RESIDES: Honeysuckle Cottage, Glendale
OCCUPATION: Doctor at Glendale Family Surgery
MARITAL STATUS: Dating Ben Granger
PREVIOUS MARRIAGES: David Blake (divorced)
PREVIOUS RELATIONSHIPS: Michael Bancroft (relationship, deceased), Paul Halifax (affair)
CHILDREN: Nick Harrington-Jones and Alexander Blake (deceased)
GRANDCHILDREN: None
FATHER: Martin Barlow
MOTHER: Lorna Barlow
SIBLINGS: Lucy Barlow
NOTABLE RELATIVES: None

BIOGRAPHY: Complicated, impulsive, honest, and fiercely caring – these are just some of the words the villagers of Glendale would use to describe Emma.

Born and raised in London as Emily Barlow, Emma’s adolescence was tumultuous, marked by reckless behaviour with alcohol and drugs. In the mid-1990s, she met wealthy Glendale local Michael Bancroft at a party, and the two quickly became inseparable. Their relationship was passionate but destructive, and no one could come between them – or so they thought. Everything changed when Emma became pregnant and gave birth to a baby son, Nick. Michael’s mother, Judith, pressured the struggling, drug-addicted Emma to give up the child in exchange for a substantial payment. With no support, Emma reluctantly agreed, and Nick was raised by Michael’s sister, Julia Harrington-Jones. Unknown to everyone, the boy’s biological father was actually Michael’s drug dealer, Luke Kennedy, who had coerced Emma into sex in exchange for drugs.

Determined to reclaim her life, Emma turned herself around. She changed her name, pursued higher education, graduated as a general practitioner, and built a new life in Manchester, where she married local lawyer David Blake. But their marriage was strained by multiple failed pregnancies and the secret of Emma’s firstborn. Her affair with her boss, Paul Halifax, caused monumental cracks, but it was the subsequent pregnancy and tragic death of baby Alexander that ultimately ended the marriage.

Disillusioned but determined, Emma moved to Glendale to track down Nick and reconnect with her son – a move David condemned as “sick”. Despite efforts by Judith and Julia to keep the truth hidden, an ancestry DNA test revealed Emma as Nick’s biological mother. The dramatic revelation resulted in Nick suffering a near-fatal car crash, and mother and son began to rebuild their relationship.

Emma’s time in Glendale was further complicated by tragedy and moral dilemmas. She discovered her best friend’s husband was having an affair and suffering from an STI. Bound by doctor-patient confidentiality, she urged Tom to tell his wife, Kate, but he refused. When the affair was exposed and Tom subsequently took his own life, Emma was wracked with guilt, straining her friendship with Kate. Matters were further entangled as Tom was the cousin of her new beau, Ben Granger. Then, Paul Halifax arrived in Glendale, causing Emma’s relationship with Ben to collapse.

The return of Luke Kennedy to the village after years in prison pushed Emma to the brink. A brief reunion with the married Paul ended quickly, and finally, love prevailed: Emma and Ben reunited. Her relationship with Nick flourished, and with Luke eventually on the run, life in Glendale appears to have settled. For the first time in years, Emma can finally breathe.