ONE UNHOLY MESS!
When Emmerdale vicar Harriet’s affair comes out, all hell will be let loose, says Katherine Dow Blyton...
Harriet is up to her dog collar in a steamy love triangle with fiancé Will and her lover Malone — and this week comes the moment the Emmerdale vicar has been dreading when her secret gets out.
Harriet’s been desperate to keep her shenanigans with Malone under wraps, and has assured Will that Malone’s business in the village is over. But after praying to God for forgiveness, Harriet is about to give into temptation again and kiss Malone in the church when she’s interrupted by Moira. After all the subterfuge Harriet now feels she has no choice but to confess all to her stunned friend.
‘It’s all been getting very stressful because once you tell a lie you have to remember the lie so it doesn’t trip you up,’ says Katherine Dow Blyton, who plays the vicar. ‘Harriet’s been terrified of it all coming out, and it’s very dramatic when it does.’
So what possessed Harriet to get involved with all these men — and dodgy ones at that? Even before the current relationships with jailbird Will and crooked detective Malone there was local hardman Cain.
‘Who doesn’t love a bad boy?’ says Katherine, 55. ‘And let’s face it there aren’t many men available in the village! Harriet’s not a saint, she’s a vicar, so she makes mistakes, but she does strive to see the best in people. Harriet thinks she can save them. She’s just doing her public duty!’
She certainly has her work cut out with Will. For the past year, Harriet’s been in a relationship with him — the father of her surrogate daughter Dawn and grandfather to Dawn’s son Lucas — despite the fact he previously tried to kill her in revenge for her part in getting him sent to prison for drug crimes when she was a detective. The couple got engaged in May but Harriet now feels she can’t trust liar Will, and last week missed meeting the bishop to discuss their wedding.
‘Harriet loves Dawn and Lucas and wants that family unit she’s never had,’ says Katherine. ‘She doesn’t want to lose them and is trying to convince herself that she’s doing the right thing. But the fact she’s had relations with another man makes everything a little flimsy!’
Katherine and her colleagues were midway through the plot when the Covid-19 crisis called a halt to filming. ‘Because we finished at the beginning of the ride up the rollercoaster, it will be great to get momentum going again — scream if you want to go faster!’
And the conclusion shouldn’t be too far away, with Emmerdale back filming again under social distancing guidelines. Katherine says the new way of working is ‘very strange’, adding, ‘It’s been weird not to give people a kiss and hug after so many weeks apart, but we’ll get used to it.’
■ Tom Latchem