Soap & Glory

Emmerdale’s Gillian Kearney talks about a mother’s love, growing up on screen and soap success the first and second time around

As a child, Gillian Kearney loved to watch Emmerdale. There was just something about the farmland setting and the lovely views that was strangely soothing. So how ironic that she should grow up to play far-from angelic nurse Emma Barton, who brings mayhem to that quiet corner of Yorkshire. So far, Emma has pushed her fiancé off a motorway bridge in a fit of pique, killing him, and now fears her crime will be exposed

‘I know, yet despite it all, people love Emma,’ says Gillian, 44. ‘They say, ‘I don’t want you to get caught, but I do…’ I suppose it’s fun watching someone dodge a bullet for as long as they can. I’m one of the only people who doesn’t think Emma’s insane. True, she’s not like other people, but that’s what’s a joy to play. She’s so unpredictable. She’s fragile, but fearsome when it comes to protecting family.

She's her own worst enemy really. She’ll get too intense and mess up. What I love is she never gets away with anything because she’s not quite good enough at being evil. She killed the man she loved, but she’s paying the price every day.’

It’s not the first time a soap alter ego of Gillian’s has captured the nation’s attention. It hardly seems possible, but it’s 30 years since she found fame in her TV debut as teenager Debbie McGrath in Brookside. She and co-star Simon O’Brien proved so popular as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet that they were given their own miniseries, Damon And Debbie.