In 2022, Emmerdale celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in grand fashion, culminating in a shocking event that left everyone stunned with the departure of two beloved characters.
Liv (Isobel Steele) was one among them; she was caught behind a waggon when it blew through the hamlet.
The other was Katherine Dow Blyton’s character Harriet Finch, who rode her quad bike into the woods but went down a high slope and was stuck under the vehicle.
After Harriet was located and freed by Kim Tate (Claire King), a lightning bolt hit the bike and killed her.
Fans of Emmerdale were crushed by the abrupt departure. The actor who portrays Will Taylor, also known as Harriet’s ex, Dean Andrew, recently thought back on these sequences and said how sad he was to say goodbye to Katherine.
She was excellent; she was a really talented and genuine performer. Many individuals have lost their relationships along the road, which is one of the worse aspects about this place, he added.
“I know Claire [King] misses working with and missing a couple of the boys, Michael and Graham, er, Andrew, but that’s just a part of losing good people along the way.”
As Will’s grandson Evan is diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic pneumonia and his ex-wife Rose (Christine Tremarco) makes an appearance in the Dales, Dean is enmeshed in a complex plot.
The family has started talking about “long term plans” and how important it is to strike a healthy balance between their lives in the village and the hospital.
Katherine discussed the events leading up to her departure back in March of this year.
After Harriet passed away, I received a tonne of kind notes. People asking where her corpse is and why she hasn’t even had a funeral. She said on the Soap From the Box podcast, “I just kind of felt bad for Harriet; it’s just the way things are.”
“In show business, you have to swallow your pride and move on!” That was my first time participating in a super soap week, which is ironic.
Thinking back to the discussion she had with supervisors to confirm Harriet’s departure, Katherine clarified:
“They essentially told me, “We love Harriet and we’re going to give her a good death,” when I walked up to them. For 10 seconds, I did sat there and wonder, Am I doing anything wrong? Don’t take it personally, they say, but it’s hard not to.
I was shocked. “Well, you don’t know what to do with me anyway, do you?” I questioned. It was such a shock that I attempted to exit the building, sat in my vehicle and started crying.
“To be fair, I had been prepared to go for a while, but leaving a great job is a big decision, so I’m glad they made it because I might not have been brave enough,” she said.
The actress continued by discussing Harriet’s character development. She worked as the local vicar before having a breakdown and going back to becoming a police officer. She passed away before this.
“I think it was a bit left field to go back to being a policewoman on the beat at my age,” she said.
It simply seemed odd to me, and for the first time in over a decade, I was uncomfortable in my own flesh. When Harriet first appeared, she was such a wonderful character—a little mischievous, a little odd, and funny. How recently have you seen Harriet laugh?
“I think the issue is that everything seems to be very sensational now, but if you watch the older episodes, they were largely character-based,” she went on.
You could wonder why there is always violence, murder, and extramarital relationships. You may create a character that is single or a contented pair in marriage. I wonder whether soap operas are a victim of their own popularity because there comes a point at which six episodes a week becomes too much to handle. How do you maintain viewer attention then?
“Rather than focusing on characters, it seems like soap operas are competing to perform the greatest traumas, tragedies, and stunts.”
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