Josh Matthews (Family Affairs)
Joshua "Josh" Matthews was a fictional character in UK soap opera Family Affairs, played by Terry Burns.
| Josh Matthews | |||||||||
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| Family Affairs character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Terry Burns | ||||||||
| Duration | 1998–2000 | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation | Barman | ||||||||
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Storylines
Josh arrived in November 1998 with his stepmother Cat (Nicola Duffett), looking for his father Dave (Richard Hawley) who had left them to deal with his debts and soon started working for Pete Callan (David Easter) as a barman at The Lock. In 1999, Josh embarked on a singing career and recorded a CD that didn't sell. Later that year, Josh also started a romance with Yasmin McHugh (Ebony Thomas). Josh did stints working as a barman and working in Dusty (Doreen Ingleton), Yasmin's mother's store. The week before that Christmas, Josh and Yasmin were married and went on their honeymoon to Jamaica. Only three months into his marriage to Yasmin, Josh became bored and soon began having an affair with Pete's daughter Julie-Ann Jones (Chloe Howman) and left Charnham for Greece with her, leaving Yasmin heartbroken. However, many months later Josh returned and wanted to patch things up with Yasmin. Josh, along with his father, Dave, endured a long-running enmity with Pete Callan. Pete had had an affair with Cat while Dave was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and had fathered Cat's baby, Dave Jr. When Pete opened The Black Swan, which became the local pub, Josh was compelled to work there to pay off a debt.
At around this time in mid-2000, Josh had fallen for barmaid Siobhan Jones (Jemma Walker), who happened to be the half-sister of Julie-Ann and began an affair with her. Josh was crushed when he found out Pete and Siobhan were engaged to be married and Siobhan told him to go back to Yasmin, who was pregnant with Josh's baby. Josh then paid a visit to Claire Toomey (Tina Hall), Pete's ex-wife who revealed that she was still married to him. One night in 2000, Josh went to confront Pete in the flat above the pub and the two got into a fight. Siobhan who had woken up, saw Pete in difficulty, acted instinctively and hit Josh over the head with a candlestick. When Siobhan turned the lights on, she panicked and rang for an ambulance. Pete used this opportunity to deal the already stunned Josh another blow, killing him. Siobhan and Pete were subsequently questioned. Pete was released, but Siobhan was detained. Yasmin initially blamed Siobhan for Josh's death, but Dave was certain Pete was behind it but had no way of proving it.
Eventually in 2001, The case went to trial and neither Pete nor Siobhan were found guilty.