Ashley’s tragic farewell

The actors who play Emmerdale’s dying vicar and his wife on filming his emotional final scenes

Emmerdale fans will be plunged into mourning this week when vicar Ashley Thomas finally passes away following his long battle with dementia. The scenes promise to be some of the soap’s most moving ever and fans are warned to have plenty of tissues to hand.

But no one will be more heartbroken over Ashley’s passing than the actors who’ve so movingly played the cleric and his wife Laurel, John Middleton and Charlotte Bellamy.

‘I’ve been in this show 20 years, half my career, and it’s an odd feeling to think this is it,’ explains John. ‘ My mother said to me, “You’re going to experience something akin to grief.” I think she’s right.’

Charlotte adds, ‘I’ve loved every minute of this storyline with John but it’s now the end of a long road. It’s going to be hard when he’s gone.’

This week Laurel will be told Ashley isn’t going to recover from the pneumonia brought on by early-onset vascular dementia, which he’s had for nearly two years. Desperate to have her husband die at home, Laurel brings Ashley back to Mulberry Cottage and when Laurel is alone with Ashley they share a tender moment before he quietly passes away.

While John and Charlotte are sad their screen union is coming to a

close, it’s some consolation to them that this storyline’s had a huge impact and their final scenes are, they say, so emotional and well made.

‘It’s a beautiful ending,’ says Charlotte. ‘It’ll make your heart swell. One shot pushes the boundaries of soap.’ John agrees, ‘It’ll be a tear-jerker. The atmosphere on set was extraordinary; there were tears pouring down the faces of the cast and crew.’

Emmerdale consulted dementia charities every step of the way and the soap’s been praised for its portrayal and for raising awareness. ‘It’s definitely had an impact,’ says Kathryn Smith, director of operations for the Alzheimer’s Society, ‘because people who’ve called our helpline will say, “I saw this on Emmerdale and this is what happened to me”.’

Charlotte backs this up, revealing that ‘a woman came up to me in the

supermarket with tears in her eyes and said, “You’ve just told the story of my husband and it helps me so much.” That’s why we do it.’ But the 44-year-old actress admits the longrunning plot has taken its toll. ‘I feel a bit battered,’ she says.

Will John keep watching the show? ‘Probably not,’ he says. ‘I want a complete break; I don’t believe in looking back. I’ve got to look forward and it’s exciting because there’s such a lot of amazing work on TV for actors.’

Although Charlotte and John may not be working together any longer they’ll remain firm friends. ‘The nice thing is that Charlotte and I live round the corner from one another in Harrogate,’ says John, 63. ‘ We both have dogs and like walking. We’ll still see each other – I’m not actually dead!’