Emma Keane (Ackley Bridge)

Emma Keane
Ackley Bridge character
First appearance	Episode 1
Last appearance	Episode 20
Portrayed by	Liz White
In-universe information
Occupation	Teacher
Significant other	Samir Qureshi
Children	Chloe Voyle (daughter)

Emma Keane is a fictional character from the Channel 4 school drama Ackley Bridge, portrayed by Liz White. Emma first appeared in the pilot episode of the series, first broadcast on 7 June 2017. She is introduced as an English teacher at the fictional Ackley Bridge College. Her storylines in the series include her rocky relationship with daughter Chloe Voyle (Fern Deacon), supporting student Missy Booth (Poppy Lee Friar) through her life struggles and having an affair with Samir Qureshi (Arsher Ali).

Storylines[]

After having shaved her legs in the taxi, Emma arrives at Ackley Bridge College for her first day in flip-flops, due to running late. She arrives late to headteacher Mandy Carter's (Jo Joyner) staff meeting, who is a friend from her previous school. She also meets Samir Qureshi (Arsher Ali), with whom she had a relationship with in university. Mandy oversees her English lesson, where daughter Chloe Voyle (Fern Deacon) shows up drunk and vomits in her classroom. Chloe informs her that her father Nik (Stuart Manning) no longer wants to care for her, so she has taken an Uber across the country. When Emma plans for her to go back to Nik and scolds her for getting drunk, Chloe posts a photo of Emma topless on social media. She is called in by Mandy, who informs her that the image has damaged the reputation of the school. Chloe apologises for posting the photo, and Emma explains that she felt she would not be good at motherhood. Emma worries about student Missy Booth (Poppy Lee Friar), who she knows from a previous school.

When Missy acts strangely school, Emma questions her, and Missy asks her for a large sum of money. She explains that her grandmother has died, but asks her not to inform social services, otherwise her sister Hayley (Cody Ryan) will put into foster care. Emma affirms that she has a responsibility to tell social services, but waits until they have cremated her grandmother. When the Booth family have a hearing for Hayley's custody, she tries to attend, but Mandy stops her from doing so. Chloe begins to feel neglected by Emma, since she is paying a lot of attention to Missy. She then reveals to Emma that she has a boyfriend, who is in his thirties. Emma goes to her boyfriend's place of work and exposes him for dating a teenager. Emma learns that Samir is engaged to Maryam (Kiran Landa/Meryl Fernandes), but the pair begin an affair regardless. When Samir marries Maryam, they continue their affair. Samir is stabbed, and Emma takes time from work to deal with the grief. She tries to find the man responsible for his death, but is unsuccessful in doing so. When the Valley Trust take over the school, Emma is replaced by Martin Evershed (Rob James-Collier). She returns to the town after hearing Missy has died, to attend a ceremony for her.

Casting[]

Actress White stated that Emma "wasn't a part that [she would] get picked to play", and thought that nobody would be able to envisage her as Emma. She recalled that when she went in for her audition, she felt "uninhibited" since she did not think she would get the role. She went for the part regardless, since she liked that "really could go anywhere", and that her journey with motherhood is usually unseen on television. She also wanted to be involved with Ackley Bridge as she liked that it was addressing "the voluntary segregation in schools". She felt that from an acting perspective, it would be "a good story to tell". Having previously appeared in school drama Teachers, she noted that Ackley Bridge focused on real social issues. She noted that the series is "actually representing issues in education around the country". White also enjoyed filming in Halifax, West Yorkshire, as she was born in Yorkshire. She also praised the casting of Deacon, who plays her on-screen daughter Chloe, and felt that the both of them worked well together.^[1]

Characterisation[]

