Kim Tate
Kim Tate | |||||||||||||
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Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Claire King | ||||||||||||
Duration | 1989–1999, 2018–present | ||||||||||||
First appearance | Episode 1411 12 December 1989 | ||||||||||||
Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||
Introduced by |
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Kim Tate (also Barker and Marchant) is a fictional character from the British soap opera
Kim's other prominent stories include faking her own death to frame Frank before leaving him to die of a heart attack, and a business partnership with Lord Alex Oakwell (Rupam Maxwell), which culminates in the death of Linda Fowler (Tonicha Jeronimo). As revenge, Linda's mother Jan Glover (Roberta Kerr) kidnaps James. Writers created a relationship between Kim and Steve Marchant (Paul Opacic), a subsequent marriage and more money making scams. King decided to leave Emmerdale and Kim departed during the episode broadcast on 19 January 1999, when she escaped the village in a helicopter with James and £190,000 of Chris' money.
King returned to the series in 2018 for a guest appearance before returning the following year permanently. Her return featured Kim being pushed off a balcony at Home Farm by
Storylines
1989–1999
Kim had an affair with Frank Tate (Norman Bowler) while she worked as his secretary. They later married after Frank's wife, Jean, died of cancer. Kim initially got on well with her stepchildren Chris (Peter Amory) and Zoe (Leah Bracknell), but her marriage to Frank soon wore her down. The Tate family move to Beckindale in late 1989 as the new owners of Home Farm. Despite an initial hostile reception from the villagers, including the arson of one of the family's caravans in 1990, they soon settle in and the family are happy for a short time. However, when Kim becomes pregnant and later loses the child, Frank falls into a deep depression and turns to alcohol, neglecting Kim in the process.
Kim befriends The Rt Hon. Neil Kincaid (Brian Deacon), a family friend, who is much closer to her own age and shares her equine interests. The pair find themselves travelling to auctions together and eventually, realizing their attraction to one another, consummate their relationship and embark on an affair. They soon come under threat from Chris' wife, Kathy (Malandra Burrows), when she discovers a hotel bill that Neil accidentally dropped at Home Farm. The secret remains safe until Christmas Day 1992, when Frank finds an expensive watch he'd believed to be his present being worn by Neil. Kim is thrown out of Home Farm by Frank, residing at Neil's into the New Year and divorcing her husband. After Kim and Frank separate in 1993, she sets up stables under her maiden name of Kim Barker. This, however, doesn't last long as the stables are destroyed in the plane crash in December that year, killing many of the horses. After the plane crash, Frank and Kim put aside their differences and reconcile, remarrying in December 1994; Zoe becomes thoroughly skeptical of her father's decision, while Chris never trusted Kim again.
In 1995, Kim begins an affair with Kathy's boyfriend
However, after bonding with the baby, Kim and Dave resume their relationship, despite the fact that Kathy had forgiven his affair and married him. They plan to run away together, but a fire breaks out at Home Farm and Dave dies in hospital on Boxing Day 1996 of injuries sustained while rescuing baby James. In February 1997, Kim disappears from the village, and a few days later a woman was found dead at the wheel of her car. Frank identifies the body as Kim; however, in May Frank is stunned when Kim returns, revealing she had paid a lookalike prostitute to drive her car around the village to fool people into thinking she was still there (when in fact she had fled to the Caribbean) and that it is her body, not Kim's, that Frank had identified. The shock causes Frank, who had spent time on remand for her murder, to have another
After Frank's will is read out, Kim inherits a half share of Home Farm. She later starts seeing Frank's business partner, Steve Marchant (Paul Opacic), who also had a share in Home Farm, and they soon marry in May 1998. As time went on, however, the couple became on the verge of financial bankruptcy and they soon planned to restore their problems by stealing a horse and selling it after replacing it with an older horse in the hope that no one would notice the difference. In September 1998, Steve stole the horse-box and nearly managed to flee scot-free, until he ended up running over Kathy. He later attempts to kill her in hospital, but Kim stops him after learning about the incident. Once Steve has gone, Kim manages to talk to Kathy when she is alone and reveals the truth about her hit-and-run incident – all the while hiding her involvement behind the plan of stealing horse. Kathy, manipulated by Kim, reports Steve to the police and he is arrested and charged. Steve learns of Kim's betrayal after puzzling the pieces behind her scheme.
