01 January 2024 , 20:41
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Tony Audenshaw dreamt his traumatised Emmerdale character Bob Hope would enjoy some comic relief this year – but 2024 has started with his worst-ever horror.
Bob was put through the mill in 2023, suffering a heart attack after partner Wendy Posner (Susan Cookson) had an affair. But show bosses told Tony they wanted to pile on the pain with his son, Heath, dying in a New Year’s Day joy-ride crash. Shocked viewers saw Bob’s agony as the 16-year-old was found dead in the over-turned car. To make it even worse, Heath’s twin sister, Cathy, had been behind the wheel.
Tony, 59, who has played happy-go-lucky B&B owner Bob for 23 years, confessed he was shocked when he learnt about the harrowing storyline. He explained: “I’d just had all that heavy stuff with the heart attack and the affair and I thought, ‘Thank God all that’s gone, I’m going to get a bit of comedy now’, which is what I naturally like doing.
In 2023, Bob suffered a heart attack and his wife had an affair“It was quite a shock that was what they were doing. But obviously, it’s a really important storyline and I hope it’s one that they do justice to.” It was just five months ago that Bob had his cardiac arrest. But that was nothing compared to the misery kicked off by the latest scenes.
The drama unfolded when Bob and Wendy were occupied by a party at the B&B. The twins – played by real-life siblings Sebastian and Gabrielle Dowling - and their friend Angelica King went joy-riding in Wendy’s car. But as Cathy – who had been drinking – sped down a country lane disaster struck and she lost control, and smashed into a dry stone wall.
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While Cathy and Angelica survived, Heath, trapped in the back of the car, failed to respond to Wendy’s CPR attempts and was declared dead at the scene. Tony said filming the aftermath had left him drained. He said: “Bob can’t believe it and breaks down, it’s an awful situation. They’re the hardest scenes I’ve ever had to film.”
“The difference when you’re doing a story like this is that you’re miserable all day, instead of having a laugh all day, so the impact of that over a few weeks is more tiring.” Another of the twins’ pals – April Windsor – had a lucky escape after refusing to join them in the car.
She told her friends to “get lost, adding: “You can’t drive. Are you out of your mind? Do you know how dangerous that is?” Cathy and Heath, who arrived on the show in 2007, have been involved in several hard-hitting storylines. They were born in a shed on the moors and had nine godparents when they were christened.
Many years later, their mother, Viv (Deena Payne), was tragically killed in a fire that broke out in the post office. And last year Cathy was diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, an extreme form of premenstrual syndrome.