Vincent Spode is an old colleague and rival of Ashley Thomas, who made his first appearance in the Dales in August 2009, along with his wife Sally, having recently returned from conservation work in Mozambique. Vincent and Sally's marriage was later shown to be strained. Vincent had a short temper and lost it with Ashley's wife Laurel at a dinner party. Sally soon went to Ashley and Laurel's, revealing that she had left Vincent. Shortly afterwards, Vincent arrived and confronted them, accidentally hitting Ashley. It is later revealed that Vincent has gone to a retreat in Wiltshire.