Toyah Tells The Truth
Georgia Taylor speaks about THAT secret and how Peter discovers the truth about baby Susie...
There’s been moments where Toyah is worried that Eva may change her mind about the pact, how anxious is she that Eva will want Susie back?
Toyah is always on the verge of feeling like that is going to happen, like she is walking a tightrope and at any moment she could just fall off. Susie is quite literally a piece of Aidan and Toyah knows that Eva has to look in to that child’s eyes knowing that it is the last remaining piece of the man that she loved.
But in the meantime, Toyah and Peter have both bonded with Susie.
Toyah absolutely feels as though Susie is her daughter and she feels very much like the mother she has always wanted to be but the fact they are all living on top of each other is really exacerbating the tension of the situation.
So living with the lie hasn’t become easier for Toyah now that she has Susie?
No, the only thing that feels easy is how natural it feels for her to be a mum because that is something that she has wanted for so long.
What happens when Eva tells Peter, Toyah and Leanne how she caught Simon and his mate smoking over the pram?
Eva goes ballistic because this is her child and she still feels protective so Eva lays in to Peter about it but Peter goes on the defensive for Simon, so Eva and Peter are at loggerheads. There is a genuine moment of tension where Toyah doesn’t know whether Eva is going to reveal the secret. She manages to dissipate the drama but it’s the fact that they have come so close and for a short time Peter and Eva aren’t talking to each other and that is terrifying to Toyah because the drama is bubbling away.
How is Toyah feeling with all the tension? Particularly in the week of Aidan’s funeral?
I don’t know how she is coping, she is just really highly strung and stressed. And with the funeral coming up she knows that is going to bring lots of emotions to the surface and she doesn’t know how potentially volatile Eva is going to be, so there is a real sense of trepidation as the funeral approaches.
Tell us what happens the day of the funeral.
Toyah goes with Eva to chaperone her which is not just purely for selfish reasons, she does genuinely care about Eva. When Johnny does his speech, Eva runs out of the church because it is too much for her and Toyah follows. Toyah feels like Eva is a woman on the edge who is not dealing with her grief and Toyah doesn’t know how she can help with that.
Does Toyah feel guilty?
Massively, hugely guilty. There are moments where Toyah hands the baby to Eva because she knows that that is what she needs, she just needs to hold her child. Toyah is trying to empathise what Eva is going through.
Peter confronts Eva with the hospital baby photo, is he onto the truth?
As far as Toyah is concerned, Eva said she was going to get rid of that photo so the fact that she hasn’t is quite an obvious clue that Eva is not dealing with having given her child up. Eva still has feelings for Susie as a mother so these are all elements that come together that tip Toyah over the edge in to that precipice of the truth finally coming out.
Is there are specific moment then, that makes Toyah want to come clean?
No, there’s a lot of factors; the lies just keep going on and on and on, Toyah seeing how heartbroken Eva is and with the pressure really building, it all cumulates in to Toyah deciding to tell Peter the truth. The web of lies that she has created has been going on for months and she is a new mum so she is literally exhausted as well as emotionally exhausted.
Does Toyah have any idea how Peter will react or does she just want to get the truth out?
It’s like ripping of a plaster and she just knows in that moment, that it is the right thing to do. She doesn’t know what the fallout is going to be but then the fallout is catastrophic and even worse in a way than she ever thought it could be.
How does Toyah feel when she is looking at Peter and Eva’s faces after she has told the truth?
It’s horrendous because this isn’t just about Toyah telling Peter that Susie is not their child, what she has also failed to tell Peter is that their baby has died, so this is a real double-whammy. So for Peter to try and process all of this information; the fact that their child died months ago and he hasn’t been given the opportunity to grieve for their baby, the betrayal, the anger, the hurt, the grief, it just explodes in him and he is in so much pain.
How do you think Leanne will react, because she has also been lied to?
She potentially is going to be furious as well because she has been betrayed by the people that she thinks are closest to her; both her sisters. She is a Battersby, she is tough, she’s not a pushover and I think she is going to have a lot to say about it.
You’ve said that all along we all knew this plan was not going to work. How did you feel when you read these scripts and found out it was Toyah who was the one to reveal the truth?
It is a really interesting, clever way to go about it because it takes back some ownership. Toyah is owning her mistake, her lies and she is strong enough to hold her hands up and claim some responsibility for her actions. She is trying to be an honest, truthful person which I hope shows, as complicated a person she is, she is ultimately a good person. I think it’s a really brilliant choice and I’m glad the writers went that route with it.
What were those scenes like to film?
Really tough, Toyah and Peter have had their ups and downs but this was something else, these scenes are really full on. It’s really heartbreaking to see because, for once, Peter hasn’t done anything wrong, he really hasn’t! Chris is fantastic, he is just wonderful and I have loved working with him since I’ve been back.