‘Breath of fresh air’: Emmerdale fans are utterly adoring Kev and here’s why

Kev Townsend (Chris Coghill) is an Emmerdale legend.

Even before we actually met him, the man had the best soap back story ever. Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley)’s prison hubbie, you say? Sign me up. Add to that an impulsive and unpredictable nature, a desperate desire to be loved, an inclination to threaten people with swords, and a fierce manbun, then you’ve got yourself a soap legend.

The success of Kev is even more incredible when you consider that we were supposed to hate him. His character’s express purpose in the village was to come between Robert and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller). Among diehard Dales fans, trying to split up Robron makes you as many friends as kicking a puppy.

And yet, Kev took a standard bunny-boiling unrequited love plot about faking an illness to make the object of your affections fall for you, and somehow brought it to life.

Don’t take my word for it. Ask the fans.

Every Metro article about the manbunned menace is blown up with comments praising the character and his terrific actor, Chris Coghill. Take the comments on our recent TikTok: Kev Townsend – a joy to watch or irredeemable. While we were expecting lots of divided opinions from Robron fans, what we got was an absolute Kev-fest.

One user wrote – ‘don’t care what Robron obsessiveness think, I love Kev and I’m so glad he’s back, I hope he’s here to stay’

Another commented – ‘he’s a breath of fresh air. He’s just a character that ought NOT work on paper BUT is the perfect fit for the show! #WeLoveKev’

Yet another user agreed -‘brilliant character and actor i love Kev’

And last but not least – ‘love him much needed in soap’

But why? On paper, Kev appears to be a mixture of Begbie from Trainspotting and Trevor Philips from Grand Theft Auto 5. Dangerous, unhinged and aggressive. Those characteristics might be handy for a temporary gangster part in a soap or even a returning villain, but it doesn’t make you root for that character. Does it? How have Emmerdale made so many people fall in love with an absolute psychopath?

Look no further than the awesome performance of Chris Coghill. There’s a reason that Kev feels so delightfully unpredictable, and Bradley Riches, who plays the character’s long lost son Lewis Barton, shed some light on that reason in a recent interview.

‘He is one of the most bonkers but beautiful people I ever met.’ Bradley revealed. ‘He is just good vibes. He brings a new energy into the room. Looking at all of the work he’s done, I’m learning a lot form him. He is very good at instincts and playing off something. If you do twenty takes, all twenty takes are different from him because he plays what feels real.’

Chris has previous admitted himself in interviews that approximately 75% of the dialogue is improvised, which is what makes Kev feel so unpredictable, natural and ultimately real.

Reality is a big key to Kev’s success. There are so many things outlandish, quirky and bizarre about this guy. His ignorance towards basic etiquette for example, forgetting to knock before entering someone’s home. His habit of performing dramatic reveals through song – such as confessing to being Lewis’ father by belting out Boyzone’s ‘Father and Son’. Not to mention his gloriously named cake and coffee van, A Slice Of Kev-En.

So it became all the more important to keep Kev grounded, i.e. How did Emmerdale accomplish this? How do you make Kev seem like less of a sociopath? Simple – show them a bigger sociopath.

After leaving Emmerdale with a broken heart over Robron, there’s a very good reason the writers chose to have Kev go up against deranged serial killer John Sugden (Oliver Farnwroth), and unhinged kidnapper Kylie (Pippa Fulton), who tried to ransom Lewis in an attempt to make Kev give her back the diamond she made out of her cat’s ashes (yes, that happened). Because these characters are true villains. Everything that Kev is not.

To explore Kev’s humanity, Emmerdale made sure he shares screen time with some of the most human people in the show. Making sweet Vicar’s mother Claudette Anderson (Flo Wilson) take him in was an absolute master stroke, as was making Lewis Barton his son. These two shared a heartwarming connection even before their secret family tie came to light. As somebody with autism, Lewis knows what it’s like to be different and therefore is the perfect pairing to Kev. Actor Bradley Riches explains the importance of this dynamic.

‘They’re so similar and so opposite at the same time. Even if he isn’t autistic, he gets that emotion. He gets his brain. He’s quite hot headed sometimes and he gets that part of Lewis. They both feel like an outsider sometimes, they both feel a bit different, they both feel like they don’t have anywhere to fit in.’

‘That’s why they see each other and get along. For so long in our lives, we’ve been the outsiders, we’ve been the different ones and suddenly we’ve found each other and we get each other, which is quite nice. Them being so different is what makes the similarities between them’.

Not just that, but Kev’s also got a brand new nemesis the likes of which he’s never faced before. Not another gangster. Not a psychotic kidnapping ex-girlfriend. Something even worse… a middle aged woman who manages the local cafe. The Queen of the Dales herself, Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler)

With a vested interest in Lewis’ safety, Nicola is naturally suspicious of Kev and will do anything it takes to get him out of his life. However, Kev’s not going anywhere, and Bradley Riches also revealed how the two will have to work together and get along for Lewis’ sake.

‘We might have a little trio at work. They’ll have to learn to get along. They may not see eye to high but they need to learn to get along even if it’s just as work colleagues. It’s really exciting, those two together. They have such a fun dynamic. They hate each other but deep down they know they are similar. That’s why they hate each other. They are both passionate, they both want to protect Lewis. Lewis plays into that and becomes aware of this hatred towards each other. After a while, Lewis says ‘ you two are ridiculous, you two are being silly now, let’s all be friends’. It’s fun to play a love-hate relationship.’

That commenter on Tik Tok nailed it. Kev Townsend is a breath of fresh air.

Take the most dangerous, psychopathic character you can think of, cast a stellar actor who relies on improvisation, put him in every day situations with every day characters and explore the human side. That is the recipe for Kev’s success.

Also, a proper Yorkshire accent and that manbun doesn’t hurt either.