness but made her realise that to be released, she had to admit to her "illness". Perdita told Grayson that Rosemary was responsible but he didn't believe her until the family doctor backed her up. Grayson confronted his mother and threw her out so she moved in with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) briefly but disappeared after arguments with Grayson, Matthew and Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell) . Fearing Rosemary, Perdita stayed with Matthew but when Rosemary admitted poisoning Perdita, Grayson begged Perdita to give their marriage another chance. She agreed, much to Matthew's disappointment, and began contacting surrogacy agencies to discover if they could have a family.
In October 2007, Rosemary's handbag and passport were seen under a bush when Edna Birch (Shirley Stelfox) was walking Tootsie. A few days later, Paddy found them. He told the police and, in her diary, on the day of her disappearance, they found an entry "MK MF", which they guessed meant "Matthew King, Manor Farm". When the police searched the farm, they found coffee cups with Matthew and Rosemary's fingerprints and traces of her blood. They concluded Matthew asked Rosemary to meet him at Manor Farm, made her a coffee and killed her. Matthew was arrested and charged with Rosemary's murder and released on bail.
In October 2007, Perdita told Katie about her and Grayson's plans to hire an American surrogate, due to American law favouring genetic parents, unlike British law. Katie offered to be surrogate and they agreed. Touched by Katie's offer, Grayson asked her to move in with them. He wanted to look after her but Perdita was annoyed about this. When Perdita found a negative pregnancy test, she and Matthew started making plans to get together but discovered that Katie had merely done a test too early. Perdita changed her mind about leaving as she wanted her baby, planning to leave once she had custody. However, Grayson found out and framed Matthew for Rosemary's murder but Perdita found evidence of this and blackmailed Grayson so he cleared Matthew and would give her sole custody. Matthew was released and Perdita moved into Home Farm with him. Grayson was devastated to lose Perdita but Katie was furious. She and Grayson became an item and when she learned about the blackmail, she persuaded Perdita to burn her evidence before revealing that she and Grayson were together and intended to keep the baby. Furious, Perdita physically attacked Katie, almost causing a miscarriage. Luckily, the baby was fine. Following this, Grayson warned Perdita she would have a fight for any contact and told Matthew why Perdita and Katie were fighting. Matthew was horrified to discover this and threw her out, saying he never wanted to see her again. She moved in with Paul and Jonny as Paul was the only friend she had left in the village.
Revenge
When Katie came home, Perdita dropped a bombshell - Grayson's bisexuality. Katie didn't believe her but Grayson admitted it. Diane told Grayson that he had to tell the truth if he wanted a future with her. Katie was shocked but told Grayson that she would accept it as part of his past but insisted he stay faithful to her.
In late March 2008, Katie was due to go for a scan and suggested inviting Perdita but Grayson persuaded her not to and learned that the baby was a boy. After the scan, Grayson and Katie went to the pub and told Diane. Jonny, Paul and Perdita saw them there and Perdita lost her temper when she heard their news. Trying to restrain Perdita, Paul and Jonny carried her outside but Grayson followed and they argued. Perdita attacked Grayson when he told her that he'd slept with Paul so he had her arrested for assault. She was cautioned and released the next day. Perdita was angry with Paul and left the area as Grayson had taken out a restraining order, telling Katie that it was in her and the baby's best interests. A couple of months later, a friend of Grayson's, visited. Richard told Grayson that Perdita wanted custody and it would be best to settle out of court, giving Grayson her address. Feeling remorse for his behaviour, he got her a nicer flat and paid the rent. Worried about upsetting Katie, Grayson didn't tell her but she found out when she took an important document to him. Realising what Grayson was doing, she suddenly realised why he was talking about Perdita and access agreements but visited Perdita a few days later, wanting answers. Perdita warned her that she couldn't trust Grayson and implied he only wanted her because she was pregnant. Katie now worried about the baby's future if she gave him to his natural parents.
