Marlon Dingle
Encyclopedia
Marlon Sebastian Dingle is a fictional character
in the British
soap opera
Emmerdale
played by Mark Charnock
. (He was known as Melvin by Matthew King.)
Marlon arrived in 1996 as nephew of Zak Dingle
. He arrived in a red sports car and later brought his dad Albert to the village. Marlon supported his uncle Zak through his testicular cancer
and became good friends with Paddy Kirk
.
In 1997, Marlon started working at Kathy Glover's establishment - tea rooms at day and wine bar at night, which is when he first showed his cooking skills. When Eric and Dee split up, Eric went into despair and put Marlon in charge of his business. The ambitious chef was overwhelmed by such a huge responsibility and grabbed the opportunity with both hands – even though the Dingles tried to take advantage by regularly dropping in for free food.
However, Marlon's reign as the culinary king of Emmerdale was cut short when Kathy hired hunky Carlos Diaz
to work at the diner. Marlon was getting his feet well and truly under the table at the Woolpack anyway. Bernice Blackstock had been impressed by Marlon's cooking and let him do various nights there. The duo even shared a cheeky snog one night! But while his kiss with Bernice led to nothing, Marlon would find true love at the Woolpack.
New barmaid Tricia Stokes, a dippy girl with a heart of gold, began flirting with Marlon. After a few months of misunderstandings, the couple got together and went on holiday to Spain
to celebrate that.
Their relationship was severely tested when Tricia agreed to marry Jason Kirk
's boyfriend, Joe Fisher so he could stay in the country. Although she was offered a lot of money, Marlon was shocked she would even consider it and they nearly broke up. Just before the wedding, they reconciled and Tricia did her bit for Marlon's business, Chez Marlon, by giving him the money as an investment. Sadly, the business failed, and Tricia left Marlon after just a few months.
After spending ages trying to find her, Marlon moved on and began dating locum vet Rhona Goskirk
. However, Marlon's world was turned upside down when Tricia returned and they decided to get married. When the big day came, Tricia hurt her neck and had to wear a collar. She was so upset that she called off the wedding and their friends Paddy
and Emily
got married instead.
However, Marlon and Tricia did eventually get married but just a few months later, Tricia was offered the chance to star in a Bollywood
film and went to India
for six months. While she was away, Marlon was dreadfully lonely and had a drunken one night stand with his cousin Charity
. When Tricia returned, the secret came out and she left Marlon. His desperate attempts to win her back seemed to have failed but she seemed willing to forgive him after reading a romantic list of her characteristics written by Marlon.
On New Year's Eve 2003, Tricia was injured during a storm which resulted in part of the Woolpack's roof collapsing on top of her. Tricia was found alive and rushed to hospital but suffered a heart attack. The hospital staff managed to revive her but it took a long time and subsequent tests revealed she had suffered serious brain damage. She was soon declared brain dead and the medical team asked for permission to switch off her life support machine. Marlon took some convincing to agree to her life support machine being turned off, as he was still determined that she would recover, but he finally agreed to turn off her machine on realising that there was no hope of her recovering. He has never really gotten over Tricia. Even telling his second wife Donna (during a break-up) that Tricia had been his one true love.
The grief suffered by Marlon was prolonged close to a year until he developed a friendship with Donna Windsor. It was thanks to Donna's kind heart that Marlon moved on from his loss.
Although he rebuffed her early attempts to snare him early in the year, Donna Windsor proved she was the woman for Marlon when she helped him look after his cousin Lilith
's children when she dumped them on him. A relationship started to develop that was more than friendly.
It didn't take long for Marlon and Donna to fall in love. When he proposed to her – en route to a chef's competition in Newcastle
, Donna agreed and it looked like there was a happy ending in sight. However, being so young, marriage was a big thing for Donna to consider. She'd also recently become close to Max King
and his death left her absolutely devastated.
