Douglas "Doug" Potts, played by
Duncan Preston, made his first appearance on 30 April 2007. He was introduced as
Laurel Thomas's (
Charlotte Bellamy) father, alongside
Paula Wilcox as her mother
Hilary Potts. Bellamy commented "I was so honoured when I found out they'd be playing my mum and dad. I've grown up with Duncan on TV, so it's great to be working alongside him." In July 2010, Preston announced that he was taking a break from the show, initially temporarily for several months to allow him to do some theatre work. However, it was later announced by Executive Producer,
Steve November, that a return for the character of Doug wasn't definite. November stated that the door would remain open for Preston to come back to the show but that it was in the actor's hands if and when he decides to discuss a return. On 30 July 2014, it was announced that Preston has reprised the role and Doug is returning to the show as a regular character from September. During a December 2016 episode of the show, Doug was recast temporarily to provide an alternative physical appearance from the viewpoint of dementia patient
Ashley Thomas (
John Middleton). On Doug's most memorable moment; a writer from
Holy Soap said that "despite bringing some real gravitas to the soap, he's best remembered for when he caught an unfortunate STD [...] and was arrested for indecent behaviour in a public place because he was scratching himself." Doug is Laurel Thomas' father. He and Laurel's mother, Hilary Potts, come to the village to visit their daughter but after they leave, they are involved in a car accident. Doug suffers minor injuries but Hilary is comatose for several weeks. Laurel immediately goes to look after her father despite being heavily pregnant. Doug tells Hilary after she recovers that Laurel had moved in to take care of him and the house while she was ill. Doug returns with Hilary to meet their grandson,
Daniel. Daniel dies of cot death and Hilary asks a devastated Doug to contain his grief for Laurel's sake, and he confides his true feelings to
Pearl Ladderbanks (
Meg Johnson). Hilary and Doug leave the village after Laurel bans Hilary from attending a memorial service for Daniel. They return a couple of weeks later. Laurel and Hilary resolve things and Hilary and Doug move in with Laurel and her husband,
Ashley Thomas (
John Middleton). Hilary discovers that Daniel was not Laurel and Ashley's son and when she confides her suspicions to Doug, he is reluctant to believe her but she is later proved to be right. Hilary falls out with Laurel over this and leaves but Doug stays to support Laurel, and gets a job at
Eric Pollard's (
Chris Chittell) furniture factory. Doug makes plans to reunite with Hilary, but she telephones him and asks for a divorce. Doug begins suffering a
midlife crisis and buys himself a new sports car and has sex with
Bonnie Drinkwater (
Sue Jenkins), a friend of
Val Lambert's (
Charlie Hardwick). Laurel and Ashley trick Bonnie into leaving the village, but she unwittingly causes more problems for Doug. In the village shop,
Brenda Walker (
Lesley Dunlop) notices him scratching his crotch, and assuming he is a pervert, calls the police. Doug is arrested but released without charge when it is revealed he had an
STI, passed on to him by Bonnie. The news spreads around the village and Doug feels humiliated. Laurel reassures him that they would both laugh about the event sometime in the future. Doug disagrees but laughs with her. Doug begins building a relationship with Brenda but her daughter,
Gennie (
Sian Reese-Williams), realises that Brenda has feelings for
Bob Hope (
Tony Audenshaw). Brenda initially denies it but eventually ends her relationship with Doug, and begins dating
Terry Woods (
Billy Hartman) instead. Brenda and Doug continue to be friends, and they form Emmerdale Explorers, a playgroup for the local children. They receive some funding from
Natasha Wylde (
Amanda Donohoe), but they disagree repeatedly over her son,
Will (
Oscar Lloyd), attending the group. Eventually, Doug returns her money. Doug begins to resent Terry's involvement in the Explorers project, and his jealousy is further increased when he learns that Brenda intends to buy half of Bob's business. Doug convinces Terry and Bob that Brenda only wants to buy into the business to try to win Bob's heart. When Bob reneges on the deal, a furious Brenda pours a pint over Doug's head. Doug later apologises for interfering. Doug loses his job when Eric closes his factory as a result of the credit crunch. Doug soon begins running the Home Farm Fayre shop in the village with
