With the devastating death of Ashley Thomas, the heartbreaking reveal that Faith Dingle endured a double mastectomy and the sizzling tension in Pierce Harris and Rhona Goskirk’s destructive relationship, as well as the mystery surrounding Jai Sharma’s new friend Nell, there is a lot going on in Emmerdale – and the pace of the drama isn’t likely to die down any time soon.
Metro.co.uk recently nabbed some time to chat with series producer Iain MacLeod about what lies ahead for some of the show’s biggest characters, why Emmerdale is in such a strong place and his pride around the bittersweet ending for Ashley.
Here is what he revealed to us:
Has the Ashley storyline been a particular highlight for you?
Certainly it’s up there – nearly everyone of us has some sort of direct or indirect experience of dementia so what makes me proud is when people tell us that we have got it right. I have read the letter of a lady who contacted us to say how her husband has gone into a care home and gave away his wedding ring and how our portrayal of such a similar situation has brought some daylight into her life – that kind of stuff is something that you can’t put into words. It makes viewing figures seem trivial.
What’s the secret to Emmerdale’s ongoing awards success?
I don’t want to jinx it but what I’ve always liked is the variety of stories – at times it can be very poignant, at times it can be very funny, at times it can be outright silly and it can also be sexy and shocking – most soaps aspire to having that mix all of the time and we’ve had, since before I got here, a long run of really brilliant, varied stories that are ticking all of those different boxes so I think it’s that, as far as possible, you have to try and be all things to all people. If you get that right even some of the time, then you’re halfway there.
Would you say there is there anything missing from the show?
Oddly enough, I’ve been saying I’d really like to see a character that is covered head to toe in tattoos and body piercings – I’ve no idea why! It’s not something I have discussed with anybody but that’s a character you don’t often see in soaps – somebody quite alternative would be interesting, firstly to shake up people’s preconceptions of that kind of subculture and secondly, it’s just something different visually and quite striking.
In terms of story and character mix, broadly we have a really good range from people who can carry really serious stories and people who can carry silly, comedy stories – some of those characters are the same, for instance Paddy and Marlon. They can do really silly but they can also break your heart and I think the stuff that Mark Charnock’s done in the Marlon/Carly storyline – and the stuff that’s coming up in it – is really heartbreaking. We have a really talented cast.
Can you tell us who has big storylines ahead?
Laurel
There’s a big story coming up for Charlotte Bellamy – it’s not a romance as I think that the viewers will have no appetite to see that right now at all and nor do I. The way I describe it is that when you are grieving, you are such a ball of emotion that that you can become quite tenacious and quite combative so I think we might see her butting heads against somebody quite unexpected in the near future.
Rhona and Pierce
Rhona and Pierce will continue to escalate and deteriorate. His behaviour gets more and more dark and manipulative. There’s a really huge story for them that will run right up to the end of the year.
Cain and Harriet
We have ongoing shenanigans for Cain and Harriet, which I am sure you can guess. Moira is the love of Cain’s life but there comes a point where you can only have the door shut in your face so many times before, especially when you’re Cain, male pride dictates that you need to go and get laid. What starts as a sexy, fun, naughty affair where the angel is sleeping with the devil, does turn into something more serious in a way that questions Cain’s feelings about what he wants from his romantic life. That’s really big.
Harriet has always been a really different kind of vicar – she used to be a police officer and she’s a tough cookie and that comes to play a little bit. What’s a Dingle doing not only dating a vicar but also a former copper and that does rear its head. She probably will get into trouble with the diocese to comedy effect. There’s some fun stuff coming up – a guy called Bishop Barry makes an appearance and Harriet gets her knuckles rapped!
Emma
Obviously the Barton story that kicked off last year around the big car crash is still bubbling along and the video that Ashley accidentally took is still out there and will definitely become significant as the story unfolds. So there’s big new chapters there.
Emma considers lying to be a lesser sin than killing James so she is not averse to committing a small sin to cover up the bigger one. Emma’s dead serious about her religion – she sees it as a way to absolve herself over what she did. I don’t think she is playing with it – she totally means it even if her interpretation of religion is sometimes a bit more Old Testament than Harriet’s.
We’ll play with that a little bit where Harriet is very much a modern vicar – as evidenced by her affair with Cain – and is kind of more New Testament with attitudes like turn the other cheek and love thy neighbour whereas Emma is a teeny weeny bit more Levitacus. That religious conversion that Emma has experienced is very earnest in her mind – she’s not just using that to portray herself as a better person, she really buys that but it will come to torture her in the end.
Will there be any redemption for Robert?
Yeah – there will be more bumps, thrills and spills along the way but yeah, my view is that they individually and collectively meant the vows that they said in that wedding episode but it’s never going to be a straight road with those guys; it’s going to be bumpy and tricky but ultimately they will definitely make it out the other side.
Can you tell us anything about Nell and Jai’s story?
I can’t say too much but to Jai, she is a promise of redemption and a chance to do again what he didn’t do right by Holly and the question becomes does he fall for her because he is falling for her or is it because he is trying to turn her into Holly or she is becoming Holly in his imagination? It’s just a story about him trying to find redemption with somebody who reminds him of a lost love. Some of the stuff is really poignant – it felt like unfinished business for Jai when Holly died as I don’t think anyone really knew he was even with her at the time. It felt right to revisit that and give him a second shot of happiness I suppose.
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Originally Posted by kiwigirl
Cain/Harriet is basically a re-hash of Cain/Angie from over 15 years ago. The 'good' morally righteous policewoman. It was a whole big mix of Cain hating the Reynolds (wanting revenge for Butch) and him genuinely falling for her. It worked because they had chemistry and there was a reason it happened (he hated her husband)...Cain/Harriet is just no chemistry and no reason apart from giving Cain something to do cos the show has no imagination apart from babies and who is sleeping with who. 