Emma is described as "funny, charming and great to be around", as well as "very opinionated".^[2] White bills Emma as "strong minded, strong willed and fun", and that she "isn't afraid of tackling the system". She adds that Emma grew up in the Ackley Bridge area, and returns due to having a "very strong social conscience" and wanting to help the children in an area she is from.^[1] Despite being a figure of authority, it is noted that Emma "has issues with authority". Her backstory includes getting pregnant with Chloe in her first year of university, and therefore delaying her degree to give birth. Chloe's father Nik has had custody of Chloe for the majority of her life, with Emma only seeing her for "one weekend a month and half the school holidays". Despite loving Chloe, she also "loves having her own freedom".^[2] After having her daughter, Emma went travelling.^[3] Also at university, Emma had a relationship with Sami, and they are "shocked and surprised" when they are reacquainted at Ackley Bridge.^[2] White described their relationship as "love's young dream gone wrong".^[1] YorkshireLive wrote that Emma "gets the surprise of her life" when she discovers the pair will be working together.^[4]

Development[]

White explains that when the viewers are first introduced to Emma, "she is just back from holiday, she has been on her travels, and she comes back to find that her daughter, who she would normally spend weekends and holidays with, has landed herself at the school". Emma is "overwhelmed" by Chloe appearing at the school, and White states that it shows viewers that Emma's life is "unconventional" and she is not a "full time mum". White added that as children are usually placed with the mother when a couple split up, she liked that it was different in Emma's case.^[1] White admitted that she would like her character to "embrace being a mum", and to "forge a really good bond with her daughter". She felt that it would help Emma, as she opined that Emma is "often depicted as searching for a man to fill the emotional gap in her life". She stated: "she's got this beautiful, smart, witty daughter right in front of her that she doesn't invest in as much as she could, and so I'd love to see that explored."^[5] Channel 4 state that "she is a bit of a rebel and isn't afraid to go out on a limb for the kids", touching on her relationship with Missy in particular. White recalled a conversation with Friar (Missy), where the pair made the decision that their characters had met at the school Emma previously taught at. In this backstory, Missy had various issues in her home life which Emma was aware of, which leads to Emma having "a vested interest in Missy coming back to education" in Ackley Bridge.^[1] On Emma's relationship with Mandy, White explained that they were initially both teachers on the same level of authority prior to the series. However, in Ackley Bridge, Mandy is the headteacher, which leads to "a potential power struggle". She opined that her character is not interested in a "higher status job", but a "conflict" arises when Mandy "has to steer Emma in line with the way she wants the school to be".^[1] Emma "doesn't always agree with Mandy’s approach", and when Mandy limits struggling students from non-core subjects, this leads to a disagreement. White explained: "Emma thinks that if a student's only good subject is drama, and you stop them from doing it, what's that going to do to their self-esteem. So she encourages the students to speak up for themselves, and go and let their feelings be known to Mandy, which obviously Mandy doesn’t agree with!" She adds that although their relationship will "struggle a little bit", they will eventually "find a way through it".^[3]

Emma begins an affair with Samir, who is engaged and later gets married. White stated that although their relationship is complicated, they have "feelings for each other". She that Emma "makes decisions sometimes that lead her to be in a bit of a mess", referring to the affair as one example.^[3] When Samir is murdered, Emma is "hell bent on getting justice" for him. White stated that he was "the love of Emma's life growing up". She described their relationship as "a painful love", due to "their history where they had broken up before". His death forces Emma to realise "she still had really strong feelings for him". The police are unable to find his murderer, which leads Emma to take action herself. White explains that since Emma is "quite flighty, very passionate and quite chaotic", it means that she can make decisions that leave her "in a bit of a mess". Prior to his death, Emma is planning a school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, with "real momentum" since she feels it is a "good idea". However, due to his death, the actress states that Emma's "commitment wanes because of what’s happened". White was asked by What's on TV if her character could move on with Will. She replied that "there's a chance for real feelings to develop", but Emma will need to "decide whether to let go of the past and move on". She adds that Emma needs to be sure that Will is the right person to move on to.^[6]

References[]