Ross Barton

Ross Barton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Michael Parr. He made his first screen appearance on 9 July 2013.^[1] His storylines have included attacking Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy), having a number of flings and his relationship with Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth).

Storylines

Ross attacks Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy), while she is waiting in her car. Laurel manages to escape and Ross takes the car. Laurel later tracks Ross down and tries to attack him with a pair of scissors, but she becomes scared of Ross. Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) rescue Laurel. Ross later comes to Butler's Farm looking for Cain, after he is shot while carrying out a job that Cain had initially intended to undertake himself. Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb) realises Ross is the son of her late husband's brother, James (Bill Ward), and she allows him to stay at the farm.

Ross generally seems to believe he is a ladies' man and his wandering eye irritates various people. Ross has sex with Charity Sharma (Emma Atkins), as she is intent on making estranged husband Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) jealous. He is seen on occasions with a woman called Laura Atkinson (Farrel Hegarty), and Ross' lodger Debbie Dingle's (Charley Webb) daughter, Sarah (Sophia Amber Moore) becomes fond of her. Debbie tells Sarah she will probably never see Laura again.

Ross becomes close to Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth), who he enjoys flirting with and teasing. He realises she is a dodgy policewoman and he agrees to help her burgle the house of Gary North, a prolific local criminal. However, Pete overhears Donna saying that she is only luring him into this position so she can arrest him, as she is fully aware of his previous crimes. But Donna convinces Ross that she was only saying it to keep things under wraps and they go ahead with the burglary. Later on Gary North attacks Ross' brother, Finn (Joe Gill), and nearly kills him. To keep his family safe, Ross agrees to do a dodgy job for Gary. Everything goes terribly wrong and the outcome of the job leads Donna to throw herself of a building while handcuffed to Gary to their deaths. Ross is left devastated.

Casting

The character and Parr's casting was officially announced on 24 October 2013.^[1] On joining the show, Michael Parr stated "I am thrilled to be playing a regular character in Emmerdale. It was always the plan that Laurel's carjacker would be revealed as Moira's nephew – Ross Barton. It has been fun keeping his identity and my role a secret. Although I did nearly burst from wanting to tell people. Ross is a great character and there is lots to come for him in future episodes."^[1]

Development

Speaking of Ross' character, Parr explained "He [Ross] is a nasty piece of work, but nobody is just one thing. There are many levels to Ross, but all that we've seen so far is him just being a nasty piece of work. Over time you may see another side to him but predominantly he is that."^[2] Asked if Ross feels any guilt about what he's putting Laurel, Parr responded "There is an element of guilt but also he's out for himself - he's just trying to survive. Ross is an adapter, he's just doing whatever he has to do to get by"

Ross became involved with police officer Donna Windsor, portrayed by Verity Rushworth (pictured).

In May 2014, in an interview with Digital Spy Parr revealed that Ross makes a surprising alliance with Donna Windsor portrayed by Verity Rushworth. Asked what Ross makes of Donna, Parr replied "Donna is an attractive girl, but Ross knows that she's a police officer, so he doesn't trust her. Ross finds himself attracted to Donna and she has approached him with these deals to make money, so he's intrigued by her to start with."^[3]

As part of a Donna's storyline viewers saw her receive the news that she only has weeks left to live as she is terminally ill. Producer Kate Oats explained "As well as exploring how Donna's death affects her lover Ross Barton (Michael Parr) and ex-husband Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock), there are tragic scenes ahead as her young daughter April has to adjust to life without her mum.^[4] Parr explained that Ross loses control following Donna's death; "Ross is all over the place. It's probably the worst thing that's ever happened to him and he starts to lose control. He gets very emotional, very unstable and he points the finger by blaming other people. Ross won't take any responsibility for Donna's death, so he's a bit of a loose cannon and that makes Debbie concerned for him. She's worried that he's going to go and open his mouth and let the cat out of the bag by revealing that Donna was a dodgy cop."^[5] Asked how Ross will cope without Donna, he also explained: "Ross will survive, as he'll get on with it and he gets by. You can't keep him down for too long, but he is heartbroken as he misses Donna. He's only ever loved two people in his life - his little brother and unfortunately now, Dead Donna!"^[6]

In August 2014, it was revealed that another shock for Ross was lined-up as he would find out about Donna's secret kiss with Marlon Dingle. Ross makes the discovery when he overhears Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) telling his wife Rhona (Zoe Henry) about how close the pair became in the build-up to Donna's tragic death. Michael Parr, explained: "He finds out about how close Donna and Marlon got, so that messes with his head. It's going to send him off the rails. You're going to see Ross's darker side and his need and want to hurt people when he's down and out. It gets quite dark for him." Full of conflicted emotions, Ross later makes a surprising move of his own as he makes a pass at Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) in the aftermath of Donna's funeral.^[7]

Reception

Parr was nominated for "Sexiest Male", "Best Newcomer" and "Villain of the Year" at The British Soap Awards 2014.

References

See also

• List of soap opera villains

External links

• Character profile at itv.com
• Character profile at Holy Soap