Pearl Ladderbanks (also Hartbourne) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Meg Johnson. She first appeared on the show during the episode airing on 30 July 2003. Pearl's storylines include defending her rapist son Frank Bernard Hartbourne (Rob Parry), being trapped in a fire during the Sugden house explosion, developing a gambling addiction, committing embezzlement in order to feed her gambling, and faking Alzheimer's disease to prevent her addiction from being revealed.