Emmerdale’s Ned Porteous has made it absolutely clear his character Joe Tate will do anything to succeed in his organ donation plan.
We learnt a few days ago that Joe is living with AAT deficiency after inheriting it from his granddad Frank Tate. As a result of the diagnosis, Joe has developed chronic kidney disease and one of the ways to improve his health is to get himself a new organ.
He attempted to force Noah Dingle (Jack Downham) into the procedure by drugging him, but Doctor Crowley then confirmed he wasn’t a match.
Joe revealed the other blood relative he had in mind was his uncle Caleb (William Ash). This time, he manipulated local GP Manpreet (Rebecca Sarker) into unethically getting a vial of Caleb’s blood for testing. She handed it over to Joe, not completely aware of the full story, and he passed it onto Doctor Crowley (James Hillier).
Crowley confirmed that Caleb was a match, which meant the next phase of the plan could begin.
The doctor told Joe that he has everything in place where the actual operation is concerned, all he needs to do is get Caleb to him unconscious.
That way, the donation can go ahead without him even knowing.
Reflecting on the storyline developments, Ned Porteous admitted that while Joe is a completely selfish human being, he might feel a pang of emotion should something happen to Caleb over the next few days.
‘I don’t think Joe is a complete psychopath and without empathy. I think he would care if something bad were to happen, but I think he would also put his own life before Caleb’s’, he said.
‘I think he’s willing to accept the consequences of a worst case scenario, which is obviously sad to say, but in the mission of self preservation, I’m sure he would do anything.’
Pondering over why Joe hasn’t taken the typical route of using the NHS, Ned said:
‘I think he probably did try that. There is a downside, obviously, as wonderful as having a National Health Service is in this country and what a brilliant service they are. The downside being sometimes you have to wait to get what you want. There are lots of people on these transplant lists.
‘And Joe, I think would assume that maybe his life is more important than others. So he’s going to do whatever he can to jump that list. If he believes that he’s only got X amount of weeks or months left, you know, what would he be willing to do to jump it. He’s definitely not going to be waiting the four, five, six, sometimes even longer amount of months that it is to get your kidney properly.’
Crowley has also reminded Joe that once the operation is complete, they are both leaving the Dales.
He knew this part of the plan was important, but failed to admit to Crowley that he might be developing feelings for Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley).
‘Well, as we’ve started to see, there are other things in the village that are keeping Joe’s attention, so if he [Caleb] should ever realises that he’s [Joe] healthy again, what’s next, you know, everything that is going on with Dawn, if it does seem legitimate and if it is legitimate, then that will obviously be something to keep him around.’
‘Also he’s also very low on family members, so potentially being just near and around Noah, that could be enough to stay. Family is important to him and so he may want to stick around.’
