was a
Fictional Character on the
ITV Soap Opera ''
Emmerdale ''.
Leah Bracknell played her for 16 years (
1989 -
2005 ).
Zoe arrived on ''
Emmerdale '' (then titled ''
Emmerdale Farm '') in
1989 with her father
Frank Tate , brother
Chris Tate and stepmother,
Kim Tate . In early episodes, the character of Zoe was given few lines or storylines and Leah Bracknell has been quoted as stating she considered quitting the soap at this point. When the programme was revamped around the time of the infamous plane crash, the character of Zoe ended her relationship with local farmer
Archie Brooks and came out as a
Lesbian .
Zoe trained as a veterinary surgeon, though towards the end of her time on ''
Emmerdale '', her character spent more time on business concerns than practising as a vet. Zoe was the first
Lesbian character on a UK soap, ahead of
Beth Jordache on ''
Brookside '', and her character was involved in the first lesbian "wedding" (a commitment ceremony with no legal effects, as
Civil Partnership s had not at that time been brought into force in the UK) on British TV. Zoe "married" her long-term girlfriend, Emma, only for the relationship to end very shortly afterwards thanks to Zoe becoming involved with Emma's ex, Susie. After Susie and Zoe split, Zoe dated Sophie Wright, the nanny to Zoe's half-brother, James, and Frankie, a local truck driver who worked for one of the family businesses, Tate Haulage. She also had an affair with her sister-in-law,
Charity Tate .
In later years, Zoe suffered from
Schizophrenia after shooting dead her half-brother, Liam, in the culmination of a plot where a vengeful Liam, conceived as a result of an affair of Zoe's father, Frank, kidnapped Chris and Zoe. During a schizophrenic episode, Zoe slept with local mechanic
Scott Windsor , an event she was later unable to remember. Zoe's resulting pregnancy left her bewildered. When Scott stepped in to claim paternity of the unborn child, he found himself facing rape charges, before eventually being cleared. Previously, reference had been made to Zoe wanting children (she discussed with previous girlfriend, Sophie, the possibility of them having a baby together) and she made the decision to keep the baby conceived with Scott. This was their daughter Jean, named for Zoe's late mother.
After Jean's birth, Zoe and Scott briefly attempted a relationship, but Zoe ended their faltering romance and reasserted her lesbianism. Zoe left Emmerdale on 22nd September
2005 after being cleared of an attempt to murder Scott. Scott threatened her with a gun but Zoe made good her escape with Jean and Joseph, her orphaned nephew (of whom she has custody following the deaths of her brother, Chris, and his ex-wife, Rachel). Before leaving, Zoe was allowed one final act of revenge as she engineered a devastating explosion at the former Tate family home, Home Farm, which she had been conned into selling to the King family.
