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Emmerdale boss drops big hint Emma Barton will kill again

And it's set to be a loved one!

When we know a character in soap who’s already done some murdering is set to leave the show, we immediately think “another murder, prison sentence, done”.

So with Gillian Kearney, AKA Emma Barton (AKA Debbie from Brookie) leaving the show this autumn, that’s where our money is. Take it bookies, take our tenner.

And Emmerdale boss Iain MacLeod has backed up our theory, in an interview with the TV Times.

“There’s a character in John Steinbeck’s classic novel Of Mice and Men called Lennie, who loves mice so much he keep squashing them – and I feel that Emma is like that,” he said.

Ooh, literary!

Read more: Corrie’s Oliver Farnworth dishes all on THAT big reveal

“She’s got this pathological need to squeeze everything she loves so hard that it ends up dying on her.

“That trait will come back poignantly as part of her exit storyline.”

After killing her husband James, Emma’s edging closer and closer to being found out as former-mate Laurel has worked out her secret (and given her a quick slap for it) and even her own sons are suspicious.

PLUS Emma has recently found God, so watch out for some Pat Phelan-style confessionals too.

And don’t forget that memory card that’s still hanging around with a full reveal on.

It looks like soap’s longest-running plot will all come to a head in some major episodes that will be on in the autumn.

“I don’t want to tell you which characters it involves but it sort of builds on and stems from the events of last Autumn’s big set piece,” Ian told The Express, referencing Emmerdale’s critically-acclaimed No Return week.

“It will be similar stylistically to last year. I don’t want to give too much away for obvious reasons.”

“Last year’s big action set piece was so much stunt work that while we did toy with the idea of trying to top that, I don’t know if we could achieve that without looking a bit ridiculous.”

Joe Gill, who plays Finn, the son that Emma half-confessed to this week, joined in with the drama-upping too.

“We’ve been really looking forward to this,” he said about the denouement of the storyline.

Read more: Did EastEnders just make a huge continuity error?

“We want to portray it as well as we possibly can. All I can say is keep watching, because there is some really good stuff to come.

“Viewers will definitely be shocked. As a show, we thrive on that. We want to keep people entertained and to keep some secrets for maximum impact for our fantastic viewers.”

*Blushes*


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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