Affairs. Fights. Dodgy dealings. More affairs. Just when Emmerdale viewers thought they knew what to expect from Moira Barton, actress Natalie J Robb lifts the lid on an upcoming scene that’s going to change everything…
Dales fans’ jaws hit the flaw up and down the nation when the police launched and investigation into the friendly yet feisty farmer for people trafficking. The evil Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths), who met her demise at the hands of her son Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) was running her sickening modern slavery operation on Butler’s farm, while Moira was none the wiser.
However, the police aren’t convinced that Moira knew absolutely nothing about the forced labourers kept captive on her farm…especially when bodies start showing up.
Not only did Celia die on that farm, but so did Anya (Alia Al-Shabibi), the forced labourer who died from the inhuman conditions on the farm and was buried in Moira’s blanket.
This was a deliberate plan by Celia to frame her former business partner from beyond the grave. It’s a hammer blow to Moira and her husband Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), who is forced to watch as Moira is dragged away in a police car.
As Moira faces the prospect of spending the rest of her life in jail, Natalie J Robb shares some insights into her characters’ headspace.
‘Being separated from her family and not knowing what’s going to happen. That’s the big thing for her that she’s missing the most, or she missed the most.
‘And the family will be what keeps her going, she keeps thinking about the future and her future picture of what that’ll look like and things like that, but it’s the unknown that’s really scaring in her, not knowing what’s going to happen and how long she’s going to be in there for. And slowly I think she’ll resign herself to the fact that she could be in there a lot longer than she first thought.’
Will Moira survive inside? Her odds are certainly better than most Dales residents. We’re talking about the woman who gave Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) a Glasgow kiss. She’s slapped more wrong’uns than she’s sheared sheep!
She even gave Celia the back of her hand after their business relationship turned sour. But serving time for murder and people trafficking isn’t liable to make her many friends. Natalie reveals what lies in store for Moira during her stay at His Majesty’s Pleasure.
‘She’s going to cope, she’s going to have to stick up for herself because when word spreads in prison that you’rea modern slaver, you’re gonna get people obviously taking offence to that and she’s going to have to prove herself as well in prison.
‘So I think you’re going to see the odd black eye and grazed knuckles and things like that with Moira but she’ll always fight back.’
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But there are some problems you just can’t punch away. While Moira is being carted off by the cops, husband Cain is facing a crisis of his own.
After being shot by serial killer John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) during the events of Corriedale, Cain was rushed to hospital where the doctor unexpectedly discovered a potentially cancerous mass growing inside him.
Now Cain’s condition is set to be confirmed with a life-changing diagnosis of prostate cancer. Seeing that Moira’s rocked to her core to be arrested for Celia’s crimes, he makes the heartbreaking decision to keep his illness a secret.
‘He tells her that it’s fine, there’s nothing wrong and he’s lying to her because she’s just been charged.’ Natalie explains.
‘He doesn’t want her to worry anymore. And he knows that she will do, she will worry. Moira is always better when she knows the truth. She can deal with that. And that’s where Cain sometimes goes wrong. She can deal with the truth much better than finding out bits and bobs here and there like lies, like most of us really.
‘But he tries to protect her from it. And of course he’s really struggling. He just doesn’t have his little confidant there anymore, which is Moira, where he could eventually tell her something like that when she’s there physically, but because of what she’s going through, he just doesn’t, and then obviously things get worse for him. His health also gets worse. And then things are a lot more serious than he lets onto her.’
However, secrets never stay buried in Soapland. Viewers can expect plenty of snot and tears and emotional scenes between Moira and Cain across the table of a prison visiting room. Natalie teases one such scene, and how it broke a personal record. .
‘There was a scene that was done. It’s the longest scene I’ve ever shot in Emmerdale. The whole time we’ve been there. It’s very long indeed. I don’t know what it looks like but we managed to do it all the way through each time and it was intense but it was the longest scene we’ve ever done together.’
If we had to guess, it seems a safe bet that the scene in question is Cain finally letting his guard down and confiding his cancer. But who knows? With the evidence against Moira looking air-tight, she won’t be getting out any time soon. Natalie reflects on what it was like to film the upcoming prison scenes.
‘Yeah, they’re intense. I’m not going to lie. They’re intense scenes because obviously it’s usually always like a two-hander. So they’re intense. I’ve done a few with Jeff already. They are good scenes. I mean, There’s only so many things you can do to show, because you’re in a prison cell, so there’s only many shots you can do, so it’s all really story-led and character-driven, but they’re intense scenes.’
