In a stunning twist, Emmerdale star Joshua Richards feared he could be sent down by his own wife when his character Bear Wolf stands trial for the murder of evil Ray Walters
Emmerdale star Joshua Richard, who plays Bear Wolf, feared he could be sent down by his own wife as he stands trial for the murder of evil Ray Walters. Joshua has been married to Sarah Parks for more than three decades, the versatile actress has three times played barrister and judge Hilary Browning in the soap – the last time in 2005. She presided over the trial of Jack Sugden, who was accused of being involved in the fire that killed his ex-wife, Sarah.
Joshua, who lives in Halifax with Sarah, who has also appeared in Shameless, The Bill, and Coronation Street, tells the Mirror: “She has played a judge in Emmerdale before.” Of course, he is joking, but, with her pedigree on British TV, he expected her to end up in a long term Emmerdale or Corrie role, not him. He laughs: “In the end, I ended up being on Emmerdale and she is the one who supports me. I was only supposed to be in the soap for six months, but I’m now in my eighth year and it’s flown by. I love being in Emmerdale. It’s the best job in the world.”
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But Joshua, 66, says it was the late Cleopatra legend Richard Burton who shaped him as an actor. For more than 20 years, he starred as Burton in a play that toured around the world. Coincidentally, he had earlier shared a flat with the Welsh titan’s nephew, Guy Masterson, when they were students in Wales – and once answered the phone to Burton, who famously married his Cleopatra co-star Elizabeth Taylor twice.
Joshua, 66, recalls: “The phone rang and I picked it up. Guy was in the bath and I ended up talking to him [Richard Burton] for around five minutes. Afterwards, Guy asked me ‘do you know who that was?’ I said ‘no’. He told me it was Richard Burton! And so, when I was offered the role, [playing him] however terrified, I knew I could do it after speaking with him. I originally played Burton in a London festival, but Guy spotted me on the poster and he ended up relaunching it.”
Made into a film, they won a BAFTA and Joshua says: “That role has informed me for everything I’ve done.” Luckily, beyond playing Burton, who was married five times to Liz Taylor’s eight and was an alcoholic – drinking up to three bottles of vodka daily – Joshua shares little in common with the actor, who died in 1984, age 58.
As well as playing Burton, Joshua appeared in Troy, alongside Brad Pitt and King Arthur, before landing his Emmerdale role. He says: “Next week, Bear will stand in the dock alongside Paddy [Dingle] and Dylan [Penders, Bear’s son], who have been charged with perverting the course of justice after moving Ray’s body.”
Bear admitted to murdering Ray – brilliantly played by Joe Absolom – after months of torment, being held hostage at Ray and Celia Daniels’ drug farm in the soap’s hard-hitting modern slavery storyline last year. He strangled the psychopath to stop him from threatening Paddy and Dylan. Now he faces spending the rest of his life in jail, if found guilty. Joshua says: “Bear is terrified. He feels guilty and he feels he has a price to pay for what he did. He also feels guilty that he has dragged Paddy and Dylan into it. He wants to protect them and take all the responsibility. He could end up in prison for the rest of his life.”
Proud that the storyline has raised awareness about a serious issue, Joshua continues: “I worked on a play about slavery 17 years ago, before Emmerdale, and so I knew about modern day slavery. I was horrified by the statistics and I am amazed by how it continues to thrive. It’s everywhere and all around us. We worked with The Salvation Army on this story and I spoke to a victim of modern slavery. He was a smart, intelligent man, but you can still be exploited, no matter how bright you are. This storyline has been one of the toughest I’ve ever worked on, but it has also been a very rewarding one.”
On working alongside Emmerdale’s legendary Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy, Joshua adds: “He is a lovely chap to work with. We got on straight away and he is the consummate professional. Fred [Kettle], who plays Dylan, is a charming talented boy, too. I’m lucky that I work with such lovely people.” Lucky to have both job security and a schedule that means he doesn’t need to work at weekends, Joshua says: “It’s wonderful I can drive home [after work.]
“When I went for my screen test, I knew I wanted the job so much, as I was sick of going around the country and the world with a suitcase. Now I get to sleep in my own bed with my lovely wife. I remember the first week after landing the part, someone asking me what I planned to do at the weekend. When you are in theatre, you must always work weekends, including Sundays abroad. I said ‘nothing’!”
Joshua and Sarah don’t have children and he says: “Our life is very simple without. We are blessed to not have children. We’ve never even had a dog. I don’t own any house plants, because before Emmerdale, I was always away!’ Emmerdale has also helped him to shed around four stone, which he has maintained, and reverse Type 2 diabetes. Ditching junk food for vegetables, in the last few years he’s dropped from 17st to 13-and-a-half stone, saying:“I’ve kept it off. I do feel better for it. I was on blood pressure tablets before and I was bordering on being a diabetic, but all of that has gone now. I don’t take a single tablet for anything.”
Keeping mum about what happens next to Bear, Joshua will share that he has no plans to quit. He says: “If they want me to stay, I’d love to stay forever. I have no plans to retire. Emmerdale is, to quote Forest Gump, like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get next. You also get to climb so many different mountains and it is a lot of fun. But trouble does lie ahead for Bear. You don’t know what the court will do and whether they will trip him up or not. I know Bear wouldn’t cope in prison. He doesn’t like that environment. He’s not a criminal.” Anyone wanting to know more will just have to tune in and see.
*Emmerdale airs every weekday on ITV1 at 8pm. Episodes can also be downloaded on ITVX.
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