he blames Val's husband Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell), which results in Eric getting punched in front of Val. Eric and Val decide to get revenge on Rodney by scaring him while he is alone at the B&B one evening. Val discovers that she has HIV and she tells everybody in The Woolpack, including Rodney. By this time, Eric and Val have broken up due to Eric's concerns about HIV, but they reconcile and Eric decides to take part in a sponsored skydive. Eric torments Rodney over not doing it, so Rodney signs up. However, on the day of the dive, Eric feels that he cannot go through with it. Rodney tells Eric that his relationship with Val is worth fighting for and Eric, startled at Rodney's support, tells him that it is the nicest thing he has ever said to him. Rodney opposes Bernice's casual relationship with farmhand Andy Sugden (Kelvin Fletcher) due to their age difference. Reception The character was selected as one of the "top 100 British soap characters" by industry experts for a poll to be run by What's on TV, with readers able to vote for their favourite character to discover "Who is Soap's greatest Legend?" References External links Rodney Blackstock at itv.com Emmerdale characters Television characters introduced in 2000 Male characters in television Fictional bartenders Fictional businesspeople Fictional salespeople Fictional waiting staff