As Lydia Chambers was unmasked as Adam Barlow’s tormentor last week, we chatted with Rebecca Ryan to find out Lydia’s next steps. How far is Lydia willing to go and will she succeed in her campaign against Adam?
From Lydia’s introduction, she seemed harmless as she struck up a friendship with Sarah Barlow. Rebecca told us: “I knew she was coming in to cause a little bit of trouble with Adam and Sarah. I wasn’t quite sure of the extent of the trouble she was going to cause.
“From an actress point of view, it’s brilliant because it’s something you can really get your teeth into. Character wise, hopefully towards the end you will kind of realise that she’s not just doing this to be a bad person. She’s doing it for a reason. It’s very fun to play, that’s for sure.”
With Sarah and Lydia becoming best friends, Rebecca explained how Lydia came to realise her plan. “I don’t think it was pre-meditated at all. I think she genuinely came to the factory as part of her job, she met Sarah; she liked her from the get-go. They formed a nice friendship and happened to bump into Adam, and it spiralled from there.”
Lydia has already gone to huge lengths to carry out her scheme, and she is desperate to make Adam pay. “In the past when [Adam and Lydia] were together back in the Uni days, he treated her very badly, and for her, it wasn’t just a little fling and onto the next one. It changed her life.
“Her relationship with Adam changed the course of her life, and she’s really struggling the get over that. I think the worst thing for her is that he hasn’t admitted or acknowledged it. I think it’s another nail in the coffin. All it would’ve taken for him was his acknowledgment and that’s it, instead he goes: ‘Sorry, who?’ Then for her, that’s like the biggest kick in the teeth.”
Last week, Lydia admitted that her mystery man was married. Things then take a drastic turn when she reveals that the married man is Adam, but will Sarah believe her?
Rebecca said: “She’s covered all bases. She’s gone to extraordinary lengths, things you wouldn’t even think of. Not only that, she’s put things into place weeks before. Conversations that she’s had with Sarah, she’s laying the groundwork already for things she knows are going to happen. She’s been very clever and manipulative. This is a well-thought-out plan, for sure.
“Sarah is obviously devastated. This is her marriage; this is her life and it’s just been turned upside down. It is a genuine friendship for Lydia with Sarah, but her revenge on Adam means more to her, so she kind of gets caught in the middle of it.
“I think that she’s genuinely trying to save Sarah, and she’s trying to get her away from him because she does think he’s bad news and he’s not changed after all this time. I don’t know if she goes about it in the right way, but in her own way, she is definitely trying to save Sarah.”
When it’s time for Lydia’s big reveal, Adam is completely shocked, and she gets the reaction she’s been waiting for. “She’s just pulled the rug from under him and completely ruined his life. Her end result is the end result that she wanted; she got what she set out to achieve.”
After this confrontation, things step up several gears as Lydia undoubtedly becomes public enemy number one, and she prepares to deal with the fallout. Rebecca told us: “I think she’s so focused on what she has to do with Adam and taking him down, I don’t think she even contemplates it, and I think the only person she really does care about is Sarah.
“It only gets to her when she’s confronted by Sarah. Other than that, I don’t think she’s too bothered. She knows what she has to do and she’s going to do it.”
In the past, Rebecca has told us that she is a fan of the show, and as Adam and Sarah as a couple, so this story has been bittersweet. “It’s a two-way street because playing it, I’m like: ‘This is brilliant, I love it!’, but then as a fan, I’m thinking: ‘Oh, it’s going a bit far now.’
“Towards the end of it, you can kind of see her reasoning for doing what she does. Yes, she might take things too far to get her point across, but, I hope it comes across that you do kind of feel for her and know that she’s doing this not because she’s a bad person, she doesn’t want to ruin lives for the sake of it.
“She’s doing it because she has genuinely been broken and is potentially trying to save someone else from going through what she went through. Hopefully at the end of it, we can see she’s not just a crazy person who is trying to ruin everyone’s lives for the sake of it.”
Lydia is determined that she is saving Sarah from Adam, but will Sarah see it that way? “No, I don’t think anyone would see it like that,” Rebecca said. “She has gone in there like a bull in a china shop and instead of just sitting Sarah down and explaining things to her, she does go full force.
“I don’t think she’s done it in the right way. I don’t think Sarah will see where Lydia’s coming from. Lydia’s revenge on Adam for her is more important than Sarah’s feelings at the minute.
“I’d like to think [Lydia] can redeem herself. Towards the end of this storyline, you do sort of see a different side to her. You can sort of see why she’s doing it and hopefully, people will have a bit of sympathy for her and start to realise she’s not a bad person at all, she’s a nice person who has been hurt very badly.”
Sophie Williams
Find me on Twitter @sophie_writer1.
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