On the day of trial in January 1999, when the lawyers begin to question Kathy's validity as a witness for Steve's hit-and-run crime, Kathy herself begins to question how true Kim's words are. For this, and numerous other crooked tricks, the police are soon on Kim's trail. Needing to escape, Kim discovers that Chris has found the money from the robbery that she had buried in Frank's grave. She confronts Chris, tries seducing him, and knocks him out with a paperweight when he is not fooled. Then she confesses that she had indeed, as he speculated, caused his father's death – in precisely the location Chris is lying in. She leaves with her son, James, in a helicopter. The pilot asks her if she is Kim Marchant, and she replies, "No, Kim Tate". Shortly afterwards, her plan to frame Steve for their fraudulent dealings succeeded when he was found guilty; Steve was consequently sentenced to 10 years for Kathy's hit-and-run and 12 months for the crimes Kim had been charged with.
In 2005, she sends flowers to Emmerdale for the funeral of Seth, and it is believed that she has since resided in Ireland. By 2013, Kim was sent to prison and sent James to boarding school.
2018–present
Kim is released from prison in October 2018 and greeted by
In March 2019, Graham picks Kim up from prison and they drive back to Home Farm; however, the car slows down to a complete stop - forcing Graham to go out for help. While waiting, Kim flags down Debbie's father and Faith's son, Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) - when he comes across her. At first Cain helps Kim, but the two end up in an argument after he learns who she is. When Graham informs Kim that Cain killed Joe, having falsely claimed to have done the job himself, Kim plans to implicate Cain for Joe's murder. Kim tries to get Cain on her side, but he refuses. Later, Kim finds money has gone missing from an offshore account and catches Graham making a suspicious phone call. Kim does some digging and finds out that Joe is still alive and he withdrew money from Kim's offshore account at an ATM in Monte Carlo. Kim steals Noah's phone and buries it in the woods. Cain goes looking for him and after hearing his phone ring, underneath the soil, he fears that Kim has killed him and begins to dig - only to be caught be the police. Kim then threatens to get Cain imprisoned for Joe's murder if he does not do what she wants. Noah becomes suspicious of Kim and Graham after hearing them talking about Joe. Kim finally tells Cain that Joe is not dead and tries blackmailing him into bed in exchange for her telling the police. Cain chases after Graham and fights him in a field, until his wife Moira Dingle (Natalie J. Robb) intervenes to break up the brawl. Cain agrees to sleep with Kim but bails out at the last minute, enraging Kim. Graham phones Joe to say a final goodbye to him, but as Kim threatens to have him killed, he blackmailed her by saying he will tell Jamie if she does not leave Joe alone. Kim tries to contact Jamie but fails to. Debbie slaps Kim once she learns the truth about Joe.
In April, Jamie arrives in Emmerdale to be interviewed for a job at the vet surgery. Later, Kim forms an unlikely friendship with local vet
In June, whilst Kim is out riding her horse, a car comes speeding around the corner. It slows down to pass Kim, but the horse gets spooked and he bolts, with Kim chasing after him. As Kim walks her horse to the vet, she spots the car that spooked her horse parked outside the vets so she confronts the driver. Jamie notices Kim arguing with the woman, who he recognises as his wife,
In July,
Graham drops a bombshell on Kim, revealing it was Jamie who called the police on her which resulted in her being convicted in 2013. After Graham revealed he's in a relationship with Rhona, Kim grows upset and jealous. She texts him to come to the pub, were she reveals they are married and it's their anniversary, which left Rhona upset. Graham tells Kim that he is Millie's biological father, not Jamie, after having an affair with Andrea. Kim does a DNA test by getting strands of Millie's hair but Jamie is revealed as her father. Graham crashes their Christmas Day dinner by revealing to Jamie his affair with Andrea.
