Emmerdale confirms Harriet Finch death after quad bike accident

Emmerdale has confirmed the death of Harriet Finch in tonight’s episode, as actor Katherine Dow Blyton bows out after nine years in the role.

Last night’s dramatic 50th anniversary episode saw both Harriet and Kim Tate’s (Claire King) lives seemingly in the balance, as disaster struck during a storm which had descended on the village.

After hearing that Amelia (Daisy Campbell) was stranded out on the dales, having gone into labour, Harriet set out to try and track her down, borrowing a quad bike to aim in the search. When news of the situation reached Home Farm, Kim left her wedding reception to join the search on horseback.

Harriet quickly found herself in a grave situation, after a falling branch caused her to swerve and crash the bike into a tree, catapulting her down an embankment. The bike soon followed suit, rolling down the bank and straight on top of a helpless Harriet.

When Kim came across the crash site, she put aside their differences and did all she could to help Harriet, dragging her away from the vehicle as Harriet begged her to stay with her. But fate had other ideas, as a freak lightning bolt struck the quad bike, which exploded in a huge fireball.

Harriet took the full force of the impact, whilst Kim was thrown to the floor, hitting her head on a rock.

As we returned to the action in tonight’s episode, Kim soon came round but Harriet had sadly succumbed to her injuries.

“I’m so sorry“, Kim sobbed, after checking for a pulse and discovering that Harriet had died.

With nothing more she could do for Harriet, a traumatised Kim left the scene to rush back to Home Farm and seek assistance, leaving Harriet’s new beau Dan Spencer (Liam Fox) to later discover her lifeless body.

“I got very emotional reading it”, Katherine states on her character’s demise. “On the actual day I was covered in blood and I had various bits of woodland hanging out of my hair. We had these industrial wind machines which were literally blowing sand and debris into your eyes”

“So when it came to it, it wasn’t as emotional because the technicality of what you have to do takes away from the emotion so I managed to get through the day without sobbing.

“The death wasn’t my last scene though,” Katherine adds. “But on my last day I received flowers and lovely gifts and messages. I don’t think it will hit me that I’m not going back for a couple of weeks because it feels like I’m on a break but it will slowly hit me.”

Harriet’s death marks the end of her nine year tenure on the soap, having first arrived in the village in November 2013 to visit her mother’s cousin Edna Birch (Shirley Stelfox), before later being announced as Emmerdale’s new vicar.

It was only back in January of this year that Harriet—having become disillusioned with the church following the cover-up of her ex-lover DI Malone’s (Mark Womack) murder—set tongues wagging by returning to her former career as a police officer.

“I will very much miss playing her although I won’t miss wearing the police uniform,” Katherine laughs. “What I loved about coming into Emmerdale and what really made me want to play Harriet was because she was coming in as the vicar.”

“I loved playing the vicar and the fact that she was flawed and she was a bit off the wall. She had a sense of humour and I loved the character. I’ll very much miss her but she’s with me obviously. We’re not too dissimilar.“

Looking back on her highlights over the years, Katherine speaks fondly of her fellow cast members, and Harriet’s surprising fling with a certain Dingle…

“Having an affair with Cain was stand-out and being involved in all the Malone storyline was a tricky one to do but enjoyable in a weird way,” Katherine said. “Working with Olivia Bromley [Dawn Taylor] has been an absolute joy. She’s one of the nicest, sweetest people. The highlights are with the people I’ve worked with.“

Whilst Harriet’s loved ones are left mourning her loss, Katherine admits she’s now looking forward to a bit of time out.

“For the first time in my life I don’t have any plans. I think I need time to decompress and to reevaluate what I want the next part of my life to be. I have so many big decisions but I’m going to feel my way for the rest of this year and reconnect with my friends in London. Just live my life for a bit and not set my alarm for 5:30 in the morning”

“I’ve done a few self tapes so there’s always something bubbling away but I’m leaving it up to the universe for a couple of months just to see where life takes me.”

But has she swiped any souvenirs from the Emmerdale set?

“I’ve asked for the plaque that was removed from St Mary’s church where it says Harriet Finch was the vicar. Hopefully somebody has saved that for me and I’ll get that. Seeing Harriet Finch up as the vicar was a particular high point for me.“

Emmerdale‘s 50th anniversary celebrations continue all week, with plenty more drama to come…