Charity finds out what Sarah did
As Charity vows to keep her family together in the wake of Graham’s murder, actress Emma Atkins hopes her character won’t turn too mumsy…
Even though Charity and Vanessa’s family is unconventional, it actually has a very normal, natural feel to it,” admits Emmerdale star Emma Atkins, as she chats to us about her character’s current domestic set-up. “It paints an authentic picture of a house of madness really – we all know that real family life is pretty much always chaotic!
“There are some really lovely moments where Vanessa’s trying to steal a kiss,” she adds, “and the kids run down and go, ‘Urgh, gross!’ It’s just very light-hearted and funny, although Vanessa is definitely the more well-balanced one!”
With four kids currently under their roof, Charity and Vanessa certainly have their work cut out for them. And this week their parental problems ramp up when, as the village reels from Graham’s murder, Charity discovers that her granddaughter
Sarah was responsible for teenager Noah’s recent drug overdose, after she brought illegal pills into the house.
“It’s quite a revelation!” shares Emma. “Noah and Charity are at loggerheads, and he just blurts it out and says, ‘If you really want to know what’s going on, then why don’t you ask Sarah!’
“Charity can’t believe it, and until she speaks to Sarah, she’s still unsure if it’s true,” continues the actress. “She’s just gobsmacked, and she makes Sarah spell it out for her. Charity’s devastated when Sarah admits the truth.”
While Charity is disappointed in her granddaughter’s behaviour, she tries to understand why Sarah would act out in such a way – and ultimately blames herself for not being there for the teen.
“Charity realises Sarah was trying to keep up with the cool gang at school, and it was just a horrible accident – which could have been fatal,” sighs Emma. “She understands the gravity of what’s happened, and just thinks, ‘Where did I go wrong?’ Charity was meant to be the maternal figure to Sarah while her mum Debbie is away, so then it’s a question of what will happen if Debbie finds out – can they avoid telling her? Charity knows that with Sarah’s illness, taking drugs could have had horrendous consequences.”
There’s no doubt that the revelation will have huge repercussions for Charity and Sarah’s relationship going forward, especially as Charity initially blamed Graham for Noah’s overdose – and he’s now been found murdered! Can Charity find a way to rebuild her relationship with Sarah in the coming weeks?
“It will massively affect them, but not in a way that they can’t move on,” Emma tells us. “Just in the way that they need to find their groove. Charity explains to Sarah, ‘Look, you can tell me anything – you don’t have to hide things from me’. It’s just about finding a way to move forward, so they can keep living under the same roof in harmony.”
Meanwhile, as news of Graham’s death spreads around the village (see p10), Charity could soon find herself hauled in for questioning by the police! She certainly made no secret of the fact that she hated Graham – but is Charity really capable of killing him?
“She could have been driven to it,” muses Emma. “I think we’re all one step away from being that crazy, but we have a choice. Charity has certain things that are not up for negotiation, and her family is that thing. So I do believe she could be pushed to her limits, and something could have been triggered in her. He’s meddled with her family, so she goes in all guns blazing. Whether she’s killed him or not, she’ll be glad Graham’s dead!”
While there are some characters on the list of suspects that we can’t ever imagine turning killer – mild-mannered Marlon, for example – it wouldn’t be a stretch to believe that volatile Charity had snapped and murdered Graham! In fact, when we quiz Emma on Charity’s past demeanours, even she’s not sure whether her character has actually bumped off anyone in the past…
“I don’t think she has… but if you feel there is someone she’s killed, then let me know!” she chuckles. “Honestly, when people say, ‘How many times has Charity been married?’, I would have to sit down and do the maths! How do you remember 20 years of storylines? But to my knowledge, she’s not killed anyone.
“Just because she’s found true love with Vanessa, though, doesn’t mean the writers should take away other aspects of her personality – that’d be terrible,” adds Emma. “I get a lot out of playing the darker side of my character, and it’s so exciting to be in the line-up of suspects for this story. I feel very lucky.”
Viewers will find out soon whether or not Charity is the culprit, but whatever the outcome, we hope she’s not going to jail any time soon – because there’s still the small matter of her wedding with Vanessa to be addressed! Their recent attempt to get hitched ended in disaster, thanks to Graham, but Emma’s hoping they’ll get there in the coming weeks…
“I think regardless of where it takes place – in the village or abroad, in a church or not – they’d go for a more humanist wedding,” she predicts. “They’d keep it simple, just the sacred ritual of saying they love each other in front of the family, and really coming together in that way. Then a good old knees-up in the Woolpack afterwards!”
Inside Soap isn’t the only one to be hoping that the nuptials will finally go ahead. But in the meantime, there’s still wayward teens Sarah and Noah to be dealt with – and Emma reckons her character should take a long, hard look at her parenting abilities!
“She needs to stop being so selfish and pay more attention to the people around her!” advises the actress, who is mum to four-year-old Albert in real life. “She’s flawed in that aspect of her personality, but there’s still a loveable quality to her because you can’t believe how brazen she can be – yet she gets away with it!
“She so mischievous, but I don’t ever want her to change,” concludes Emma. “It would be awful for her to suddenly become all prim and proper – that’s just not in her nature!”
“Whether Charity has killed Graham or not, she’ll be glad that he’s dead!”