Lydia Hart

Lydia Hart is an oddball who ran a bereavement group in the village hall. She previously went on disastrous dates with Paddy Kirk, Rishi Sharma and Sam Dingle.

She is currently lodging at Mulberry Cottage with Laurel, Sandy, Arthur and Dotty Thomas.

Biography
In 2014, Lydia's husband and the father of her children, Steve, died. Soon afterwards, Lydia got a parrot and named him after her husband.

2016-2017: Settling into the village
Lydia was the leader of the bereavement support group held in the village hall that Jimmy King inadvertently attended in September 2016. At the group, bumbling Jimmy talked about his wife 'Ricola's' death, although his wife Nicola was actually alive and well. Jimmy struggled to keep up the lies and came up with far fetched stories to cover his deception. Nicola discovered Jimmy's deceit and Jimmy and Nicola argued during a bereavement meeting.

A few months later, Lydia turned up at Emmerdale Veterinary Centre with her depressed parrot Steve and she and vet Paddy Kirk decided to go for a drink in The Woolpack. Eric Pollard, who had previous attended the bereavement group, warned Paddy that Lydia was deranged. During their date Lydia bored Paddy by going on about her parrot and suggested a trip to the lawnmower museum. To save Paddy from Lydia's clutches, Paddy's estranged wife Rhona stepped in and told Lydia that she was his wife. Despite learning he was married, Lydia still wanted a relationship with Paddy so Paddy's other ex, Chas Dingle, helped him out and said she was Paddy's mistress, causing Lydia to slap Paddy. Lydia couldn't believe it and grabbed the microphone during a pub quiz and told people not to be fooled by Paddy before storming out.

A few months later, Lydia met Rishi Sharma on a dating website and they met up for a drink in The Woolpack. Marlon and Eric advised Rishi to run from Lydia but Rishi commented Lydia is as crazy as he is. The date was going well until Rishi's son Jai turned up at the pub drunk and called Lydia a 'munter'. Lydia decided to end things with Rishi due to this, but the following month got a job cleaning the Sharma's factory. A few weeks later she got another cleaning job at Home Farm. Due to this, she gave up her bereavement counselling job at the village hall.

Lydia soon asked game keeper Sam Dingle out. Although Lydia and Sam initially struggled for conversation, Lydia had a great time hearing Sam's bird calls. Sam later let her down gently after realising he had to make son Samson his top priority. Sam later persuaded Laurel Thomas to make Lydia (and a stuffed Steve) her lodger after hearing her complain about the daily commute. During her stay at Mulberry Cottage, she was almost to eager to please, cleaning the house as well as looking after the needs of the Thomas family.

Personality

 * Sandy Thomas: "She's relentlessly cheerful."

Lydia is often seen with a bizarre, erratic behaviour. She is an avid eco-warrior, often priding herself on her natural cleaning products in her job. With her cheery aura and colourful clothing, Lydia can come off as crazy and annoying, although she is mostly friendly and and eager people person, ready to help. Because of her background in bereavement counselling, Lydia is a kind, sensitive individual who will often lend an ear to other villagers and a shoulder to cry on. She is not also willing to help people, but is a blatant animal lover.

Lydia is unlucky in love. Having a husband who died, Lydia became lonely. But with her big heart, it is obvious that she wants to spend her life with someone, hence the dates with Paddy Kirk and Sam Dingle, along with finding Rishi Sharma on a dating site.

Sam Dingle
Lydia’s relationship with Sam Dingle is an all but simple one. She first met him in April 2017 after asking colleague Lisa Dingle if her son was single. The next day they went on a date at David’s Shop and after an awkward start, soon got on like a house on fire. After realising he had to put his son first, they mutually agreed to not see each other. She soon got a job at Home Farm, seeing Sam every day which strengthened their friendship. After Marlon Dingle spent the night in Lydia’s bed after she tried to sober him up, Sam seemed jealous.

Hobbies and interests
Much of Lydia’s passion is based around her love of her late parrot Steve. Other than caring for her now deceased (and stuffed) pet, Lydia ran a bereavement group at the village hall for a long time before getting a cleaning job at Sharma & Sharma and Home Farm.

Lydia loves dancing. She was once 'Yorkshire Junior Amateur Ballroom Champion' three years in a row, between 1994 and 1996. Apparently, people crossed the Pennines to witness her reverse fleckerl. She taught Doug Potts how to dance in June 2017 so that he could impress partner Diane. Her love of dancing reflects Lydia's tempestuous attitude.

Other information

 * Lydia originally got into bereavement counselling after watching Beaches three times in a row.

Background information

 * Lydia made sporadic appearances between September 2016 and March 2017, but due to popular reception returned as a regular cast member in April 2017. During this time, the character was credited as simply 'Lydia'.

Quotes

 * "Hello! We've got coffee and doughnuts from the cafe if you want one." (First line, to Jimmy King)