Emmerdale legend Claire King has joked that the soap 'almost finished her off' after being thrust into the 50th-anniversary drama. The actress, who has played Kim Tate in the ITV soap on-and-off for 33 years, has found her place in the Dales at risk after a windstorm hit the beloved village.
On Sunday night (October 16), an hour-long edition of Emmerdale to mark the soap's five decades on air saw Kim as mighty as ever as she lorded around the village on her horse on her wedding day to Will Taylor. However, her grand nuptials came after she overheard her husband-to-be and his ex, Harriet Finch, sharing their true feelings for one another.
But not one to back down, Kim headed out for a horse ride but when she eyed Harriet from her horse, it was clear there was unfinished business. Meanwhile, at Home Farm, Billy was worried when Will informed him there may not be a wedding as he and Kim need to have it out if they're going to move forward.
Kim soon arrived home and an argument broke out between the pair and Will was insistent he didin't want to be with Harriet and put the ball firmly back in Kim’s court. But before long, Kim was seen confronting Harriet who appeared surprised to see her.
Suddenly, Harriet snapped and grabbed Kim by the throat. But nothing will stop Kim and over at the church, on word her arrival is imminent the guests headed outside to see the spectacle of the elegant and magisterial Kim as she arrived down the main street on horseback
But with the wedding over and the reception ready to begin, the storm continued to worsen, and back at Home Farm, Lydia arrived and asked for help in the search for pregnant Amelia who has gone into labour alone outside the village.
In a bid to help, viewers saw Kim step up to saddle with her horse ready to go looking for Amelia in the storm. She then took off on Ice to ride to the rescue in the storm. But again, she came face-to-face with Harriet who had been squashed when she plunged down a ravine followed by the quad bike she was riding in search for Amelia.
The dramatic anniversary episode then ended with both Kim and Harriet lying lifeless after a fork of lightning struck the quad throwing them both and Kim hitting her head on a stone, leaving viewers wondering if either of them will be able to escape the storm.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News and other press about whether it's the end for Kim or Harriet, Claire said with a laugh: "Never mind the end for Kim, it almost finished me off!" She added: "Being thrown around the woods in all that dirt and things... I'm too old for that!"
Joking aside, Claire did admit that the dramatic scenes were a "test" but there was one big plus for the soap star. "I was very lucky because I've ridden most of my life and as far as the horses were concerned, that was great! That was no problem at all."
But things didn't go completely to plan for Claire, 60, as she ended up on antibiotics following filming her big stunt scenes. "It was actually a very hot day and it's supposed to be October so I have all these layers on and clothes and it was rather sweaty but also very dirty and dry in the wood," she said of filming the scenes.
"[And] I was on antibiotics for a week. My nose and eyes all swelled up! I blew my nose about a week after I'd finished my course [of antibotics] and a great big seed came out and it had got infected in my nose. So it must of blown up with all those wind machines.
"So it was somewhat traumatic in there but we did manage to have a bit of a laugh Katherine [Dow Blyton - who plays Harriet] and I."
Speaking of working with the horse and its stuntman and trainer, Claire added: "I was very lucky because Andy Butcher from AB Film Horses was in charge of the horse. It's a 19-year-old Andalusian called Ice and he is so well-schooled.
"He's done loads of films. he's done way more on his CV than I have and he made the whole job pleasurable because he installed confidence in me, I installed confidence in him and we became quite the formidable little team. But the weddings itself is as camp as Christmas!"
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