Actor Oliver Farnworth has admitted he was devastated to see his villainous character killed off, confessing he secretly hoped to stay in the soap forever, as the mystery over John’s death unfolds.

In a dramatic cliffhanger at the end of the Corriedale episode, Emmerdale fans saw Victoria Sugden standing over the dead body of her half brother John. Flashback scenes will reveal if she killed arch villain John Sugden, who has finally got his comeuppance for killing Nate Robinson and the havoc he has wreaked since arriving in the Dales 18 months ago.

But actor Oliver Farnworth is devastated by John’s death: “To do the story and the character justice, it’s important villains get their comeuppance – that’s what people like to see,” he says. “For me, personally, I wanted to stay at Emmerdale forever. I loved it there. So selfishly, I would say I wish he hadn’t been killed off.”

 

At the end of Monday’s Corriedale special – a crossover episode between Emmerdale and Corrie – after a dramatic chase through the woods John shot Cain Dingle and knocked Detective Constable Kit Green out. And fans were shocked to see Victoria, rather than arch-rival Robert Sugden standing over John’s corpse.

Even Oliver was taken aback, saying: ”I was like ‘OMG where has Victoria come from?’ when I was reading through everything. But I love the ambiguity of the fact you see Victoria standing over John’s dead body. It’s unexplained. How has this happened? Has she done it? Has he done it to himself and she happens to be standing there, or has someone else done it? You don’t know yet.

“It will all be explained in flashback scenes, but the fact he has no visible injuries makes this plot so interesting.” Filming the scenes was tough for Oliver, who says: “I was emotional. I will miss everyone at Emmerdale. They are such a great bunch of people and you work so intensely with them all, form such strong bonds and then suddenly you are off doing something else.

“But you never forget them and you will always keep in touch. Right from the start, Danny [Miller who plays Aaron Dingle] has been a dream. He took me under his wing and showed me the ropes. I have learnt a lot from him, we have had a laugh on set and we have done some intense stunts together. We have become great mates and he is a brilliant actor.”

Playing a corpse tested Oliver’s acting skills to their limit. He says: “It’s very hard playing dead! They had a crane shot going over my body, it was a night shoot and I had my eyes open. I was staring at the trees and there were lights replicating the moonlight. I was thinking ‘wow this is beautiful’ but also thinking ‘is the shot nearly over?! I need to hold my breath for another ten seconds!’ I am not very good at sitting still, so that was a test for me.

“But the Corriedale episode was so exciting to be part of. I think it looks like a movie.” Joining the Corrie cast was oddly nostalgic for Oliver, who played Andy Carver in Corrie between 2014 and 2017.

“It’s art imitating life,” he chuckles. “But it was great to see some of the old faces at Corrie. Danny and I got to do a day’s filming there and it was lovely to show him where I used to work. There was a great camaraderie between us all on set and the night shoots we did together were fun.”

Praising Corrie bosses for successfully weaving together the plots from both soaps for one blockbuster episode, he says: “It’s genius how they did it. When I first heard about the idea, I did think ‘are we all going to be on the cobbles or are they coming to the village?’ I wasn’t sure how they could do it but the way the two worlds literally collided has been exciting to watch.”

The Corriedale episode will launch a nightly ‘power hour’ with half an hour of Emmerdale, followed by half an hour of Coronation Street on week nights. “This kicking off the power hour is great,” says Oliver. “It’s such a celebration of both shows and one hour a night where you can get your two favourite soaps is fantastic.”

Corriedale also gave Oliver a chance to do some stunts. He says: “Danny hitting me over the head with a gun during Corriedale and me kicking a door in. But obviously I didn’t do us jumping over a cliff top! We’ve thankfully had some great stunt performers to do those stunts.”

Oliver has just spent Christmas in Spain, where he has a home with his partner-of-six-years, actress Samantha Womack, who he met in the play The Girl on the Train, finished filming before the festivities. And he says they have no plans to return to the UK – preferring to commute for work. He says: “It always works out alright. The commute back and forth isn’t difficult. We meet back at home in Spain.

“We love being outdoors. The quality-of-life year-round in Spain is very nice, it has good food, great dog walks and it is very picturesque. The beach is down the road too and it is also nice when family come out, as they will come for a chunk of time rather than just a night or two.”

With a wealth of dramas on his CV, including Mr Selfridge and Endeavour , Oliver fancies playing a period drama villain next. He says: “I love the stage and I have not done a play for a little while, but I also love period drama. Maybe I could play a big Victorian villain. Playing nice guys is always fun, but you get the best storylines playing villains. And John has definitely been one! He has managed to annoy quite a few people over the past 18 months.”