Mystery of Emmerdale orphan TJ Woods - what happened to Terry and Dawn’s son

22 August 2023 , 10:03

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TJ Woods had a turbulent time during his stint on Emmerdale

TJ Woods hasn’t been seen in Emmerdale for more than 10 years, but fans of the ITV soap are still hoping the youngster will make a long-awaited comeback to the village.

Terry Junior, or TJ for short, was the son of Terry and Dawn Woods, who caused controversy in Emmerdale when they began dating due to the 27-year age gap. Dawn’s father Bob Hope (played by soap icon Tony Audenshaw) was furious his daughter was dating a man who was older than him, but the couple wed despite the backlash over their relationship.

The couple welcomed their son in October 2003, but their happiness was short-lived as Terry suffered a stroke in The Woolpack while wetting his newborn baby’s head with some of the villagers. Terry left hospital in time to spend Christmas with his family, but the pressure of looking after a baby and her husband was too much for Dawn, and she fled to Spain to see her mother Jean.

Dawn and Terry welcomed son TJ shortly after getting married, but they split less than a year after tying the knot

When she returned, she began an ill-fated affair with step-brother Scott Windsor, and after discovering their illicit relationship, a furious Terry threw her out. The estranged couple fought a bitter battle over custody of TJ, with Terry going to court to apply for joint custody in an attempt to try and stop Dawn from leaving the country to live in Spain with her mother. But the fraught young mum went one step further and applied for sole custody, telling a judge that Terry’s health problems would cause serious problems for TJ.

Dawn’s problems went from bad to worse in 2006, as she was jailed for six weeks after being found guilty of benefit fraud. And upon her release, she was disgusted to discover her mother Jean had begun a relationship with Terry, prompting Dawn to announce she was leaving Emmerdale to start a new life in Cornwall. But tragedy was about to strike, and Dawn never got the chance to have a fresh start.

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Terry and Dawn's mother Jean then began a relationship while Dawn was in prison (ITV)

Terry was late returning TJ back to Dawn after spending the day together, meaning she missed her flight to Cornwall. Due to her travel plans changing at the last-minute, she decided to head to the King’s river show home opening, but was tragically caught up in the gas leak explosion, and later died in hospital, leaving Terry and TJ devastated. Jean, who had accepted compensation from the King family, then decided to take her grandson to Morocco, forcing Terry to fly over to bring his son back home.

Five years later, TJ was struck by another bout of bad luck, as he was sent home from nursery complaining of feeling ill, but it turned out he had contracted E.coli, and was hospitalised. And just as he was settling into life in the village, his father Terry was killed in a horrifying fire in 2011, after Nick Henshall set fire to rubbish outside Victoria Cottage, causing the flames to dangerously spread.

Poor TJ was hospitalised with E.coli, leaving dad Terry frantic

Now an orphan, seven-year-old TJ was sent to live with his grandmother Jean by Bob, who couldn’t cope with looking after his young grandson, as well as being a single parent to twins Cathy and Heath, following his wife Viv’s death in the fire. TJ has remained in Morocco ever since, and Brenda Walker was the last person to see him when she flew out to visit in 2012, but his character hasn’t been seen or talked about ever since.

Some Emmerdale fans have speculated TJ could make a long-awaited return to the village, as it was revealed Cathy Hope will be returning to Emmerdale in upcoming scenes. “He still has plenty of family in the village, and it’s been well over a decade since he was last in the village,” one viewer wrote in a post on Reddit. “He went to live with his grandmother; Jean Hope - Dawn’s mother, in Morocco, so it could be that she’s died and he’s returned to England to be with his remaining family.”

Emma Wilson