Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) decided to stage an intervention in Monday (July 1)’s Emmerdale. She’s noticed that Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) has changed recently, a change which can’t entirely be explained by the fact that she’s had a miscarriage – which is the official story though Belle and Tom King (James Chase) know that she in fact had an abortion.
‘She seems a lot more closed off and doesn’t want to socialise with any of her friends or family and she’s at home a lot with Tom, and whenever she’s out in the street she’s always with Tom,’ Emma Atkins told us.
Of course viewers are well aware that Tom has been making Belle’s life hell in a relationship that’s abusive and controlling. He’s been deliberately trying to cut her off from family and friends, messed with her mental health and on several occasions has been violent.
Charity’s own history of abuse has enabled her to be more aware than most of the signs of it happening and she’s been worried for some time.
She enlisted Chas (Lucy Pargeter), Lydia (Karen Blick) and Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) and they staged an intervention, taking Belle off to the Woolpack for what was billed as a girly get-together to cheer Lydia up. Charity had already known that Belle would try to say she had to stay at home to care for the recently electrocuted Tom, so she organised Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) and Jimmy King (Nick Miles) to stay with him.
The scenes at the Woolpack were as frustrating for the audience as they were for Charity, as she tried to get through to Belle about how Tom’s behaviour wasn’t normal or reasonable. She pushed a little bit too hard at points and scared Belle away and made the other women criticise her for being unreasonable.
Still Charity persisted. ‘I get the feeling Tom is not the man everybody thinks she is,’ she told Belle when they were alone outside the pub. Belle doubled down in her defence of Tom, but at that point she suddenly seemed about to crumble and confide in Charity, and the two women hugged.
Just then, Tom appeared, having talked Paddy into coming over to the Woolpack. As soon as Belle saw him she roughly pushed Charity away and ran home. Tom gave Paddy and Charity a story about how Belle had been lashing out more recently but he was coping with it.
Paddy was taken in. ‘Poor Tom,’ he said as Tom set off home. ‘Poor Belle,’ Charity replied – clearly not ready to give up on trying to help Belle.
Tom realised that Charity was getting too close to the truth and to breaking the hold he has over Belle, so he later made a phone call. If he can’t keep Belle’s relatives away from Belle, he’ll keep her away from them – by removing her from the village altogether.
We heard him on the phone talking about a job, confirming that he’d talked things over with his wife and they were both very keen for him to take up a new job offer. In Wales.
What will Belle’s life be like if Tom manages to get her away from everyone who loves and cares about her? Will Charity be able to do anything to stop him, or to persuade Belle to face what’s been happening to her?
