Tom King’s fate and Belle Dingle’s future hangs in the hands of the jury in
Emmerdale tonight – and the jurors include Kenneth, played by Jack Ellis.
Jack is a well-known face to British TV fans having had roles in both Bad Girls and Coronation Street.
Here’s what we know about Jack.
Jack Ellis in Emmerdale
The actor is joining the soap for a guest appearance during the trial of Tom King. He will appear as juror Kenneth, one of the 12 who will decide if Tom is innocent or guilty of abusing wife Belle.
Alongside Jack, Denise Welch and Charles Dale, will play Heidi and Karl. Karl is the foreman and very much Team Tom, while Heidi is totally on Belle’s side, with Denise saying: “My character Heidi was more emotionally involved so I felt that maybe she had experienced some form of domestic abuse herself.”
The Loose Women star also added: “To share the jury scenes with Charlie Dale and Jack Ellis and also to see lots of my Emmerdale mates made it a job to remember.”
So does Kenneth hold the key to whether Tom goes down?
Who is Jack Ellis?
Born John Stuart Ellis in London on June 4 1955, Jack is an actor in both television and theatre. He is 69 years old and has two children with his ex-wife Christine Kavanagh.
His son Theo is the bassist in bad Wolf Alice. He also has a daughter named Alice. Jack has two older brothers, both in the business too. Robin Ellis is an actor as well and Peter is a director.
Bad Girls’ Jim Fenner
Jack is perhaps best known for playing Jim Fenner in ITV drama series, Bad Girls. Before this he also played Detective Inspector Muddyman in Prime Suspect and appeared in Heartbeat, Inspector Morse and Lewis, among others.
But Bad Girls was his first major part in 2006. He starred across seven series’ of the show as prison officer turned temporary governor Jim Fenner.
Fenner was a villain who made the inmates lives very difficult. He was put in prison himself at one point for death by dangerous driving until his wife falsified evidence to get him out. It meant he could return to his job at G-Wing and continue to terrorise the women.
He was responsible for the death of long-time nemesis Yvonne Atkins (played by EastEnders’ Linda Henry) after he locked her in a disused cell and left her to die.
After several attempts on his life by various inmates – including poisoned candles, drink spiking, a poisoned cheese straw and a poisoned thorn, he met his maker when Julie Johnston stabbed him in the throat with an icicle.
Jack Ellis in Coronation Street
In December 2007, Jack joined Coronation Street as bookie Harry Mason. He and his son Dan took over the local betting shop. Harry soon started wooing Liz McDonald after his arrival in town. But she was married and reluctant to start an affair behind husband Vernon’s back.
However when she and Vernon split, they did start a romance – much to the disgust of Harry’s ex-wife Clarissa. Harry got back together with Clarissa, but then started an affair with Liz!
Liz and Clarissa then teamed up for revenge and took incriminating photos of Harry in just his underwear. Clarissa agreed to take him back as long as they left Weatherfield forever and started a new life elsewhere. They departed Weatherfield on September 26 2008.
Theatre work
Jack’s acting mainly consists of theatre work now. He starred in Sam Mendes directed Richard III alongside Kevin Spacey. He also toured in a production of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.
The Crucible and The Shawshank Redemption are other plays he has to his name.
