Emmerdale fans may be watching one of the soap’s most ruthless characters spiral toward a reckoning, as Dr Caitlin Todd (Caroline Harker) continues to prove she is every bit as calculating as she is cruel.
A toxic bully in the workplace and a manipulator in almost every other area of her life, Todd has already caused serious damage to Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), a woman usually known for being more than able to hold her own.
Viewers were first introduced to Todd as the nasty boss of young student doctor Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant), whom she immediately took a dislike to and set about making miserable. What started as workplace torment quickly escalated into a full-on campaign to make his life hell.
And Todd did not stop there. After moving into the village and becoming Vanessa Woodfield’s (Michelle Hardwick) roommate, she was able to keep targeting Jacob even when he got home, extending the abuse beyond the hospital and into his private life.
Jacob eventually did the right thing and reported Todd to HR, but the situation took an even nastier turn when Todd discovered that baby Leyla, thought to be Jacob and Sarah Sugden’s (Katie Hill) child, is actually the baby of Charity, who had been acting as a not-so-surrogate.
Armed with that explosive secret, Todd used the information as leverage and forced Charity to pressure Jacob into withdrawing his complaint, proving once again that she is willing to go to extreme lengths to protect herself.
