returns permanently and becomes regional manager for NY Estates. During this time, he has a brief relationship with Karen Moore (Annie Hulley) who had previously had an affair with Jack but Karen ends the relationship. Joe meets divorcee Kate Hughes (Sally Knyvette), and her two teenage children, Rachel (Glenda McKay) and Mark Hughes (Craig McKay). Initially Kate and Joe argue after he shoots her dog for bothering his sheep but they eventually they fall in love. Joe proposes, but with Mark and Rachel opposed and wanting Kate to reconcile with their father, David (Martyn Whitby), Joe becomes worried. They do marry and Kate's children eventually come round to their mother's new marriage. Kate accidentally runs over Pete Whiteley, killing him and is jailed for a year but is released the following January. Kate tells Joe the marriage is over and returns to Sheffield. Rachel and Mark decide to stay and Joe forms a closer relationship with them. Joe and Mark argue over a vacuum cleaner that needs returning so Mark goes to the Whiteley Farm when a large section of an Eastern European Airjet comes down, knocking down a wall which falls on Mark, killing him. Joe, his mother, Annie and her new husband Leonard Kempinski (Bernard Archard) are also hit when another part of the plane hits his car. Joe breaks a leg, Annie is left comatose but Leonard is killed. When Joe learns of Mark's death, he becomes very depressed and blames himself. After saving Dave Glover (Ian Kelsey) from being run over by a car, Jack and Rachel persuade him go and spend time with Annie in Spain. The following year, news reaches Emmerdale that Joe has died in a car crash. Annie and Amos Brearly (Ronald Magill) return to the village for his funeral. 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?" In 1998, writers from Inside Soap published an article about the top ten characters they wanted to return to soap. Joe was featured and they opined that "his gentle charm and Yorkshire grit made him irresistible to a seemingly endless stream of women." References External links Joe Sugden at MTV3 Emmerdale characters Fictional farmers Television characters introduced in 1972