5 times the soaps tackled domestic violence – and why Emmerdale’s Tom and Belle is different
He's playing mind games!
Tom King’s control over new wife Belle in Emmerdale is stepping up and becoming increasingly sinister. Tom’s already turned down a job offer from Take A Vow on Belle’s behalf, ruined her first day in the role by pretending to be badly injured, and sabotaged the first wedding she was supposed to be planning.
We’ve seen him play mind games and gaslight Belle and generally be pretty sinister. It’s not an easy watch.
Tom’s controlling behaviour towards Belle isn’t the first domestic abuse story to be told in soaps, but it’s a bit different from the others. Here’s a reminder of what else has gone in in Emmerdale, EastEnders and Coronation Street, and why Belle’s ordeal isn’t the same.
Little Mo and Trevor in EastEnders
The Slaters arrived in Albert Square back in 2000, shortly followed by Mo’s husband, Trevor Morgan. It soon became apparent that Trevor was aggressive and abusive, and determined to isolate her from her family – who he hated (mostly because they hated him!).
In shocking scenes, viewers saw Trevor rape Mo after she decided to go to sister’s Lynne’s wedding even though he didn’t want her to. And on Christmas Day he forced her to eat her dinner off the floor. Grim stuff.
Mo’s ordeal ended when Trevor was killed in a fire.
Kirsty and Tyrone in Coronation Street
Poor Tyrone Dobbs had to cope with abuse when he got together with Kirsty Soames. And he also had to cope with her painting him as the abusive one in the partnership.
Kirsty’s abuse of Ty began when she blamed him for losing her job. She started hitting him and even carried on during her pregnancy and after baby Ruby was born. She blamed Tyrone for the abuse and it was only after she found herself screaming at little Ruby that she fessed up and was sent to prison. Kirsty died off-screen in 2021.
Chantelle and Gray in EastEnders
From the outside, Chantelle and Gray Atkins had it all! Lovely house, beautiful kids, money, success… But as it turned out, Gray was a ruthlessly chilling abuser who hurt, raped and controlled his wife. He broke Chantelle’s arm, almost drowned her in the bath, and eventually killed her.
Gray’s reign of terror in Albert Square didn’t end there – he also killed Tina Carter and Kush Kazemi. Eventually he went to jail.
Geoff and Yasmeen in Coronation Street
Geoff Metcalfe’s abuse of wife Yasmeen is the most similar so far to Belle’s ordeal. Nasty Geoff coercively controlled Yasmeen for months, after initially pursuing her. He never physically hurt Yas, but he manipulated her, humiliated her, made everyone think she was drinking, and in really horrifying scenes, killed Yasmeen’s pet chicken Charlotte and fed her to Yas! He also spied on her in the house and took over the finances.
When Geoff threatened Yasmeen with a knife, she hit him with a broken bottle and was eventually charged with attempted murder. Her abuse ended when Geoff died.
Tom and Belle in Emmerdale
Emmerdale viewers know Tom’s abuse of Belle was coming! After all, we’d seen him lash out at her during last year’s flashback scenes after she turned down his proposal.
Tom convinced Belle it was all just a big mistake and she believed him. She proposed to him and after a whirlwind engagement, the pair tied the knot last month. But before the ink was dry on the wedding certificate, he was kicking up a fuss about her family at the wedding reception, and coming up with reasons why Belle shouldn’t read the letter her late mum, Lisa, left for her big day.
Since then, Tom’s controlling behaviour has got even more frightening, alternating ‘love bombing’ and buying Belle presents and telling her how much he loves her, with putting her down and controlling her. Next week we’ll see him put a tracking app on Belle’s phone so he knows where she is all the time.
So why is this different from what went before? Mostly because of how insidious and manipulative it is. Despite Belle being surrounded by a loving, supportive family, none of them have a clue about what’s going on. And it seems she’s already beginning to think this is all her fault.
She even covered for Tom when he didn’t pass on the message about her job interview. And – shockingly – she took the blame for breaking the urn containing Lisa’s ashes, though Tom had kicked it in a rage.
Currently, Tom is putting a lot of effort into making Belle feel useless and worthless and frankly we’re concerned things are going to get even worse. We know he’s capable of violence. What’s going to happen next?