A short while before their wedding, Marlon started having nightmares about Tricia. This was made worse when Donna tried on Tricia's wedding dress and was caught by Marlon, who momentarily thought Tricia had come back. Donna explained she felt like she was always being compared to Tricia. On the morning of the wedding, Donna confided in Marlon that she had developed feelings for Max while they were together. Heartbroken by this admission, Marlon wondered if they should get married but his love for Donna won over and they did tie the knot. It was a good decision and they returned from honeymoon even stronger as a couple than before.
On return from honeymoon, Marlon and Donna spent their first few months of married life living at Smithy Cottage with Paddy Kirk
and Toni Daggert. Donna and Marlon were desperate to get on the property ladder but the prices at King & Sons' new development were too steep for them. So when they won the Kings River Showhome, they were thrilled but shocked to discover that they still had to pay a deposit. Viv offered Donna the money if Donna would be her surrogate. Marlon and Donna were stunned by Viv's suggestion that Donna get pregnant with her half-brother or sister but agreed because they needed the money if they didn't want to lose their new home.
Unfortunately the showhome collapsed following a gas explosion, leaving Marlon and Donna's dream shattered. Donna returned her mother's money as there was no longer a house to buy and Viv didn't need a surrogate, discovering she was pregnant. Following the showhome collapse, Marlon and Donna lived in a caravan outside Wishing Well cottage, they were building an "Eco Home" but realised the land they were building on belonged to Matthew King and the local council.
Donna had a major run in with Marlon's family when she reported Shadrach
to the police for theft. Called up before the Dingle Court, Donna defied Zak and Lisa
, revealing she planned to join the police force. Marlon backed her up and they stand strong together.
In October 2006, two men were looking for Marlon's brother Eli
and broke into the Woolpack to get Marlon to tell them where Eli was, although Marlon didn't know. The pair wrecked the pub, beat up Marlon and stole thousands from the till. The men were later arrested after Eli framed them for firearm possession.
In December, Lillith left her children with Marlon and Donna while she went to work. Marlon, Donna and the children moved into the Woolpack, following Lilith's arrest for armed robbery. This didn't work out and Marlon decided the children should live with their uncle because his and Donna's living arrangements were inadequate. Donna was very upset and the children returned after running away from their uncle. Marlon saw how miserable they were and decided they should go on the run. Marlon and Donna had to say goodbye to the children again when they were taken away by Social Services, following formalities with the police. Marlon and Donna were devastated when they saw that the room they'd prepared for the kids going up in flames. When the finger of blame was pointed at Val, Donna hurled insults at her but Val gave as good as she got, calling Donna of being "a schoolgirl Hitler with poor fashion sense!" Donna lashed out at Val but was held back by Marlon.
Donna and Marlon went to their final meeting with social services and were glowing with pride as Mrs Jenkins said they'd had a very positive report. However, just as it was all going well, Marlon let slip that the back room of the pub had been damaged by fire. The social worker looked into it before breaking the bad news: they wouldn't get the kids until they had more suitable accommodation
Marlon, attempting to improve his and Donna's financial problems, used their savings to place a bet. He won £18,000 but the bookie
refused to pay up so he and Eli came up with a plan to get his winnings.
Just before Eli went into the bookie's, Marlon found he had a gun and learned Eli was planning an armed robbery. Marlon was shocked but let him go ahead. Eli was almost successful when a customer came in and a fight ensued. Marlon, who had been waiting in the car, got frustrated and went inside to find Eli struggling with the customer. Pretending not to know him, Marlon yelled at Eli to leave but he wouldn't. Marlon and the customer went to grab the gun but it went off, hitting Marlon in the chest. Marlon collapsed, telling Eli to go, leaving the customer to ring the police.
Marlon was rushed to hospital and made a full recovery. However, Donna found out Marlon was involved and although very angry, forgave him, but Eli started blackmailing them. He got Donna to use her position in the police force to allow him to break into a warehouse. While at the warehouse, Marlon got cold feet and warned Eli that it was a trap. Eli was angry, but Donna had informed Zak of everything that had happened and a furious Zak confronted Eli and kicked him out of Donna and Marlon's house. However, far from it all being over, Marlon set off to work only for Eli to kidnap him!
