We know Kirin killed Tess, but her grieving widow Pierce doesn’t… Emmerdale newcomer Jonathan Wrather reveals to Soaplife that Pierce is determined to find out, though.
What does Pierce know about Tess’s death?
“Not much. He starts to suspect foul play when he is drip fed snippets of information about Kirin [Adam Fielding]. What really hurts is that he seems to be the last one to get all this information. This is making him paranoid. He asks Rhona [Zoe Henry], Vanessa [Michelle Hardwick] and Rakesh [Pasha Bocarie] about Kirin, but they are not very forthcoming.”
How far will he go to find out the truth?
“He has an obsessive nature to start with. It is like he is picking at a scab and he can’t stop. He is very tenacious and will keep going until he gets answers. He is spiralling into a dark place and he really needs some closure.”
Why does he want to stay in the village?
“Because there are people in the village who know things about Tess [Nicola Stephenson] and the accident. Also, he doesn’t have much left in his life as he is on his own and has left his job as a lawyer. He was driven in his work and now he has transferred that drive into finding out what happened to Tess.”
Does he have any regrets about the way he treated Tess?
“It is dawning on him that he wasn’t the greatest husband and he would do anything to rectify that. I don’t think he would make those mistakes again – or at least that is what he would like to think. He feels awful as now Tess has gone, he realises what he has lost.”
Is he still jealous of Paddy?
“Yeah, of course. He is angry and jealous and has nowhere to put his anger, as the one person he wants to blame isn’t around, so he is lashing out at everybody else around him.”
Is Pierce pleased that Paddy and Rhona are leaving?
“No, because they seem to be the only ones who might know what really happened to Tess. They are like a portal into part of her life that he didn’t know about, but he accepts that after the affair, they need a fresh start.”
Does he blame himself for the affair?
“There was a point where he did, but as he has started putting the pieces together he realises it wasn’t his fault at all.”
Emmerdale, ITV