When Katie confided in Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) about Grayson and Perdita's behaviour, Chas suggested Katie leave but she decided to have the baby in London and put him up for adoption there. In the meantime, she tested Grayson by suggesting Perdita have custody but he stormed out in a huff, making Katie think Perdita was right. She asked Chas to go with her and be her birth partner and Chas agreed. To make sure Grayson and Perdita didn't get suspicious, she agreed to allow Perdita access and join them at the antenatal clinic but needed money for the London trip. Grayson was very well off so Katie claimed her mother had lost all her money. He wasn't happy about Katie's suggestion that she move in with them and suggested he pay her mother's debts. Katie agreed and asked him to give her the money, telling him she would send it to her mother. Claiming to be worried about finances, Katie suggested saving money by asking Perdita to move in. Grayson agreed so Perdita returned to Mill Cottage and started work at the stables. However, Katie realised that Paul and Perdita had argued and neither would explain so Jonny told her about Grayson and Paul's one night stand. She confronted Perdita and threatened to confront Grayson but Perdita begged her not to, scared Grayson would revoke her access. Katie agreed, deciding to give Perdita custody, telling Jonny but not Perdita about her decision as she worried that Perdita would say tell Grayson but Paul made Grayson suspicious about what Katie was up to. Investigating, he discovered she'd changed the date of the birth and still had the money meant for her mother.
Angry at Katie's deception, he confronted her and demanded she give him custody of his son but Jonny intervened so Katie got away. She realised she was in labour and asked Matthew to collect Perdita and take her to hospital but gave birth in the car. Perdita left Grayson a message, telling him what had happened. Katie was horrified when Perdita told her and gave the baby and the £20,000 to Perdita so they could leave. She and Matthew convinced Perdita that she and the baby would be better off without Grayson and Matthew distracted Grayson while Perdita left. Grayson went after them but Perdita had already gone. He got the hospital staff to phone the police and reported his son had been kidnapped. Katie told them Perdita was the baby's mother - she was just the surrogate - and gave them Perdita's mobile number. She confirmed that she and the baby were fine and asked them not to tell Grayson where she was. He sank into self-pity and was drunk constantly. Chas found Grayson in a state and told Diane. She and Paul made him pull himself together and look for Perdita and the baby. However, Paul had promised Jonny that he wouldn't see Grayson so when Jonny was upset to see them together. Grayson went out, looking for fun, but was caught by the police, charged with indecent behaviour and released. While drunk, Grayson locked himself and Katie into Victoria Cottage and demanded she tell him where Perdita was. Katie refused and escaped but he came after her. Paul and Diane saw Katie running away from him. He thought they would support him but Paul hit him for destroying his and Jonny's relationship. Nearly everyone saw this and when Donna Windsor-Dingle (Verity Rushworth) and Ross Kirk (Samuel Anderson) arrived, Grayson wanted Paul arrested, but nobody backed him up. Ostracized, Grayson left the next day, warning Matthew and Chas he would be back. Chas told him to stay away from Katie unless he wanted to join Rosemary in the churchyard. Matthew laughed and told Grayson that he could have had it all but it was his own fault that Katie left him and gave his baby away.
Grayson returned in September, and took Matthew and Katie hostage at Home Farm. Grayson demanded they tell him where Perdita was but they refused. Grayson threatened to shoot Matthew but Katie still refused to tell him anything Jimmy (Nick Miles) and Carl King (Tom Lister) arrived later and he took them hostage too. They tried to calm him down but Grayson sneered at Carl for being a part-time father. Furious, Carl walked towards Grayson, daring him to shoot, which he did. Thankfully, Carl wasn't seriously injured. Jimmy and Matthew tackled Grayson and Katie grabbed the gun. She could have shot Grayson but Matthew persuaded her not to. Grayson allowed Katie to phone an ambulance but she called the police too and Grayson was arrested while trying to escape. Just before they left, in an unexpected kind gesture, Matthew gave Grayson the photo Perdita had sent him of her and the baby.