Emmerdale dedicate double bill to Sandy Thomas

\'Emmerdale\' dedicated last night\'s (11.07.19) double bill to their late star Freddie Jones.

The ITV soap paid tribute to the late actor, who died on Tuesday (09.07.19) aged 91 following a short illness, after playing Sandy Thomas from 2005 to 2018.

ITV announced both episodes would be dedicated to Freddie, and at the end of the second ep his picture appeared on screen alongside a message.

It read: "In loving memory of Freddie Jones, 1927-2019"

A message on the show\'s Twitter account also paid tribute to Freddie earlier this week, admitting he was one of the soap\'s "favourite human beings".

It read: "Everyone at Emmerdale is deeply sad to hear about the death of one of the show\'s most brilliant actors and favourite human beings, Freddie Jones. #Emmerdale (sic)"

Several of the soap\'s cast have paid tribute to Freddie, including John Middleton, who played his on-screen son Ashley Thomas.

He tweeted: "I first saw Freddie on stage when I was 14. He was brilliant and that\'s when I decided that I wanted to do that too, although I would never be as good. The profession he inspired me to join is suddenly poorer."

Charlotte Bellamy - who played Sandy\'s daughter-in-law Laurel Thomas - tweeted: "We shall all miss you #FreddieJones #emmerdale (sic)"

Mark Charnock (Marlon Dingle) wrote: "Very hard to put into words what the remarkable Freddie Jones meant to us all. Was lucky enough to share a dressing room for over a decade.

"The laughs, wisdom, anecdotes, the blazing, wonderful personality, the enormous talent. Above all things, he was our lovely #Freddie (sic)"