Tommy made a guest appearance in Emmerdale in September 2019. He played Derek, an elderly hypochondriac, who appeared in three episodes.
19th September
Derek was introduced in an episode on Thursday 19th September 2019, in a scene with his doctor Manpreet Sharma, Rishi Sharma and Marlon Dingle.
Manpreet: Hello stranger
Derek: Doctor
Jai: This is my husband, Rishi. Rishi, this is Derek. One of my patients
Derek: One of her most valued customers.
Manpreet: Certainly one of my most regular.
Derek: He’s old, isn’t he
Rishi: His ears still work.
Derek: Lucky for you. (Points to ears) Perforated, both of them. Mind you, got me out of national service. Mind you, I didn’t have to go to war, I was too young. So really that’s a curse as well, because I would love to have done the training. But, would my knees have stood up to it? That’s the question.
Marlon: And apparently not a rhetorical one
Manpreet: no, Derek, they definitely wouldn’t.
Derek: Would they heck. And that wouldn’t have been the only…
Manpreet: Can I interest you in one of these?
Derek: With my heart?
Rishi: Love’s good for the heart
Marlon: Until it breaks it.
Rishi: Derek, good?
Derek: Mmm, I’d buy a boxful if I didn’t have a dysfunctional epiglottis. Still might. I’ll leave you to work out a discount.
27th September
Derek’s next appearance was Friday 27th September. He appeared in a scene with Doug Potts and Rodney Blackstock, where he is described as being from the Malt quiz team. The scene takes place in the café, with Derek enquiring about food hygiene and whether their home made food is actually home made.
30th September
Tommy’s final appearance as Derek was Monday 30th September 2019. He sees the doctor in the local shop and says he’s feeling ill.
Later in the episode Doctor Sharma says that Derek came into the surgery, where he collapsed and died. It’s suspected to be salmonella, potentially caused by David’s chocolates.
