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Joanne Froggatt as Katherine Shelby
Katherine didn't do well with funerals, she had attended enough to last her a life time.
Therefore, when Freddie Thorne's funeral rolled around, she decided to pass up the opportunity of attending with her husband Arthur since she had never spoken to the man anyway. It may have seemed harsh on her behalf, but the Shelby family were very understanding of her circumstances, given that she'd buried all of her family within the last seven years.
It was like a domino effect. First her mother passed away of flu, taking her youngest brother with her to the grave. She lost her oldest brothers during the war, one had his ship torpedoed off the coast of France. They buried an empty coffin. The other was shot on the battlefield. Rounds of bullets had completely ripped through him, leaving him dead in a matter of seconds.
Following the war, her younger sister was murdered, left to bleed out on the streets of Birmingham after seeing something that someone didn't want her to see. Her father couldn't cope with his losses, and finding him strung up dead in the living room was something Katherine could never remove from her mind. If her own father didn't have the strength to stay, how could she ever find the will to do so?
But she did. With the support of her husband and Polly, Katherine had found a reason to live again. She was a happy, accepted member of the Shelby family, and Tommy had given her a job at The Garrison to distract herself from the emptiness that filled her heart.
Attending another funeral would only push back her progress, so she sensibly decided to prepare the pub for the wake. There was going to be no big celebration of Freddie's life, but she knew the family would want to gather afterwards to collect themselves after losing their friend, brother in law, and husband in Ada's case.
It was early morning when Katherine arrived at the Garrison; the same time the family had left for the funeral. She hung up her coat as usual on the golden pegs, and began tidying away some glasses that had been left out the previous night. Harry had probably missed them in the very early hours of the morning when he had kicked out the stragglers.
She polished the tables until they shone brightly, humming a soft tune to drone out the silence. Katherine hated it when things were quiet, it allowed her brain to think over things she didn't want to be constantly reminded of. It was dangerous for her to be alone with the silence.
That's why she loved being around the Shelby family so much; there was never a moment of peace and quiet. Polly often complained about the noise, but Katherine basked in it. She adored Arthur's stories and John's jokes, she'd always ask Finn about his day and smile interestedly as he explained every hour in detail.
Even Tommy made an effort to converse with his sister in law, as he recognised that lingering fear behind her eyes that everything could come crumbling down around her at any second. He knew Katherine was good for Arthur, so he had double the motive to keep her safe and well.
