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After Leah’s character, Zoe, came out in 1993 – a year before Brookside showed the first kiss between two lesbian soap characters – she made history with her 1996 commitment ceremony with lover Emma Nightingale (Rachel Ambler), widely seen as the first gay marriage in British soap operas.
Bracknell’s death yesterday aged 55 left fans devastated and prompted many to remember a career filled with watercooler moments.
Coming out on camera
Serial seductress Zoe was one of the most prominent showbiz faces at a time high profile LGBT heroes were few and far between and attitudes towards homosexuality were not as accepting as today.
This was long before same-sex marriage was legal, when gender definitions were binary and LGBT people often struggled to live open and honest lives.
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When Zoe revealed her sexual identity, homosexuality was still illegal in the Isle of Man and the United Kingdom still had never had an openly gay Member of Parliament.
Bracknell had to tread carefully with her portrayal of Zoe, saying in a 1993 interview: “Zoe is quite feminine and not the obvious media stereotype of a lesbian, but the writers aren’t taking any sort of moral stance.
“This is something that Zoe discovers gradually and it will be dealt with constructively, emotionally and positively.”
In another interview, she said: “When Zoe first `came out’ it struck a chord and I got a lot of letters from young women confused about their sexuality. “I haven’t found that people have been prejudiced towards me, although the odd person thinks it’s funny to shout names at me in the street.”
But Soapland has a history of using progressive plotlines to challenge society’s norms.
And Zoe Tate walked so telly favourites such as Coronation Street’s Sean Tully (Anthony Cotton), EastEnders’ Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden) and Brookside’s Beth Jordache (Friel) could run.
While Bracknell was careful not to define Zoe solely by her sexuality, the vet-turned-businesswoman had an eye-raising track record with the ladies, including a steamy affair with blonde bombshell Charity Dingle.
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Zoe and Charity enjoyed a steamy affair
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A mental health break down
But it wasn’t just her unlucky-in-love antics that made Zoe Tate a true television icon, with a number of other hard-hitting storylines across almost two decades.
She was diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia and sectioned, becoming one of the first soap opera characters to explore themes around mental health.
Bracknell described this as her greatest achievement in her Emmerdale career, saying in a 2005 interview: “Mental health is not a glamorous issue to depict.
“I was pleased but nervous when I was told it was coming because I didn’t want to just be ‘mad Zoe’.
“We were very particular to make sure that it was truthful in essence, truthful to the character and truthful to people suffering from the condition.”
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Sexual assault
Zoe later escaped an attempted rape by injecting would-be attacker Scott Windsor (Ben Freeman) with ketamine.
It almost landed her in prison on an attempted murder charge, but she was once again freed.
And her 2005 exit stayed true to Zoe’s habit of attracting chaos as she drives off into the distance after rigging Home Farm to explode in a gas-fuelled fireball with brothers Tom (Ken Farrington), Jimmy (Nick Miles) and Max King (Charlie Kemp) inside.
Bracknell wanted a nine-month break from the soap to focus more on her family and her passion for yoga, but ultimately decided not to return to Emmerdale.
She said: “I loved playing Zoe but by the time I left she was an emotional wreck. “I wasn’t sure where else I could take her.” Her dramatic exit scooped Best Exit at the British Soap Awards, but the impact her trailblazing character had on future soap scripts cannot be measured in accolades.
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Zoe Tate helped pave the way for landmark LGBT soap moments including Brookside’s historic lesbian kiss and the first gay civil ceremony in The Archers in 2006.
She had established herself as a popular television figure who was not defined solely by being gay, but helped challenge taboos that would barely raise an eyebrow with today’s television fans.
