It was Eric Pollard’s (Chris Chittell) birthday in Emmerdale tonight, but one of the gifts he received wasn’t a happy one.
Eric has slowly come to accept that he needs extra help around the house. The beloved character lives with Parkinson’s, and has now reached a stage where he cannot do small tasks such as putting his shoes on, or drinking from a cup.
Kerry Wyatt (Laura Norton) and Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) decided to organise a carer for Eric, but his pride got in the way. He felt the lady was patronising, and also couldn’t accept that his poor health had got him to this point.
The only person who managed to get through to Eric was Kerry. She is never afraid to say what she thinks, and admitted on a number of occasions that she thinks Eric is stubborn, grumpy, and ungrateful.
The two friends made a deal that Eric would pay Kerry to help look after him. She agreed, and one of the first things she did was take his bank card into town for some shopping.
However, when Eric started getting loads of bank notifications, he assumed that Kerry was just splashing his cash for her own gain. When she got home, he apologised after learning that she had bought things specifically to make his life easier.
Eric hoped at the start of tonight’s episode that his birthday would be a pleasant one, free from drama. Sadly, he then opened some mail from Brenda (Lesley Dunlop), his ex.
Eric later revealed to Kerry that she had sent him a ‘Dear John Letter’, also known as an announcement that their relationship had absolutely come to an end.
In April, Brenda and Cathy Hope (Gabrielle Dowling) left the village to go on a cruise for three months. Before she departed, Brenda told Eric that she’d return if he needed her – but that isn’t going to be the case anymore.
And suffice to say Eric was gutted.
