Sarah Sugden is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Katie Hill since January 2017.

Having been played by Sophia Amber Moore from toddler up to age 11 in 2016, the producers opted to recast the role in late 2016 to an older actress, Katie Hill, "due to the nature of the storyline of the character".

[3] Scenes in July 2020 show Sarah breaking into Holdgate to find details on Johnny Woodfield's (Luca Hepworth) missing father.

When Sarah's "rebellious side" and "surprising attitude" is explored, actress Hill voiced her excitement at the change in personality for her character.

[4] She stated that when she began portraying Sarah, she "was playing an innocent little girl who was fighting an illness", and that the material she was given was "quite emotional, heavy stuff".

She also explained that long-term viewers will have seen Sarah grow up in hospital and should be able to understand her "spreading her wings" due to unlocking a "new sense of freedom that she's never had before".

[5] When Sarah's mother, Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb), discovers she is pregnant at age fifteen, she conceals it and plans to leave the baby at the hospital after birth.

A year later, Sarah is taken hostage by Debbie's serial killer ex-boyfriend, Cameron Murray (Dominic Power), but is saved by Andy and Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb).

Debbie reveals that Sarah has throat cancer and a fundraising page is set up to fund her proton beam therapy; an anonymous donation of £20,000 is made.

Charity and Vanessa warn Danny away, so Sarah explains that she meets him because she wants to enjoy herself in case she dies young from her illness.

Danny is arrested and serves a jail sentence for at least a year in a youth detention facility; upon his release, he tries to rekindle their relationship but shows that he wants to use Sarah again for more drug transport instead of love.

[7] In 2021, Alice Penwill of Inside Soap wrote that due to viewers having watched over 15 years of Sarah's tribulations with her health, they had "become invested in her future".

[8] In 2022, Monde Mwitumwa from Leeds Live noted that Sarah "has already endured more trauma than most will in a lifetime" due being "in and out of hospital while battling a devastating diagnosis", and added that the character has been involved in many "intense scenes".