Tara Reynolds (née Cockburn, previously Lady Oakwell and Lady Thornfield) was famous for "stirring up trouble" amongst the villagers.
Tara arrived in the village in July 1997 as the fiance of Lord Alex Oakwell, however, Tara was oblivious to the fact that he had been having an affair with Kim Tate. In an attempt to stop the wedding, Kim invited Tara out horse riding with her and encouraged her to perform a risky jump over a fence. Tara suffered a nasty fall, resulting in a broken wrist and concussion, but, much to Kim's annoyance, the wedding went ahead. However, the marriage didn't last, and Alex ended up fleeing the country when he crashed his car, killing his passenger, Linda Fowler. With Alex on the run, Tara took much of the heat for the crime, with Linda's Father, Ned, even releasing her horses and setting fire to her stables. Alex returned to the village some months later and, although initially furious with him for abandoning her, Tara decided to leave with him. However, Alex was not interested in Tara and, after stealing her diamonds, left without her.
When Kim and her husband, Steve Marchent, were declared bankrupt, Kim's former stepson, Chris, approached Tara with a view to her purchasing their shares in Home Farm for him. Tara agreed to think about it but, on the day of the sale, stunned everyone by announcing that she was going to purchase the shares for herself, making her the majority shareholder. Meanwhile, after crashing her car whilst driving under the influence of alcohol, Tara received a driving ban and promptly employed Linda's widower, Biff Fowler as her driver.
It wasn't long before Tara and Biff began an affair, something which they kept secret from the rest of the village. Some weeks later, Tara was devastated when news reached her that her Father had died and it was at the funeral that her relationship with Biff became public knowledge. However, any hopes of a future together were dashed, as Tara was hit with death duties and forced to pay off her Father's debts. Needing to get money together quickly and following advice from legal counsellor, Laura Johnstone, Tara was forced to sell off some of Home Farm's assets, which unfortunately included the homes of several villagers. Tara wrote to the affected villagers to inform them of their impending evictions and Laura gave the letters to an oblivious Biff to deliver. Tara was furious when she discovered what Laura had done, especially as Biff's close friends, Betty Eagleton and Seth Armstrong were among those receiving eviction notices. The evictions lead to the end of Tara and Biff's relationship and Tara found herself struggling, not only with her split from Biff, but with the guilt of making people homeless.
At her lowest point, Tara began spending time with Lord Michael Thornfield, an old friend of her Father's, and he soon proposed to her. Tara was left torn - she still had feelings for Biff and did not want to be seen as only marrying Michael for his wealth, especially when Laura pointed out that his money could be enough to stave off the evictions. Despite these worries, Tara accepted Michael's proposal. The night before the wedding, Tara slept with Biff and suggested, what with Michael's work frequently taking him away for weeks at a time, that she and Biff could continue their affair. However, Biff realised that Tara still planned to go through the wedding and told her that he was not willing to play second best. Some months later, Tara announced, via Laura, her intention to sell both her share in the stud business and Home Farm, much to the anger of the Tate's.
Tara returned two years later, with a large divorce settlement from Michael, and resumed her horse business at Home Farm. She began a torrid affair with Sean Reynolds; she eventually gave into her feelings for Sean and they drove off into the sunset together to set up a new life in Cheshire.
Tara returned to the village one last time for Len Reynolds's funeral, along with Marc Reynolds. Viewers have since learned she married Sean.
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