Bundled into the back of a van, Eli drove him to the top of a multi-storey carpark, where he pretended he was going to throw him off the edge of the building to punish him for his 'betrayal'. Marlon was terrified, unsure of what his volatile brother was capable of, but asked what he had ever done to Eli? Eli revealed that he had always resented his older brother because everybody loved him and nobody had ever loved Eli. Marlon eventually managed to get free and the brothers had a fight which ended with Eli toppling over the edge of the building and only hanging on by his fingertips. Marlon tried to save him - offering his hand - but Eli refused to be rescued. Eventually Donna arrived and helped Marlon haul him to safety, but Eli ran off, apparently upset at being saved. Marlon broke down in tears and later confessed to Donna that he had considered allowing his younger brother to die and he thought that made him a terrible person. He warned Donna that being with him might only cause her trouble, but Donna reassured him it would be OK.
In 2008, The Woolpack was entered in a magazine Pub of the Year competition. Val bribed Jasmine Thomas
to tell her when the judge was coming. Diane, Val and Marlon went frantic with Marlon trying to create a gourmet menu. Diane reminded him that they were a traditional pub and not to get worked up about it. Unbelievably, they discovered they made it to the finals. Antony Worrall Thompson
was discovered to be the celebrity
judge. This coincided with Val's surprise wedding to Eric Pollard
.
Anthony was impressed with Marlon's cooking and asked Marlon to call him. When Marlon summed up the courage to call, Marlon was invited to a local television audition. A camera crew arrived at The Woolpack to record a programme featuring a special from Marlon. Marlon hired Jake Doland to help him in the kitchen and also had a column in The Hotton Courier. Marlon was later approached by the owner of Malt, The Woolpack's rival pub. He offered Marlon a better job with better pay but Marlon declined, wanting to stay in Emmerdale.
In 2008, Donna's mother, Viv, was arrested for fraud. However, Viv had been framed by Freddie Yorke. Donna found it hard, knowing her colleagues knew about her family situation. Wanting to prove her mother's innocence, she started going on unofficial stakeouts with colleague Ross Kirk
.
After some time searching, they discovered where he lived. Donna tried to apprehend him but Freddie escaped but Donna followed closely at high speed. Unfortunately she lost control of the car and crashed. Ross got them out of the car before it exploded and Donna spent months in hospital learning how to walk again. She became convinced she was a laughing stock at the station and decided to resign. Marlon was thrilled but when Donna came home, he saw she was miserable. He told her that he'd support her if she wanted to return to work.
In September, Donna and Marlon attended a police comedy night. Marlon's cousin Chas
, Ross's date, got into a fight with the comedian. Marlon defended her and the fight ended with Marlon and Chas being thrown out. Marlon took Chas home, leaving Donna with Ross. Donna and Ross shared a night of passion in Donna's hotel room which Donna regretted afterwards.
She and Marlon decided to go on holiday. When they returned, Marlon announced he and Donna were planning to start a family but Ross tried to convince Donna that would be a mistake. He also told her that she had got married too young. On 1 January 2009, Donna told Marlon of her affair with Ross. Marlon had suspected it but was still devastated, especially when Donna said she loved Ross and Marlon. Hellbent on revenge, Marlon went to the police and implicated Ross in the murder of Shane Doyle.
He gradually started to warm to Donna and was considering taking her back, although Zak warned him against it. After a conversation with Eli, who reminded him that Donna had forgiven Marlon for the raid on the bookies, Marlon agreed to give his marriage another go - on the condition that she never saw Ross again. Donna agreed, but she was certain that Ross was innocent and broke her promise to Marlon, visiting her ex-lover in prison. Meanwhile, the other Dingles remained hostile towards her and she got a very cold reception at Zak's birthday party. Surprisingly, Eli came to Donna's defence, for which Marlon was grateful. However, during a conversation with Eli, Donna noticed a vital piece of evidence that could clear Ross's name and she shopped her brother-in-law to the police.