Leyla Harding (
Roxy Shahidi). Doug becomes attracted to
Diane Sugden (
Elizabeth Estensen) and asks her out but she turns him down. Doug is unhappy when
Charlie Haynes (
George Costigan), a friend of Diane's ex-husband,
Rodney Blackstock (
Patrick Mower), arrives in the village and begins a relationship with Diane. Fearing Charlie is a con-artist, Doug informs Diane of his suspicions, but Diane does not believe him. Diane later discovers that Charlie has fled the village with her money and she forgives Doug for not believing him, but tells him she does not want a romantic relationship. Diane and Doug remain good friends and Doug offers Diane a loan when she faces financial problems as a result of Charlie's actions. Diane is reluctant to accept at first but eventually does so and Doug is pleased to have helped her. Doug tells Diane that he is seeing a woman, but does not reveal details. Doug eventually tells Diane that his new girlfriend is Hilary. He asks Diane to not tell Laurel and explains that he wants to give his marriage another go. On 11 February, Doug tells Laurel that he is going on a cruise with Hilary. He also tells Laurel that he intends to move back in with her at their old home. Laurel is reluctant at first but eventually accepts her father's decision. At the same time Diane realises that she does have feelings for Doug after all and invites him to a romantic meal at The Woolpack. He tells her of his plans and she is disappointed. On Valentine's Day, as Doug is about to leave, Laurel and Diane's sister, Val, arrange for Doug to meet Diane at the pub. Diane tells Doug that she regrets turning him down, and pleads with him to stay and give her another chance. But Doug is dismissive, telling Diane that had Charlie not been a conman then she would have gone to Spain with him and that he was not the sort of man she wanted and that he did not want to settle for second best. Doug then leaves and says farewell to Laurel, Ashley, Leyla and Ashley's father
Sandy (
Freddie Jones). As he is leaving the pub, Diane follows him outside and wishes him well. They embrace and bid each other farewell, parting on good terms. Doug then gets into his waiting taxi and is driven out of the village. Doug returns to the village for Laurel's wedding to
Marlon Dingle (
Mark Charnock), and he moves in with the couple and their children for a while. He reveals to Laurel and Marlon that Laurel's mother, Hilary, has begun a relationship with an Italian man named Alberto. He rekindles his relationship with Diane, and his friendship with Leyla. He starts a
vlog about gardening and builds up a fan base, however other residents find this silly, which humiliates Doug. In early 2015, Doug notices that Laurel is drinking more than normal, and soon realises that she has descended into
alcoholism. He tries to stop Laurel from drinking, but his actions result in Laurel throwing Doug out, forcing him to move in with Diane. Doug's worries for Laurel's health grow when she is hospitalised after choking on her own vomit after drinking two bottles of wine. He mentions his concerns regarding Laurel's drinking to Diane numerous times. Doug is upset to hear that Hilary has died from
heart failure, but is furious at her funeral when Alberto acts as if he knew Hilary for longer than he did, despite Doug's almost fifty-year marriage to Hilary. Doug is later heartbroken to learn that Diane has stomach cancer. He supports Diane as she decides to sell her share of The Woolpack. Doug finds out that Laurel is remarrying Ashley, which concerns him as Ashley has dementia. Laurel later miscarries her and Ashley's baby, and Doug realises he does not agree with Ashley and Laurel's marriage, and tried to talk Laurel out of it, but this only results in a rift in their relationship. They later reconcile on Laurel's hen night party, where Doug also discovers Laurel is still pregnant, and Doug witnesses Laurel and Ashley's wedding the following day. Their happiness is short lived as Ashley suffers a "mini-stroke" which results in him losing months from his memory, leading him to believe he is still dating
Harriet Finch (Katherine Dow Blyton). Doug gives Laurel a shoulder to cry on, but Ashley suddenly and miraculously remembers his wedding. Diane and Doug invest in Eric's B&B becoming co-owners alongside Eric. At the same time, Diane sells her share of the pub to
Charity Dingle (
Emma Atkins), however, Doug does not trust her. He later serves behind the bar whenever he can, before going to Spain to help Diane look after an ill
Annie Sugden (
Sheila Mercier). ==Hilary Potts==