Every time we are hit with a juicy Emmerdale twist, we are left with more questions than answers – the enduring pain of being a soap superfan.
DS Thea Ramsden (Chelsea Edge) has had a bizarre vendetta against Dales superbitch Kim Tate (Claire King) and now we know why – she is a secret daughter that none of us knew about, born and given away not long after Kim escaped in a helicopter after love tapping Chris with a paperweight in 1999.
Okay, it’s somewhat of a retcon considering that we have never seen any indication of this being part of Kim’s history, but apparently she has been inwardly haunted by this for decades.
And given the juiciness of the drama that it will create – revenge arcs, battles for the Tate empire and the like – I am prepared to overlook this and embrace the story twist.
Iconic actress Claire – also known for notable roles in Bad Girls and Coronation Street – is just as optimistic about the direction this will take Kim in, but warns that it will be a while before her alter-ego discovers who Thea is.
Meaning we are in on the secret long before the Home Farm honcho.
”The audience gets to know about it before Kim does, so it will be quite a good surprise for them to see Kim’s reaction as well, which actually we haven’t even filmed yet,’ she told us.
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‘So, there’s quite a long way to go before we get to the reaction, because of certain storylines with the baby and everything. There are a lot of ins and outs and ups and downs on the route to that.’
Claire explained that Kim has wanted to wipe it from her mind but that hasn’t quite been possible despite Kim’s hardened and stoic nature.
And now with Thea in the village, it truly is going to haunt her.
But there’s one burning question on everyone’s lips. Who could have fathered this child? It’s bound to be someone we know.
The leading theory from fans is that Thea could be the child of Kim’s ex Steve Marchant – the guy she framed for that whole horse theft debacle before the turn of the millennium.
And Claire has added fuel to that fire, by urging us to do the maths.
‘I was thinking, “Okay, so it could be so-and-so’s, and it could be so-and-so’s,” because it was just after I’d left the first time, so we’re talking about the turn of the century because she’s about 26.
‘It was just after Kim left in the helicopter, so you’ve got to put two and two together and see who you come up with…’
Of course, Emmerdale is not confirming that for us quite yet, so we are expecting to see many more theories emerging.
Claire has predicted an explosive reaction from Kim over the bombshell but fundamentally, the actress has predicted that she will want to bolster the clan, and form a relationship with her estranged daughter.
‘I think she’d particularly want to establish a bond with her because of the fact she thought she had a bond with Jamie, loved him, gave him the world, but it all went sour, she mused.
‘So, I think she would. She’d be hesitant, and she’ll be treading very carefully, but I think she would love to have a bond with her daughter.
‘I think it’d be lovely to have all the kids together – Joe, Jamie and Thea – but it would be absolute carnage!’
And for Claire herself, she is very much a fan of expanding the Tate dynasty.
‘I think it’s great. I think we need them. We’re outnumbered by Dingles! We need more Tates. And every now and then, they keep whipping one away! Will went, Dawn’s gone, she was a particularly important corner of the Tates.’
A close friend of Olivia Bromley, who played doomed Dawn, Claire has nothing but high praise for the star, who she reckons will go far, and tips for a role in a period drama.
But she is much missed on the soap.
‘It was heartbreaking, and I was very sad about it, but we did have a good laugh that final week. We were all outside this massive marquee where we were doing all the wedding stuff and the car crash, and it was all meant to be tragic, but we were all actually having a good laugh.
‘We had some really nice people on set that day, great crew, and it was just a bit of camaraderie. But I could see as the days went on to the final day that she was getting more angsty and things.
‘It’s very sad when you lose somebody who is very close to your inner circle, who you work with on a daily basis. But we gave her a good send off and obviously we’re still in touch.’
And as for the future for Kim herself? While many fans – and previously Claire herself – have bemoaned the over-softening of Kim, she promises that the dark edge is very much still there.
‘I think she is as ruthless, but it’s usually when she’s being protective of her family. She’s like a lioness. If someone does something against the family…
‘They can all do things against each other. Threaten murder and whatever, but if an outsider threatens the family, she becomes very protective, and that’s when she gets quite ruthless.’
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