The narrative of Ivy, the child conceived after Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) and Gus Malcolms (Alan McKenna) illegally exploited embryos they had frozen while they were married, has captured the attention of Emmerdale audiences in recent months.
According to Zoe Henry, speaking with Metro.co.uk, the narrative not only addressed a topic never before covered in a soap opera, but it was also a first for British TV since it was a complicated tale to tell.
“I didn’t realise the legalities of how Rhona’s egg helps create the embryo but she has no legal rights because she hasn’t birthed it,” she added. “There’s nothing straightforward about it.”
Although Rhona is a well-liked figure among fans, her actions of removing Ivy from the town in order to prevent Gus from taking her to live in France have drawn criticism.
“Yesterday, I took a quick look at social media and quickly pulled my toes back out because it wasn’t very nice,” Zoe remarked. “People are not happy with Rhona’s actions.”
The actress acknowledges that the circumstances are far from simple.
“Well, it’s his baby,” people say when I explain it to them, and I believe that’s probably the main cause.
“I’ve said it a lot: nobody’s right or wrong. He shouldn’t have taken the embryos and forged the signature, but in the end, they’re all parents—including Marlon, played by Mark Charnock—so it’s really complicated,”
Zoe said that she was taken aback by all the dips and turns the tale made, particularly one particularly dramatic event that totally flipped the plot: Gus’s wife Lucy’s death shortly after Ivy was born.
“I was shocked to learn that Lucy was going to die; that was a big one,” Zoe said.
I had assumed that maybe we would co-parent and that Alan would then be on the programme or something, but no, we had no notion at all, and I doubt they did when they first started.
They had to be honest, but also since this has never been done before and there are a lot of legal options and ways you could go with it. Really, it’s been interesting.
The drama needed to treat this topic very carefully since it had never been tackled in a drama before. Zoe had to make sure she portrayed every detail of the tale as it developed, along with Mark Charnock, Alan McKenna, and other participants.
Zoe warned us, “We can’t let the ball drop at all.” There have been times throughout our chats when I’ve thought, “Wait a second, what happened? When did it occur? There have been so many twists and turns in the plot that we have had to do our homework in order to be faithful to it and the line that it has been performed. It has gone well.
Regarding Ivy’s potential long-term outcomes, Zoe said that they anticipate discussing it more in the future.
“As far as we know, that’s not something we’ve addressed in the scripts, but I have no doubt they’ll bring that up later, maybe when the kid is a little older, or maybe when Gus returns.”
Rhona may be rooting for a lengthy term for Gus if he ends up in jail, but Zoe isn’t since she likes working with Alan McKenna.
We really adore Alan, therefore we’d want it to be a simple statement. He could live in the village with me very happily.
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