Emmerdale stars confirms lots of stunts for Dawn as Joe gets ‘dangerous and volatile’

All roads lead to abject misery in Emmerdale next week as the day of Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) and Joe Tate’s (Ned Porteous) wedding finally arrives.

The truth is, Joe is pretty rotten, but in an incredibly strange twist of fate, he’s actually innocent of the incident that pushed Dawn to her breaking point and decide to flee from him, namely the vicious attack on Billy Fletcher’s (Jay Kontzle).

Yup, it was Kev Townsend (Chris Coghill) who bashed Billy over the bonce, not Joe, but Billy is more than happy to let Dawn believe that the trust-fund Tate baby was behind the beating, as are the increasingly manipulative Caleb and Ruby Miligan (William Ash and Beth Cordingly), who want to see Joe destroyed, too.

This, of course, sets the stage for an explosive climax, one which we’re all eagerly anticipating, and while it looks as though Joe won’t be having much fun on-screen, Ned told Metro that he had plenty of fun filming.

‘Yeah, it’s been fun. It’s been hard work,’ he said.

‘It’s easy to talk about how tricky it can be, based on our experience, but then when we get to leave set, and we know that the rest of the crew are all still there, in the same working conditions, I think actors like to complain about our workload as much as we possibly can.

‘It’s been a lot of work, but, having seen little clips from what we’re making, it is going to be worth it. It’s a different style than you’ve seen from normal Emmerdale.

‘A lot of work has been put into it. We’ve got an amazing crew working on it the entire time, and I think we’re all exceptionally proud of what we’ve come up with. So, we’re just very excited for everyone else to enjoy it, too.’

Olivia agreed, while confirming the stunt-aspects of the wedding: ‘It’s been really fun and really exciting, because this has been a big block of filming all over summer.

‘We’ve been doing about a 5-week shoot, which is not what we usually do. We’ve had loads of stunts and a really good crew. It’s been really fun and really exciting, because this has been a big block of filming all over summer.

‘We’ve been doing about a 5-week shoot, which is not what we usually do. We’ve had loads of stunts and a really good crew’

So how are Dawn and Joe feeling on the morning of the wedding?

‘He’s not fully convinced that everything is going to go well,’ Ned admitted.

‘There’s a lot of run-up to the whole story. Do we even know that Joe is privy to what’s going on? That’s the main part of it. Is he planning some horrible revenge story which is going to take over?

‘From Dawn’s perspective, in the morning, she’s had this huge build-up where she’s found out that Billy’s obviously been attacked, and she thinks it’s Joe,’ Olivia said

‘I think she’s just terrified. She’s heartbroken, she doesn’t want to leave Joe, but she also needs to run away. It’s leaving her whole life. It’s leaving with the kids.’

While we’re pretty set on the fact that Joe is an absolute reptile and needs to pay for his sins, Ned views his character entirely differently: ‘Look, he’s not a villain, he’s very misunderstood, he’s a good guy, he’s got a good heart, he means well!’

Interesting take.

‘We’ve seen the character in the show years and years ago —offered a happy ending, and that was taken from him,’ Ned continued.

‘So, does he have trust issues with this kind of thing? Does he trust Dawn? Does he deserve Dawn?

‘I’ve always assumed that with a character like Joe, there’s one thing usually that he holds closest to his heart. The one thing that you can’t buy, the one thing that is inaccessible through purchase, and that’s love and being taken care of, and it’s family.

‘It’s the things that he holds really dear. And if you were to take that from a man who is outwardly volatile and dangerous as is, unable to regulate his emotions, if you were to take the final thing tethering him to a life of moral good, what could that man then be capable of?’

Ultimately, who do Ned and Olivia think Dawn should be with?

‘From my perspective, Dawn should have chosen Billy all along, and I think everybody feels the same,’ Olivia admitted.

‘What we all would say, because, obviously, Billy’s stable, and he’s so loving. He’s always loved her, he’s a wonderful dad, and all that kind of thing. But Dawn didn’t choose him, and we don’t always choose the person who’s the right person for us.’

‘Silly girl,’ Ned agreed, cheekily.