Isolation for Belle As Tom Exerts His Control
Emmerdale’s Tom King (James Chase) further exerts his coercive control behaviour in a self-contained episode of the drama due to air on ITV1 and ITVX next week.
As part of his manipulation of his wife, he takes Belle (Eden Taylor Draper) to a remote holiday cottage in Wales, thus physically isolating her further from her friends and family.
Emmerdale viewers are already aware of the extent of husband Tom’s controlling behaviour and have become worried for wife Belle who is at the mercy of his volatile and violent temper.
Producer Sophie Roper explains: “When Tom takes Belle to Wales, Tom’s coercive and controlling behaviour will see Belle further isolated from her family. The behaviour Tom King is exhibiting is typical of a coercive controlling relationship and at times will prove difficult and uncomfortable to watch. The assistance the charity Refuge has given us whilst researching this storyline has been enormously helpful in bringing this incredibly important storyline to our screens.”
Featuring a flashback episode, viewers will see Tom and Belle’s happy arrival at the remote cottage. But when Belle overhears her husband arranging to extend their stay, through flashbacks we see the full extent of their week, with scenes revealing Tom’s physical and emotional control over wife Belle and their dog Piper. Belle is totally at the mercy of this narcissistic man.
With little chance of escape Belle realises she’s totally cut off from all those she loves. Constantly trying to do her best for him, but with Tom blaming all their troubles on her, the balance of power has truly shifted.
Emma Pickering, Head of Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Economic Empowerment at Refuge said:
“Working with Emmerdale on this storyline we really wanted to capture the isolation and control that we know underpins domestic abuse. That is illustrated in a very literal sense in this cottage episode, but we know often survivors are isolated from their families and communities over time in a deliberate act from their perpetrator to remove them from support systems and making it very difficult for them to leave their abusers.
We know some viewers have found the Belle and Tom storyline hard to watch at times, but it is so important when we are talking about domestic abuse and covering it; even in a fictional sense, that it is true to life.
We are so grateful to Emmerdale for allowing us to feed in with our expert knowledge and the vital awareness this storyline is raising about this issue. For anyone watching who is concerned they may be experiencing domestic abuse, Refuge is here for you, our National Domestic Abuse Helpline is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week for free, confidential specialist support on 0808 2000 247, Or visit www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk to speak to an adviser on Live Chat.”
With filming taking place in Yorkshire, the Emmerdale design and construction team created the holiday cottage and Head of Design Gillian Slight explains:
“The location is actually part of Emmerdale's village complex, it's on the outskirts and hasn't really been seen by the viewers so it's believable that it's a property 300 miles away from the Yorkshire Dales. We have total access and control over the building, so we were free to decorate and furnish the interior and exterior. The garden was basically a pile of builders rubble, so landscaping and planting was necessary, to make it look pretty. The whole job took about 4 weeks to complete."
Will Belle King manage to escape her controlling husband?