When Marlon realised that she had betrayed both him and his family in order to free Ross, he dumped her and later asked for a divorce. They might have reconciled, even so, had not Donna caught Marlon in a drunken clinch with his cousin Chastity. Following this, Donna departed the village - seemingly for good - leaving behind a devastated Marlon. To make matters worse, Marlon's best friend Paddy (who is in love with Chas) also found out about the kiss and the two of them fell out for quite a while.
Following a period of depression, Marlon then dedicated himself to helping little brother Eli, who had been disowned by the rest of the Dingle clan after his confession led to the arrest of Debbie. The two of them came up with several plots to try and set her free. Faced with Debbie's release, Eli went missing for a time, but Marlon eventually found him sleeping rough and managed to convince his wayward sibling to come home.
The two brothers lived together until Eli's departure in 2010, along with Lizzie Lakely
, a blind woman who Marlon befriended. Lizzie upset Marlon when she preyed on his gullibility by pretending to be a psychic, causing Marlon to spend a fortune on phone bills pouring his heart out to her. He got his revenge by tricking her into paying back his money.
His life was going smoothly until Moira Barton
began to work in the Woolpack. Marlon had had a confrontation with Moira when she criticised his cooking and he didn't like her. The two argued furiously at work as Marlon felt that she was invading his domain and finding fault with his food on purpose. It reached boiling point and Moira quit, which led to an angry Diane giving Marlon the cold-shoulder until he apologised. Marlon did so and Moira returned to work, as Marlon explained that since Donna left him, his job is the one area in his life where he felt in control and Moira had threatened that. They reached an understanding and became friends. When Marlon received a letter from Donna, saying that she had met someone else and wanted him to file for divorce, a devastated Marlon found himself turning to Moira as a shoulder to cry on. Because of this, he developed romantic feelings for her and convinced himself that she felt the same way. Going against Paddy's advice, Marlon finally confessed to Moira that he thought he was falling in love with her, leaving her shocked. She let him down and Marlon was left feeling humiliated, but after a long heart-to-heart, she convinced him that she was flattered and that he would one day meet the right woman. Alongside this, Marlon also took in his cousin Charity Tate
and her young son Noah after the family turned against her for trying to steal Cain's money. When Zak and Cain found out, they were angry and Cain punched Marlon in the stomach.
In 2010, Rhona Goskirk returned to the village of Emmerdale. She and Marlon re-began a relationship, until Rhona expressed an interest in Marlon's best mate and her work partner Paddy Kirk. She split up with Marlon, and began a relationship with Paddy, much to Marlon's despair. It was later revealed that Rhona was expecting Marlon's baby, while she was still with Paddy. Marlon was very upset and told Rhona he did not want to be the part of the baby's life. He refused to go to Rhona's first scan too. On Monday 13th December 2010, it was also revealed that there is a possibility that Marlon and Rhona's baby may unfortunately suffer from Down's syndrome. It was later confirmed that this is definitely true. On Monday 20th December 2010, Rhona decided she was going to go ahead with the pregnancy, and Marlon and Paddy backed her up happily. The trio are all now good friends again.
On Thursday 13th January 2011, Marlon admitted to his housemate and colleague Bob Hope that his and Rhona's baby was sadly going to suffer from Down's syndrome. Later in the evening, Marlon comforted Bob after his best friend Terry Woods and ex-wife Viv Hope died in an arson attack caused by Katie Sugden's new boyfriend Nick Henshall. Soon after this, he told his friend Laurel Thomas about the baby's Down's syndrome. On Tuesday 1st February 2011, Marlon, Rhona and Paddy went for a scan of the baby, and this showed that its heart rate was healthy.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
played by Mark Charnock
Mark Charnock
Mark Charnock is an English actor best known for his part in ITV's Emmerdale as lanky chef Marlon Dingle.-Biography:...
. (He was known as Melvin by Matthew King.)
1996–
Marlon arrived in 1996 as nephew of Zak Dingle
Zak Dingle
Zachariah Bartholomew "Zak" Dingle is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Steve Halliwell. He first appeared on 20 October 1994 and has remained since except for a brief break from 2002-2003. On his time in the show he has been involved in a testicular cancer...
