Former Emmerdale star Rachael Gill-Davis has a meaty, more dramatic role lined up after her recent soap exit.

The star, who provided Emmerdale fans with some comic relief as Gail Loman, will be playing Joan of Arc in George Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan. Directed by Kaitlin Howard, the play will run between 16-23 August in Cheltenham and Malvern.

“I’m absolutely over the moon to take on such a great role. It is a lot of pressure as Judi Dench, and people like her, have played the role,” Gill-Davis said of her new gig (via LeedsLive.co.uk).

Gill-Davis said she’s had to keep the news under wraps for a while.

“It was the week after my final scenes [in Emmerdale] aired,” she said about being cast in the play, where she reunited with director Howard.

“I’ve worked with the director Kaitlin Howard before, who is absolutely fantastic.”

The character of Joan represents a return to Gill-Davis’s more dramatic roles on stage, a stark contrast to Gail on the ITV soap.

“It is a major contrast as well from the comedy that I have been playing. Weirdly, before Emmerdale, I’d been playing a lot of different characters. I played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. I played quite a few villains,” she said.

“It is nice to go back to go to something really, really serious.”

Speaking about leaving the Dales behind last month, Gill-Davis thanked fans, cast and crew after her two-year stint as Gail.

“I’ve grown so much as a person and actor but now it’s time to get back to the industry I LOVE and have missed,” she wrote on Instagram. “Excited for what is next.”