EMMERDALE has confirmed a special upcoming episode centered on Moira Barton as she faces a high-risk brain surgery.
Next week on the ITV soap, Moira continues to prepare for the worst regarding her operation.
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Meanwhile, Cain can’t deal with the threat of losing Moira.
Tormented alone in the garage, Cain struggles to face the uncertain future.
A special episode will follow Moira’s brain surgery and how Cain’s day goes as he struggles with his emotions.
Cain’s story will play in reverse chronological order and starts with Caleb disappointed to find Cain drunk with bloodied hands.
Moira Barton actress Natalie J Robb has revealed how Moira is dealing with her ordeal, and how it differs to how Cain is approaching it.
She told The Sun and other press: “They’re both terrified, he’s very scared of losing her, so I can say that much on Jeff’s behalf.
“And when Cain is out of control, that’s when Cain does things that are out of control himself, he can’t control the situation. He is scared because it’s a big thing.
“Moira is absolutely terrified, mainly because she could lose him but never see her kids again and obviously she has already experienced loss and the last thing she wants is for her to be abandoning her kids, so it’s really about her kids and losing them is at the forefront.
“And just feeling very vulnerable, Moira’s like a bit of an ox, she is a strong character and to suddenly lose her identity almost and slowly losing small pieces of her.
“And fear of after the operation, is she going to be quite right. Will they take out that little bit of her brain that makes her headbutt people when she gets angry.”
There is trouble ahead for the couple as the actress shared how Cain internalises everything.
She added: “Moira knows that with him, that’s why she’s always checking on him an worrying, she’ll always know when there’s something not quite right whereas Moira’s trying to get everything out, because to her this could be the last time she gets to say it to him, so it’s important that she does vocalise things.
“But she’s always been more outspoken, and that’s kind of why they work a lot of the time because they’re yin and yang, she’s a big communicator and he’s not. But when they do communicate, it just works. It’s kind of like a lot of marriages.”
The star spoke about the emotional scenes as she prepares a will saying: “I take Matty to Holly’s grave beforehand and let them know how much I love them. But I think the main thing is I write the will, and Cain just doesn’t want anything to do with that.
Moira Barton’s biggest Emmerdale storylines
Played by Natalie J. Robb, Moira has become one of Emmerdale’s most prominent characters since her debut in 2009.
AFFAIR WITH CAIN DINGLE
In October 2011, Moira began an affair with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley), whom she had previously loathed.
At the time, she was married to first husband and childhood sweetheart John (James Thornton).
JOHN’S DEATH
In the characters’ backstory, John and Moira had been married since 1990. They shared three children: Adam, Hannah (now Matty) and Holly.
While John struggled to forgive Moira’s infidelity, he also realised he couldn’t live without her.
Ultimately, the character of John was written out by having a car accident and fatal cardiac arrest.
Afterwards, Moira and Cain began a relationship and later married.
ADAM’S PATERNITY
It transpired that Cain was not the first man that Moira had an affair with.
She previously slept with John’s brother James (Bill Ward) – with the revelation that he is her son Adam’s biological father.
MURDER OF EMMA BARTON
James’ estranged wife Emma (Gillian Kearney) was introduced as a soap villain, reuniting with her clan after two decades.
In October 2017, Emma was killed off in a who-dunnit storyline after being pushed off a viaduct.
She reappeared one last time in December 2017 for a flashback, where her killer was revealed to be archenemy Moira.
“It’s very brave because that’s the real turning point, where’s she’s going ‘Right, I’m going to face this.’ It’s a combination of that, I think she walks around reminiscing in her farm a bit but that’s it, just remembering everything while it’s still good and while she still has it.”
Talking about her response from fans, Natalie said: “I was really excited, everyone was ‘Were you worried they were gonna kill you off?’ She kind of assured me of that straight away and when people decide to do that for you, that’s in the lap of the gods, there’s nothing you can do about it.
“But I was excited because it had been a while since I’d had a story, and I have to say, the feedback that I’ve had with people on social media, the amount of people that are actually going through this in real life, it’s extraordinary, I had no idea. So it’s been great that we’ve raised awareness and that people have been able to relate to it.”
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.
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