. He arrived in a red sports car and later brought his dad Albert to the village. Marlon supported his uncle Zak through his testicular cancer
Testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system.In the United States, between 7,500 and 8,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made each year. In the UK, approximately 2,000 men are diagnosed each year. Over his lifetime, a man's risk of...
and became good friends with Paddy Kirk
Paddy Kirk
Patrick Frederick "Paddy" Kirk is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Dominic Brunt. Paddy demonstrates the dedication of the soap's writers towards maintaining a comedic tone in plotlines. While he has appeared at the centre of some grave storylines, Paddy is often...
.
In 1997, Marlon started working at Kathy Glover's establishment - tea rooms at day and wine bar at night, which is when he first showed his cooking skills. When Eric and Dee split up, Eric went into despair and put Marlon in charge of his business. The ambitious chef was overwhelmed by such a huge responsibility and grabbed the opportunity with both hands – even though the Dingles tried to take advantage by regularly dropping in for free food.
However, Marlon's reign as the culinary king of Emmerdale was cut short when Kathy hired hunky Carlos Diaz
Carlos Diaz (Emmerdale)
Carlos Diaz was a fictional character in ITV's Emmerdale from 2000-2001. He was played by Gary Turner.-Character's background:Carlos had an on-off-on affair with Bernice Thomas while he was engaged to Bernice's half sister Nicola Blackstock. Bernice was married to vicar Ashley Thomas during her...
to work at the diner. Marlon was getting his feet well and truly under the table at the Woolpack anyway. Bernice Blackstock had been impressed by Marlon's cooking and let him do various nights there. The duo even shared a cheeky snog one night! But while his kiss with Bernice led to nothing, Marlon would find true love at the Woolpack.
New barmaid Tricia Stokes, a dippy girl with a heart of gold, began flirting with Marlon. After a few months of misunderstandings, the couple got together and went on holiday to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to celebrate that.
Their relationship was severely tested when Tricia agreed to marry Jason Kirk
Jason Kirk
Jason Kirk was a fictional character in ITV's Emmerdale from 1999-2002. He was played by James Carlton.-Character's background:Jason first appeared in 1999, on his cousin Paddy's doorstep after his parents had thrown him out after he had told them he was gay...
's boyfriend, Joe Fisher so he could stay in the country. Although she was offered a lot of money, Marlon was shocked she would even consider it and they nearly broke up. Just before the wedding, they reconciled and Tricia did her bit for Marlon's business, Chez Marlon, by giving him the money as an investment. Sadly, the business failed, and Tricia left Marlon after just a few months.
After spending ages trying to find her, Marlon moved on and began dating locum vet Rhona Goskirk
Rhona Goskirk
Rhona Goskirk is a fictional character who is a veterinary surgeon, from the British ITV1 soap opera Emmerdale, played by Zoe Henry. She made her first on-screen appearance on 17 September 2001. The character was introduced by series producer Steve Frost and appeared initially in 2001 and 2002,...
. However, Marlon's world was turned upside down when Tricia returned and they decided to get married. When the big day came, Tricia hurt her neck and had to wear a collar. She was so upset that she called off the wedding and their friends Paddy
Paddy Kirk
Patrick Frederick "Paddy" Kirk is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Dominic Brunt. Paddy demonstrates the dedication of the soap's writers towards maintaining a comedic tone in plotlines. While he has appeared at the centre of some grave storylines, Paddy is often...
and Emily
Emily Kirk
Emily Kirk was a fictional character in ITV Soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Kate McGregor....
got married instead.
However, Marlon and Tricia did eventually get married but just a few months later, Tricia was offered the chance to star in a Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film and went to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
for six months. While she was away, Marlon was dreadfully lonely and had a drunken one night stand with his cousin Charity
Charity Tate
Charity Tate is a fictional character on the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She is played by Emma Atkins.The character was involved in numerous high-profile storylines during her first stint on the show, such as her marriage to Chris Tate, lesbian affair with Zoe Tate, the arrival of her...
. When Tricia returned, the secret came out and she left Marlon. His desperate attempts to win her back seemed to have failed but she seemed willing to forgive him after reading a romantic list of her characteristics written by Marlon.
