Emmerdale's Bhaskar relishes 'heavy storyline'

Emmerdale's Bhasker Patel says he hopes his shock baby storyline will help to cement his place in the soap.

The actor plays Rishi Sharma, who recently told a huge lie for son Jai (Chris Bisson) when he claimed to have fathered Rachel Breckle's (Gemma Oaten) baby Archie.

Bhasker said: "When you join, some of the characters have been in it for many years and you feel: 'Where do I stand?' But I think when you get a storyline like this one it makes you focus.

"Straight away it puts you right out there."

Rishi tells the lie to cover up for Jai when it looks like his wife Charity (Emma Atkins) is about to find out about his secret lovechild.

Now that Bhasker has his own dramatic Emmerdale storyline, he has no intention of relaxing until it has come to an end.

He said: "When you have a heavy storyline you can't do anything but get up early in the morning and the night before refresh all your lines, go to the studio, go through scenes one after another and think about the next day as well.

"When the storyline finishes then you can wind down. Otherwise next day it really takes its toll."

Bhasker has had many acting jobs before but this is his first long-running soap role which he says he is glad about.

"I did all manner of acting jobs which makes you a good all rounder. I'm glad that this [Emmerdale] came later on. Work demands you to think on your feet and if you haven't had much experience you can feel a fish out of water. Now I feel I know what's required of me."

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.