Graham and Rhona decide to move to France develops feuds with several residents in the village, including Kim. In January, Graham lies to Kim about breaking up with Rhona but when she realises this, she orders Al to kill him, agreeing to pay off his £60,000 debt if he does it. Al finds Graham's body in the woods, realising someone else has murdered him. Kim pays off his debts after lying. However, Kim was struggling to cope with her husband's death. Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) is arrested and imprisoned for Graham's murder.
In February,
Development
Characterisation and portrayal
Kim is an archetypal soap "superbitch,"
In King's autobiography, "Confessions of a Bad Girl', she wrote that Kim was originally going to be married to Chris, but the writers decided that Kim was more interested in the Tate money and would have "cut out the middle man" by marrying Frank.[5]
Departure (1999)
King left the series and Kim departed in January 1999.[6] Speaking about Kim's departure in 1999, series producer Kieran Roberts felt that it would have been wrong to kill off the character as she was the "ultimate survivor".[7] Roberts added that Kim's escape in a helicopter was fitting and signified her triumph over those around her.[7]
Reintroduction (2018)
On 24 September 2018, it was confirmed that Claire King had reprised her role as Kim Tate after almost twenty years off-screen.
On 12 October 2018, it was confirmed that Kim would be returning permanently in 2019. Speaking about Kim's return, executive producer Jane Hudson said: "Although Kim's initial return was fleeting, she caused such mischief and chaos that we simply couldn't resist bringing her back. Kim Tate is just getting warmed up for an explosive 2019 which will see her hell-bent on getting exactly what, and who, she wants."[10][11] Kim returned on 14 March 2019.[12]
Reception
Kim Tate is considered one of Emmerdale's most "iconic" and "notorious" characters.[10][2][3] According to The Independent, Kim's arrival was a turning point for the show: "Suddenly, it was more Dynasty than dales, and Tate threw herself into the role with gusto, cheating on her husband with a younger man, plotting to kill him to inherit his business, etc, etc. The red-top tabloids, used to a diet of EastEnders and Corrie storylines fed to them by the publicists, suddenly woke up to the existence of Emmerdale – it helped when King began a relationship with another actor, who played her stepson."[1] Her original departure from the show on 19 January 1999 was watched by nearly 15 million viewers[13] and won Best Exit at the 1999 British Soap Awards.[14]
According to
References
- General
- ISBN 978-0-233-05068-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7528-1043-0.
- Specific
- ^ a b Kirby, Terry (15 July 2006). "Emmerdale: the village that won over a nation". The Independent. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
- ^ a b c Hughes, Johnathon (8 October 2018). "Emmerdale: who is Kim Tate? Everything you need to know". Radio Times. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ a b Donaldson, Laura (11 October 2018). "Emmerdale Kim Tate spoilers: How is Kim Tate related to Joe Tate? Tate family tree explained as Claire King returns to ITV soap". OK!. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Channel 5.
- ISBN 1-84454-253-X
- ^ Gildea, Samantha (8 October 2018). "A guide to Kim Tate if you're too young to remember Emmerdale's superbitch". Leeds Live. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ a b Wilson, Anthony (host) (2004). "Exits". Emmerdale Secrets. ITV2.
- Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
- ^ a b Killelea, Amanda (2 October 2018). "Kim Tate returns to Emmerdale with murder in mind after actress Claire King keeps year-long secret". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Kim Tate returns to Emmerdale 'for good'". BBC News. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ "In and out". Inside Soap (9): 92. 2–8 March 2019.
- Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. (No permanent link available. Search for relevant dates.)
- ^ "Previous Winners — 1999". The British Soap Awards. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ O'Mara, Kate (host) (20 October 2001). "Bitches". Top Ten TV. Channel 4.
- ^ "Corrie killer voted top soap villain". BBC News. 4 March 2003. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ "The top ten most evil soap villains". Daily Mirror. 20 November 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Hughes, Johnathon (9 April 2016). "The 10 all-time worst female soap villains, from EastEnders' Janine to Hollyoaks' Lindsey". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- IPC Media. Archived from the originalon 5 December 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ Lindsay, Duncan (21 September 2018). "Emmerdale spoilers: Kim Tate makes shocking return in huge autumn episodes?". Metro. Retrieved 24 November 2018.