On New Year's Eve 2003, Tricia was injured during a storm which resulted in part of the Woolpack's roof collapsing on top of her. Tricia was found alive and rushed to hospital but suffered a heart attack. The hospital staff managed to revive her but it took a long time and subsequent tests revealed she had suffered serious brain damage. She was soon declared brain dead and the medical team asked for permission to switch off her life support machine. Marlon took some convincing to agree to her life support machine being turned off, as he was still determined that she would recover, but he finally agreed to turn off her machine on realising that there was no hope of her recovering. He has never really gotten over Tricia. Even telling his second wife Donna (during a break-up) that Tricia had been his one true love.
The grief suffered by Marlon was prolonged close to a year until he developed a friendship with Donna Windsor. It was thanks to Donna's kind heart that Marlon moved on from his loss.
Although he rebuffed her early attempts to snare him early in the year, Donna Windsor proved she was the woman for Marlon when she helped him look after his cousin Lilith
Lilith
Lilith is a character in Jewish mythology, found earliest in the Babylonian Talmud, who is generally thought to be related to a class of female demons Līlīṯu in Mesopotamian texts. However, Lowell K. Handy notes, "Very little information has been found relating to the Akkadian and Babylonian view...
's children when she dumped them on him. A relationship started to develop that was more than friendly.
It didn't take long for Marlon and Donna to fall in love. When he proposed to her – en route to a chef's competition in Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, Donna agreed and it looked like there was a happy ending in sight. However, being so young, marriage was a big thing for Donna to consider. She'd also recently become close to Max King
Max King (Emmerdale)
Maxwell Harold "Max" King is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He was portrayed by Charlie Kemp.-Storylines:Max arrived in Emmerdale in early 2005, nearly a year after the introduction of the rest of his family...
and his death left her absolutely devastated.
A short while before their wedding, Marlon started having nightmares about Tricia. This was made worse when Donna tried on Tricia's wedding dress and was caught by Marlon, who momentarily thought Tricia had come back. Donna explained she felt like she was always being compared to Tricia. On the morning of the wedding, Donna confided in Marlon that she had developed feelings for Max while they were together. Heartbroken by this admission, Marlon wondered if they should get married but his love for Donna won over and they did tie the knot. It was a good decision and they returned from honeymoon even stronger as a couple than before.
On return from honeymoon, Marlon and Donna spent their first few months of married life living at Smithy Cottage with Paddy Kirk
Paddy Kirk
Patrick Frederick "Paddy" Kirk is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Dominic Brunt. Paddy demonstrates the dedication of the soap's writers towards maintaining a comedic tone in plotlines. While he has appeared at the centre of some grave storylines, Paddy is often...
and Toni Daggert. Donna and Marlon were desperate to get on the property ladder but the prices at King & Sons' new development were too steep for them. So when they won the Kings River Showhome, they were thrilled but shocked to discover that they still had to pay a deposit. Viv offered Donna the money if Donna would be her surrogate. Marlon and Donna were stunned by Viv's suggestion that Donna get pregnant with her half-brother or sister but agreed because they needed the money if they didn't want to lose their new home.
Unfortunately the showhome collapsed following a gas explosion, leaving Marlon and Donna's dream shattered. Donna returned her mother's money as there was no longer a house to buy and Viv didn't need a surrogate, discovering she was pregnant. Following the showhome collapse, Marlon and Donna lived in a caravan outside Wishing Well cottage, they were building an "Eco Home" but realised the land they were building on belonged to Matthew King and the local council.
Donna had a major run in with Marlon's family when she reported Shadrach
Shadrach Dingle
Shadrach Dingle is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Played by Andy Devine, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 30 March 2000. Since early 2010 the character appeared from time to time on an episodic basis after Devine felt he could not...
to the police for theft. Called up before the Dingle Court, Donna defied Zak and Lisa
Lisa Dingle
Lisa May Dingle is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Jane Cox.-Casting:Lisa Clegg was first introduced by producer Mervyn Watson in 1996 who cast Jane Cox for the role...
, revealing she planned to join the police force. Marlon backed her up and they stand strong together.
