Lesbians of a certain age will remember with a sigh the lady who made us all love wax jackets and long for a Range Rover; Emmerdale’s one and only Zoe Tate. Now you may say that Zoe isn’t gone that long so why must these lesbians be of a certain age? Well, basically, Zoe wasn’t always a drunk schizophrenic amnesiac who shagged men while in a trance. No, back in 1993 Zoe was the pillar of normality in Home Farm, which was run by her beloved father Frank and scheming brother Chris. She was also one of the first lesbian characters on UK telly.

Our Zoe did quite well on the lady front, and is guilty of convincing many a lesbian to up sticks to a village nearby where there seems to be no shortage of good looking lesbians. Let’s have a look shall we?

Emma Nightingale

mmIn 1995 it was this lucky Interior designer who stole Zoe’s heart and made her realise that, yes, she was a gay. In 1996, the pair got serious and decided to get married. but wouldn’t you know it, Emma’s ex (Susie) came back into their lives and seduced Zoe. The vixen vet dumped poor Em on the day of the wedding. For shame!

Emma was played by Rachel Ambler who, apart from appearing in a couple of Inspector Lynley Mysteries, and showing up on Emmerdale again in 2004, seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. Well, the online earth anyway.

Sophie Wright

After the demise of her relationship with Emma, Zoe didn’t let the abundant grass grow under her feet. In 1997, she, and we, fell for the lovely Sophie Wright. Ah Sophie; child-minder, kind-hearted and well able for posh Zoe get grounded in her working class roots. This was the one we all wanted to last. But this is telly, and the course of true love never did run smooth.

Jane Cameron who played Sophie, has been one busy actress. If it’s a British TV show, she’s been on it; The Bill, Green Wing, Primeval, Holby City, EastEnders (just last year as D.C. Bedows), Dalziel and Pascoe and Doctors to name but a few. She was also in the 1991 horror The Unborn, which was nominated for a Saturn Award. I dunno either but I’m impressed nonetheless.

Frankie Smith

We all knew that once the Tates opened a haulage company, in 2000, it was only a matter of time before a butch truck driver came on to the scene. Well butch TV-style anyway. Frankie was outspoken, and charmed the socks (as well as other apparel) off our gorgeous Zoe. did it last? Did it heck.

There were actually two actresses who played Frankie; Gina Aris and Madeleine Bowyer. Gina Aris was in the critically aclaimed TwentyFourSeven with Bob Hoskins and then disappears on us. Madeleine Bowyer, however, has been a busy lady with stints on Holby City, Banged Up Abroad and, most recently, Law & Order: London.

Zoe Tate

And what about our heart-breaker? Well Leah Bracknell left the show in 2005, having spent over a decade there. She has been relaxing since while choosing stage roles that interest her. Recently she appeared in Gaslight and in Strangers on a Train as well as the Theatreworks production of Turn of the Screw. She hasn’t forgotten her telly roots though and has appeared on Judge John Deed, Casualty 1907, Touch of Frost and Doctors. In June 2007, Leah joined the cast of new ITV daytime soap The Royal Today, in which she plays Matron Jenny Carrington. Leah is a qualified Yoga teacher too and you can watch her stretch and hold on her DVD entitled Leah Bracknell -Yoga and You.

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