Ian Kelsey, the actor whose portrayal of farmhand Dave Glover made him one of Emmerdale's most recognisable faces in the mid-1990s, has revealed that discussions about a return to the ITV soap are under way, three decades after his character's fiery death. In an interview with Heart Bingo Online reported by the Daily Star, Kelsey said he has already raised the idea with Emmerdale writers while visiting the studios where his partner, Beth Cordingly, films her role as Ruby Fox-Miligan.
The disclosure offers a small but telling window into how Britain's long-running serial dramas continue to recycle their own mythology, and how the actors who built those myths remain entangled with them long after their characters have been consigned to the flames.
From 14 million viewers to a very different television landscape
Kelsey joined Emmerdale in 1994, when the programme commanded audiences that today's schedulers can only envy. He recalls the era with a mixture of affection and candour.
From what I remember, it was brilliant and stressful all at the same time, he said.
It all happened very quickly, he explained, because in the mid-1990s between 12 and 14 million people watched an episode, compared with perhaps three or four million now. That is a lot more eyes on you in everyday life, he noted, describing being recognised in supermarkets and the pleasure of stopping for a conversation with viewers who remember the show's heyday.
The figures he cites are a reminder of how thoroughly the ecology of British television has changed. The mass communal audience that sustained the soap operas of that decade has fragmented across platforms, and with it the peculiar national intimacy that made a young actor with distinctive eyebrows a household face within months.
A comeback from the dead? Kelsey is open to it
Dave Glover died in 1996 in one of the soap's most memorable fire storylines, and Kelsey has since accumulated, by his own cheerful admission, a reputation for memorable soap deaths. Yet he sees no obstacle to a return.
I wouldn't mind getting back on Emmerdale and coming back from the dead, he said. Or coming back as Dave Glover's twin brother. I'd be grateful for that.
He is not proposing anything outlandish by the standards of the genre. Claire came back from the dead, he pointed out. Claire's husband, who's on it now, came back from the dead. So, you know, maybe I'll come out of the shower like Bobby Ewing, a reference to the infamous Dallas device in which a whole season was explained away as a dream.
Kelsey said he has spent time at the studios with his partner, Beth Cordingly, and has spoken to a few writers about the possibility. They've said it has been mentioned before, he told the interview.
As Brit Brief reports, the actor would welcome a return to the soap, potentially as his character's twin brother, and reflected on the pressures of fame during his original run. The story has since been picked up across the soap press, with Digital Spy carrying ongoing Emmerdale news and cast updates.
The England goalkeeper's haircut, and other legacies
Among the more curious details to emerge from the interview is the claim that Kelsey's curtain hairstyle influenced one of English sport's most famous heads. He recalled a conversation with former England goalkeeper David Seaman at a charity golf day for Seaman's charity, Safe Hands.
He told me the reason his hair used to be really long with a centre parting was because of my hair, Kelsey said. So I was responsible for the England goalkeeper's 90s hair. Mad!
Kelsey added that if he lets his own hair grow long today, he is recognised instantly for Emmerdale because of the hairstyle he once wore.
Horse riding, mishaps and the craft of a soap career
The interview also produced a behind-the-scenes anecdote from his early days on the programme. Kelsey had taken horse riding lessons before Emmerdale in preparation for a film version of Black Beauty that never required them. When producers learned he could ride, they wrote a scene in which he canters across a field with Claire King, who played Kim Tate.
King was an experienced rider; Kelsey was not. The scene required her to race past him and meet at a fence. As soon as she shot past, my horse pricked its ears up and thought, hey, we're having a race here, he said. The horse began to gallop, something Kelsey had never done before.
When the scene ended and the director called cut, the sound engineer was crying with laughter. All he could hear through the microphone as Kelsey crossed the field was grunting. I made sure I got all my lines out in the right order, he said, because I wasn't doing that again.
Why the return of Dave Glover matters to Emmerdale
Emmerdale has shown renewed confidence in mining its own history in recent years, and the programme's willingness to revive supposedly dead characters suggests Kelsey's hopes are not fanciful. ITV News recently marked the soap's longevity with an interview with Mark Charnock, who has played Marlon Dingle since 1996, the same year Dave Glover perished. The two actors belong to the same era of the programme, and Charnock described his three decades on the show as a dream career.
For a soap that trades on continuity, the return of a figure as fondly remembered as Dave Glover, by whatever contrivance the writers devise, would be less a gimmick than a recognition of what makes the genre work. These programmes are communal fictions, sustained by the audience's long memory. Kelsey, it seems, understands that better than most.
Whether the writers take the hint remains to be seen. He is, at least, keeping himself available. I'm hanging out at the studios, he said. The shower, presumably, is on standby.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ian Kelsey returning to Emmerdale?
Nothing is confirmed. Kelsey said in an interview with Heart Bingo Online, reported by the Daily Star, that he has spoken to Emmerdale writers about a possible return, and that the idea has been mentioned before.
How did Dave Glover die in Emmerdale?
Dave Glover died in 1996 in a fire, one of the soap's most famous storylines of that era. Kelsey has suggested he could return from the dead or as the character's twin brother.
Who does Ian Kelsey's partner play in Emmerdale?
Beth Cordingly, Kelsey's partner, plays Ruby Fox-Miligan in the soap, which is how Kelsey has come to spend time at the Emmerdale studios.