A former Emmerdale actress has criticized bosses over how her character’s exit from the show was handled.
Katherine Dow Blyton, who played Harriet Finch for almost a decade on the long-running soap, said she was stunned to discover her character had been given the boot by bosses.
Harriet, who appeared on the show from 2013 to 2022, first set foot in the town as a friendly vicar, but later became a crime-fighting cop.
The character saw his demise during the soap opera’s 50th anniversary in October 2022.
During a storm, the vicar-turned-policewoman fell off her quad bike and was crushed in an explosion.
Katherine Dow Blyton (pictured), who played Harriet Finch on Emmerdale for nine years, criticized show bosses for how her character’s exit was handled.
After her shocking departure, Harriet, who had been a character on the show for nine years, did not even receive a service at the village church where she served.
Actress Katherine, 59, has since expressed her dismay at how her character’s death was planned.
Talking with him box soap podcast, said: ‘I’ve had so many lovely messages after Harriet’s death.
‘People say he hasn’t even had a funeral, where is his body? I just felt a little sorry for Harriet, it’s what she is.
‘You have to suck it up and go, that’s showbiz! The irony is that it was the first week of super soap operas I participated in!
She continued: “I think the problem is that everything seems to be so sensational now, when you look at the old episodes, it was very character-driven.
Do you wonder why everything has to be conflict, murder, love affairs? You can have a single character or a happily married couple.
“I don’t know if soap operas are victims of their own success because there is a limit. When you do six episodes a week, what do you do to keep people interested?”
Farmer-turned-cop Harriet surprisingly died outside the show after being crushed by a quad bike during a storm.
“It just seems more like a competition between soap operas to do the best stunts and the best traumas and tragedies than characters.”
Katherine also revealed that she was unhappy with the progression of Harriet’s character in the soap.
During his stay on the program, the vicar had become an accomplice in the murder of his ex-boyfriend, even going so far as to dig up his body.
After a nervous breakdown, Harriet threw off her administrative collar and took on the role of police officer again.
“Going back to being a police officer at my age was, I think, a little abandoned,” he said.
‘For the first time in my almost ten years, I felt uncomfortable with myself because I just felt bad.
“When Harriet came along she was a fabulous character, she was a bit mischievous, a bit quirky and had a sense of humour. When did you laugh and see Harriet laugh?
Despite feeling uncomfortable with her character’s progress, the actress shared that she “burst into tears” when show bosses revealed that her time on the show had come to an end after almost ten years.
Despite the character appearing on the show for almost a decade, Harriet never even received a funeral. Actress Katherine has now spoken out and claims that she feels “uncomfortable” with the development of her character on the show.
“I went and they basically said, ‘We love Harriet and we’re going to give her a good death,'” he said.
‘I sat there for ten seconds thinking: have I done something wrong? They say don’t take it personally but it’s impossible not to.
‘I was surprised. I said, “Well, you don’t know what to do with me anyway, do you?”
‘I tried to leave the building, sat in my car and burst into tears because it was a shock.
“I’d been ready to leave for a while, to be fair, but making the decision to leave a good job is a big decision and I’m glad they did it because I probably wouldn’t have been brave enough.”