When Matty Barton (Ash Palmisciano) was sent to prison awaiting trial for allegedly stabbing Samson Dingle (Sam Hall) in Emmerdale, the prospect terrified him. Prison would be a scary place to anyone, particularly someone as gentle as Matty, but he was mainly scared that the other prisoners would find out he’s trans.
At first he was able to keep his head down as he had a cell to himself, but it wasn’t long before he had company. A man called Les arrived, took the top bunk in the cell and proceeded to scare the living daylights out of Matty.
It turned out that Les wasn’t as scary as he looked, as Ash Palmisciano told us.
‘You’d look at him and think you wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley, you wouldn’t want to mess with him at all. But actually he’s one of these blokes that’s got a good heart and as long as you’re not upsetting him or getting in his way he’s fine for you to be whoever you are and crack on. He’s a really loveable character.’
In upcoming episodes Amy (Natalie Ann Jamieson) is pleased to hear from Matty that he’s been able to confide in Les, who has accepted him as a trans man without any problem. It’s a huge relief for her to see Matty more positive and to know he has an ally inside the prison.
Then she makes a terrible mistake. A man called Robbo approaches her at the end of visiting time after Matty has returned to his cell. He pretends to be friendly and sympathetic – and Amy thinks she’s talking to Les. She soon reveals the truth about Matty.
While Matty is alone in his cell, Robbo appears and reveals that he spoke to Amy – and it soon becomes horrifically clear that Robbo is exactly the sort of prisoner Matty was scared about.
‘Amy reveals to Robbo, who is a very nasty transphobic horrible guy, that Matty’s trans,’ Ash explained.
‘It’s the worst possible thing that could have happened to Matty. He just thought he was on the cusp of getting a hold of it and surviving and he was going to be all right and now he’s been outed by his wife, which is unbelievable.
‘It was really, really terrifying, to be honest, to put myself in that position. The actor playing Robbo played it beautifully. Really amazing tension. He played such a menacing stillness that it was all about the tension, it was all about the build-up of what’s he going to do with this information, what’s he going to do next?
‘And it could have been anything.’
In this new video, we see Matty in his cell talking to Les. To try and distract his new friend, Les tells him to think about the places that make him happy.
As Matty sits up, Les expresses the guilt he feels about getting out and leaving. The beloved character tells Les it’s brilliant he’ll be going soon, and desperately tries to hold back his tears as he says he’ll be fine on his own.
What does the future hold for Matty?
