Emmerdale Emma Barton star Gillian Kearney now as ITV soap ‘return’ confirmed
Emmerdale's Moira Dingle starts to hallucinate and sees her old nemesis Emma Barton standing in front of her instead of Ruby Fox-Milligan in upcoming scenes of the ITV soap
Emmerdale’s Emma Barton “returns from the dead” in dramatic scenes set to air tonight as Moira Dingle hallucinates and starts seeing her old nemesis.
Moira’s confusion believing that Ruby-Fox Milligan is Emma leads to a fire breaking out. An unrecognisable Moira padlocks the barn and frightens Ruby by firing a warning shot with her shotgun into the air. The shot hits a light bulb, causing a spark to take hold.
There is then a tussle for the shotgun, which ends with Moira hitting Ruby over the head. Meanwhile, the spark catches the tractor fuel and quickly becomes a full on blaze. However, Moira is confused and she freezes helplessly next to Ruby’s unconscious body. Will they escape the fire alive?
Fans of the soap with remember that Moira was responsible for Emma’s death back in 2017. Her son Adam Barton took the fall for the murder as he was already a prime suspect and he didn’t want Isaac to grow up motherless, reports the Mirror.
Moira confessed everything to the police, but they dismissed her confession, accusing her of trying to protect Adam. She confessed simply “snapped” during a confrontation with Emma, particularly when Emma blamed her for the death of her daughter Holly Barton, who tragically passed away due to a drug overdose in 2016.
The character of Emma was brought to life by Brookside legend Gillian Kearney, and with her character being referenced on the show this week, fans must be curious about what the 52-year-old actress has been up to recently.
Post-Emmerdale, Gillian swapped acting for directing, having directed the drama series Clink in 2019 and an instalment of the BBC series Moving On in 2020. But she hasn’t left acting altogether; Gillian appeared in the much-loved ITV drama Vera not long ago, portraying Deborah McSwain opposite Shaun Dooley.
Emma was the mum of Pete, Ross, and Finn Barton, and estranged wife of James Barton. She was tracked down by son Finn back in 2015, years after abandoning her family.
She then went on to kill her ex-husband James Barton and by the following year her crime had caught up with her and she went into meltdown. As she tried to run away from the village, she accidentally shot her son Finn dead, before she was pushed from a viaduct by Moira in October 2017.
Gillian is best known for playing Debbie McGrath in Brookside and the spin-off mini-series Damon and Debbie. She also played Jessica Harrison in Casualty, Silent Witness, Shameless and Suspects.
Gillian has one son, John Gerard Foo, with her long-time partner Eddie Foo after the pair got together in 2009 and on stage, she has appeared frequently at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre in Macbeth, Alice in Wonderland and Othello.
Emmerdale airs weeknights on ITV1 and ITVX at 7.30pm