“Pollard has no right to move on from Val!”
Emmerdale’s Val is sorely missed, and not just by us – as Charlie Hardwick reveals…
When Valerie Pollard met her maker in the dark depths of a collapsed hall of mirrors, sucking on a fag while holding court with the shard of glass that would be her undoing, we knew we’d never again see the like of her in Emmerdale village.
Her beloved husband Eric was devastated by her loss, and it’s only recently that the legendary charmer has begun showing an interest in a lady other than his adored Valerie. So when we join Charlie Hardwick – who played Val – as she prepares to tread the boards in new play Hyem, our first question naturally concerns the prickly topic of Pollard and Faith… “She’d better keep her hands off!” laughs the actress, during a break from rehearsals. “There’s only one Val Pollard, and Faith won’t fill her shoes. There’ll be ashtrays flying round Eric’s front room like a poltergeist if I get my way. Val may be dead, but she’s not lying down!”
Having joined Emmerdale in 2004, Charlie played Val for more than a decade before she was seen off in the aftermath of the helicopter crash.
And while her brief reappearance as a ghost helped to soften our grief, her ginormous presence is greatly missed.
“I’m so grateful for my time on the show, and all that I learned there,” enthuses the star. “I know Val got finished off, but I still carry her round like a haversack! Just last night a bus driver called me Val, and that’s really sweet – it makes me feel that people are looking out for us.
“I also get plenty of viewers telling me what my husband’s up to now – so I’ve been sending Chris [Chittell, who plays Pollard] texts, demanding to know what’s going on! Obviously we know the difference between reality and fantasy, but I’m thinking, ‘He’s got no right moving on! He should be sitting in that house, grieving for his marvellous wife’!”
Having played a variety of theatre roles prior to moving to the Dales, Charlie is thoroughly enjoying getting to grips with a new one – particularly since, just like Emmerdale, the cast of Hyem covers a wide range of ages. “Our youngest here is 21, going up to 60 – and it’s lovely,” shares Charlie, who won the Inside Soap Award for Best Shock Twist last year. “I still miss the young’uns from Emmerdale. I used to socialise with Laura Norton [Kerry] and Izzy [Isabel Hodgins, who plays Victoria] – and also Chelsea Halfpenny [Amy Wyatt] when she was still there. The four of us were a little gang, we’d go to the f licks and for meals together. I relish working with young people – they give me hope for the future!”
A future without Val is something that Pollard is having to face up to as romance begins to blossom with Faith. But there’s someone even more miffed than Charlie about the possibility of Eric finding love again… “Me mam isn’t keen – she was straight on the phone to tell me about it!” giggles the actress. “I doubt she’ll come round to the idea, either – we’re quite territorial in our family, and neither of us could watch Val’s death on the telly. But I’ve told her she’s going to have to accept Eric moving on. I’ve said to her, ‘Mother, you’re 91 – grow up!’”