PIERCE WILL HAVE TO FACE THE MUSIC

Jonathan Wrather says his abusive Emmerdale villain will definitely get his comeuppance – it’s just a case of when

He’s Emmerdale’s resident rogue, who’s cast a sinister spell over his fiancée, vet Rhona Goskirk. Pierce Harris just has to snap his fingers for poor Rhona to satisfy his every whim.

But while Jonathan Wrather, who plays Pierce, knows that such behaviour rarely goes unpunished in soapland – and may even result in Pierce leaving the show – he feels it’s important to highlight the issue of abusive relationships for the sake of the thousands of women suffering in real life.

‘When we were doing our research with the charities Rape Crisis and Women’s Aid, the statistics about how prevalent these kinds of relationships are shocked me,’ says Jonathan. ‘You expect them to be violently abusive, but they’re much more manipulative and coercive.

‘So I feel a huge responsibility to play this storyline as truthfully as possible; it’s testament to Emmerdale that this story has been such a slow burner as the audience has become invested in the characters.’

It all started about a year ago when Pierce came to the village to find out who killed his wife Tess in a hit-andrun accident. He found out Tess had been having an affair with Paddy Kirk – prompting Pierce to seduce Rhona, who was then Paddy’s wife.

Since then, Pierce has exerted a creeping hold over Rhona and persuaded her to have sex against her will. Their recent engagement has led furious viewers to call for Pierce’s head. And he won’t win any fans this week when he secretly records them getting fruity and uses the footage to increase his power over Rhona.

Jonathan, who had a year’s stint in Corrie from 2002, says it’s a clever plotline because of the characters

involved. ‘Rhona’s a strong, experienced, articulate woman. It shows that the people you’d least expect can be manipulated in a relationship.

‘Similarly, Pierce is someone you could live next door to. He’s intelligent and urbane, but he has an emotional disconnect and may not even know what he’s doing. That’s not to condone his behaviour, but it’s interesting to play. He’s complex. I like that.’

So much so that he moved his family – wife Kathi and children Otis, two, and 12-week-old Lulu – north

from London to be close to the show’s set. He says, ‘I’ve enjoyed Emmerdale the most of any job I’ve done – it’s a lot of fun and we’re a great team.’

But Jonathan realises Pierce’s hold over Rhona won’t last and he’ll eventually face the music. ‘How it happens, and when, is anyone’s guess. I reckon he could be rehabilitated at this stage, but it depends how far the story goes. This could play out in a number of interesting ways and I’m excited to see what happens.’