Doom & GROOM?

OLIVER FARNWORTH on John's big day and the art of playing a soap villain

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Oliver Farnworth has gone from playing the victim to the villain. Previously best known as Coronation Street's Andy Carver, who fell foul of evil Pat Phelan, the actor is now causing a stir in another ITV1 soap, Emmerdale, where his character, former soldier turned paramedic John Sugden, has a sinister 'hero complex' and has caused the death of villager Nate Robinson.

As under-pressure John prepares to tie the knot with Aaron Dingle (portrayed by Danny Miller) this week, here, Oliver, 42, joins TV Times for an exclusive chat about being the bad guy and his idyllic Spanish life away from the Dales...

Oliver, how would you describe John's state of mind on his wedding day?

Fundamentally, he feels that Aaron is the love of his life, so nothing's going to stop this wedding. But he's got the weight of the lies he has told, the issue of Nate's body [which is in a lake that's due to be dredged], and his comatosed ex-fiancé, Aidan Moore, waking up.

He saw Aidan as a safe sounding board, and he has revealed a lot to him as a kind of therapy. So his past is slowly creeping up to get him, and he's rushing around trying to put out fires while putting on a happy mask.

John has said that Aidan was injured in a bomb explosion while they were serving together in Afghanistan. Is that really the case, or might John have harmed him?

That's still a grey area even for me at the moment; they’re leaving the ‘what if?’ hanging there. Obviously, we know that John is capable of something like that, but it’s not set in stone yet...

Did you know from the off that John was a baddie?

They reserve the right to not tell you everything at the audition, just because things can turn on a sixpence with soaps, but they mentioned he had a dark past.