River City actress hopes hard-hitting rape storyline will encourage victims to speak out

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Actress Jacqueline Leonard hopes her harrowing rape storyline in River City will encourage victims of sexual assault to speak out.The mum-of-one admitted she found filming the scenes where Lydia Murdoch is violated by her boss Andrew Campbell-Baxter upsetting.

It airs tonight, Wednesday January 18, at 10pm on BBC Scotland.Jacqueline, 56, has gone through her character being blown up, shot by her gangster husband and then returned from the grave.

But she revealed to the Record the assault is Lydia’s most hard-hitting storyline yet.The former EastEnders actress, who grew up in Bonnybridge near Falkirk, said: “It is a storyline I found extremely hard to film but I’m also proud the writers chose to tackle such a sensitive subject as it highlights that no means no and a woman is never asking for it.“The writers, director and producers consulted the experts at Glasgow and Clyde Rape Crisis every step of the way to make sure we made the attack and the aftermath as realistic as possible.

I just hope viewers who ever find themselves in Lydia’s situation will seek the help and support they need from a charity like theirs.”With a storm outside, Lydia and her boss and landlord Andrew grow close in the sanctuary of her Shieldinch flat, leading to a kiss.