ITV Share By Carena Crawford 21st January 2025 By Carena Crawford 21st January 2025 Nicholas Day - Emmerdale's best ever villainous actor at the centre of the Anthony Fox murder mystery Anthony Fox could be the worst villain Emmerdale has ever produced Anthony Fox Anthony is Murdered Nicholas Day Share By Carena Crawford 21st January 2025 By Carena Crawford 21st January 2025 Emmerdale has had some villains in its time and Anthony Fox, played by actor Nicholas Day is right up there with the best/worst of them. In fact, he may have created the most vile, disgusting and difficult-to-watch character ever, which is no mean feat given the other baddies the show has produced. We really thought Tom King was the lowest of the low, but in fact we were wrong. Anthony beats him 10 times over – and that’s all credit to Nicholas Day for such a chilling performance. From the moment he arrived we were unsure about Anthony (Credit: ITV) Nicholas Day as Anthony Fox in Emmerdale Although actor Nicholas Day has had a long and varied career both on stage and screen, he was relatively unknown to the Emmerdale audience when he arrived in the Dales. A part in the Crown and roles in Murder Maps, The Wolfman and The Lakes were perhaps his best-known roles. But now he will forever be etched in our brains as horrid Anthony Fox. Anthony came to Emmerdale to reunite with estranged daughter Ruby Fox-Miligan last year. He arrived alongside granddaughter, Steph Miligan article continues below Read all the latest spoilers Ruby and Caleb were desperate to reunite with Steph, but she made it very clear Anthony came as part of the package. Given she hadn’t spoken to her dad for 30 years, Ruby found this difficult to swallow. The official story is that Anthony and Ruby’s mum, Helen, threw Ruby out when she fell pregnant at 16. They gave her a choice between keeping her baby or staying at home and she chose Caleb and the baby. Since his return, Anthony has spent months pretending to Ruby he’s sorry and gaslighting her into thinking she was the problem. As everyone around her urged her to give her dad another chance, especially as he has terminal prostate cancer, Ruby stood firm. It came to the point where even husband Caleb urged her to let it go. But while no one in the village could see the hell Ruby was going through, viewers certainly could – and they were proved right when flashbacks revealed Anthony had sexually abused Ruby and it started when she was just 14. A rape on her 16th birthday had – horrifyingly – resulted in the birth of Steph. Anthony is Steph’s real father. He’s charming, kind and generous – but not behind the scenes (Credit: ITV) So what makes Nicholas Day such a good villain? The entire time Anthony has been in the village, he has charmed the pants off everyone around him. Even Caleb, who knows him of old, was won over by his father-in-law. Anthony has painted this perfect persona of kind and generous. He donated £5000 to the April search fund and has even been helping half the village kids with their homework. But behind closed doors, he has been blackmailing Ruby over her fling with Cain. He has made vile comments and veiled threats towards her. His mere presence has been making her feel physically sick, let alone when he tries to touch her. Villains don’t have to be murderous or out there, the ones that have us believe they are something else are far more terrifying. Take Meena Jutla for example: she was always a bit out there, crazy and unpredictable. Whereas Anthony comes across as just a kindly old man – something he is not. Caleb wants his father-in-law dead, but will he go through with it? (Credit: ITV) Fans love to hate Nicholas Day as Anthony in Emmerdale The mark of a good villain is what the viewers think. Soap fans are a hard bunch to please and the overwhelming consensus is Nicholas Day is a brilliant actor. “The actor playing Anthony is such a credit to his art, aren’t we all totally repulsed by him? Superb,” said one on social media. Another added: “Gutted Nicholas Day will be leaving despite what the storyline is about; Anthony the abusive father of Ruby will be happy when he’s gone, but well done Nicholas an incredible part.” “He has played Anthony brilliantly, hats off to him great acting to play a part like that, can’t be easy,” said a third. A fourth then agreed: “I feel so sorry for Nicholas Day – he’s playing the part so well that he’s probably getting women walloping him with bags of potato waffles in Iceland.” A further commenter has said: “In storylines like this the person playing the hated character gets overlooked. Nicholas Day is a fantastic actor. The character he portrays makes my skin crawl, which is a sure indication an actor is doing a good job!” “The actor playing her dad is brilliant too. He makes my skin crawl,” added one more. [boxout] Read more: Who’s leaving Emmerdale? All the cast exits, arrivals and returns Emmerdale usually airs weeknights on ITV at 7.30pm, with an early release on ITVX at 7am. Classic Emmerdale usually airs every weekday on ITV3 at 6am and 6.30am, plus 1.40pm and 2.10pm. What do you think of Nicholas Day? Visit our Facebook page @emmerdaleinsider to let us know and for all the latest Emmerdale news, gossip and spoilers! Or find us on Twitter @emmerdaleinside Share this:Click to share on X (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Good to Know Share By Carena Crawford 21st January 2025 By Carena Crawford 21st January 2025
