Lydia dead baby mystery - Emmerdale answers the big questions
Who was the baby's dad? Why did she change her name from Jenny Finn?
Emmerdale's Lydia Hart (Karen Blick) has finally opened up about her tragic past, revealing how the baby she gave birth to as a teenager died and why she went on the run and changed her name.
In an emotional confession to boyfriend Sam Dingle (James Hooton) on Monday 8th July, the traumatised villager delved into a dark chapter of her childhood she had never discussed until the discovery of human remains at the local school last week.
- 6 questions Emmerdale must answer about Lydia’s baby death mystery
- Lydia hands herself into the police – Emmerdale’s Karen Blick speaks out on dead baby plot
- Where have you seen Emmerdale cop DI Bradwall before? All you need to know about actress Emma Rydal
Returning from giving a full statement to the police confirming she was 'Jenny Finn', the person identified as being the mother of the child found buried they believe had been there for decades, Lydia filled in the blanks and began to answer some of the big questions fans had been asking themselves - such as…
Who the baby's father was
Lydia described classmate Craig Reid as "a bit of a harmless drip," and paints herself as "daft, careless and stupid." The pair sat next to each other in maths and what sounds like a sweet childhood school romance between two naive teenagers led to Lydia accidentally falling pregnant.
Who knew she was pregnant
Nobody. Having grown up in care, Lydia feared the baby would be taken from her so she stayed quiet - not even telling the dad. She got a book from the library, read up on what would happen to her body and hid the pregnancy from everyone for the next nine months.
How the baby died
Viewers hearts broke as Lydia recounted how she gave birth in the kids' home loos, wrapped the baby in a jumper and went to nearby woodlands. "I hadn't thought beyond the birth, I thought I'd know what to do." Tragically the baby boy was stillborn, and panicking, terrified Jenny Finn held her son, wishing him to live before laying him to rest, wrapped in a blanket…
Where she ran away to
Ashamed and blaming herself for not attending any medical check-ups as the reason the child didn't make it, Jenny boarded a bus and went the furthest she could afford - Scarborough. Desperate for a new start she left all traces of her old life behind.
Where she got the name 'Lydia Hart'
In Scarborough she lived in a bedsit in the same house as a girl called Lydia Hart, who later died - Jenny found her purse and assumed her identity from that moment on.
Why she was in care in the first place
We also had light shed on Lydia's biological family. "Mum put me in care, she wasn't well," she explained, not divulging the full details of her real mother's serious health issues. "I don't remember my dad. I was five." She doesn't mention any siblings, though, or if her mum is still alive…
Why she still blames herself for the baby's death
Blick told RadioTimes.com recently: "She has carried this guilt and shame with her through her whole adult life. At her heart Lydia is a good person, but she feels she did the worst possible thing and needs to be punished. She never came to terms with the loss and believes the baby died because she didn’t tell anybody or go for proper appointments – and that the miscarriages during her marriage to Steve are proof she wasn’t fit to have children. Lydia feels cursed."
What she's going to do next
Lydia is ready to face the consequences after coming clean to the cops in what Blick describes as her "day of reckoning". On Tuesday 9th July, Sam tells Lydia nothing has changed and he still loves her - but she is still focused on receiving punishment from the police and prepares to speak to investigating officer DI Bradwall as the inquiry continues. "She is transported back to that frightened 15 year-old and stays in that frame of mind for quite some time," says Blick. "It's mortifying this is all over the papers and everyone knows, there will be many assumptions and judgments but Lydia is willing to pay the price…"
Visit our dedicated Emmerdale page for all the latest news, interviews and spoilers.
Authors