In October 2006, two men were looking for Marlon's brother Eli
Eli Dingle
Eli Dingle is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Joseph Gilgun. He first appeared on screen in the episode which aired on 13 July 2006 and made his last appearance on 30 April 2010.-Casting:...
and broke into the Woolpack to get Marlon to tell them where Eli was, although Marlon didn't know. The pair wrecked the pub, beat up Marlon and stole thousands from the till. The men were later arrested after Eli framed them for firearm possession.
In December, Lillith left her children with Marlon and Donna while she went to work. Marlon, Donna and the children moved into the Woolpack, following Lilith's arrest for armed robbery. This didn't work out and Marlon decided the children should live with their uncle because his and Donna's living arrangements were inadequate. Donna was very upset and the children returned after running away from their uncle. Marlon saw how miserable they were and decided they should go on the run. Marlon and Donna had to say goodbye to the children again when they were taken away by Social Services, following formalities with the police. Marlon and Donna were devastated when they saw that the room they'd prepared for the kids going up in flames. When the finger of blame was pointed at Val, Donna hurled insults at her but Val gave as good as she got, calling Donna of being "a schoolgirl Hitler with poor fashion sense!" Donna lashed out at Val but was held back by Marlon.
Donna and Marlon went to their final meeting with social services and were glowing with pride as Mrs Jenkins said they'd had a very positive report. However, just as it was all going well, Marlon let slip that the back room of the pub had been damaged by fire. The social worker looked into it before breaking the bad news: they wouldn't get the kids until they had more suitable accommodation
Marlon, attempting to improve his and Donna's financial problems, used their savings to place a bet. He won £18,000 but the bookie
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
refused to pay up so he and Eli came up with a plan to get his winnings.
Just before Eli went into the bookie's, Marlon found he had a gun and learned Eli was planning an armed robbery. Marlon was shocked but let him go ahead. Eli was almost successful when a customer came in and a fight ensued. Marlon, who had been waiting in the car, got frustrated and went inside to find Eli struggling with the customer. Pretending not to know him, Marlon yelled at Eli to leave but he wouldn't. Marlon and the customer went to grab the gun but it went off, hitting Marlon in the chest. Marlon collapsed, telling Eli to go, leaving the customer to ring the police.
Marlon was rushed to hospital and made a full recovery. However, Donna found out Marlon was involved and although very angry, forgave him, but Eli started blackmailing them. He got Donna to use her position in the police force to allow him to break into a warehouse. While at the warehouse, Marlon got cold feet and warned Eli that it was a trap. Eli was angry, but Donna had informed Zak of everything that had happened and a furious Zak confronted Eli and kicked him out of Donna and Marlon's house. However, far from it all being over, Marlon set off to work only for Eli to kidnap him!
Bundled into the back of a van, Eli drove him to the top of a multi-storey carpark, where he pretended he was going to throw him off the edge of the building to punish him for his 'betrayal'. Marlon was terrified, unsure of what his volatile brother was capable of, but asked what he had ever done to Eli? Eli revealed that he had always resented his older brother because everybody loved him and nobody had ever loved Eli. Marlon eventually managed to get free and the brothers had a fight which ended with Eli toppling over the edge of the building and only hanging on by his fingertips. Marlon tried to save him - offering his hand - but Eli refused to be rescued. Eventually Donna arrived and helped Marlon haul him to safety, but Eli ran off, apparently upset at being saved. Marlon broke down in tears and later confessed to Donna that he had considered allowing his younger brother to die and he thought that made him a terrible person. He warned Donna that being with him might only cause her trouble, but Donna reassured him it would be OK.
In 2008, The Woolpack was entered in a magazine Pub of the Year competition. Val bribed Jasmine Thomas
Jasmine Thomas
Jasmine Thomas is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.-Storylines:Jasmine arrived in Emmerdale on 30 June 2005. Sent to the village by her parents during her holidays from boarding school, she stayed with her uncle Ashley Thomas, the...
to tell her when the judge was coming. Diane, Val and Marlon went frantic with Marlon trying to create a gourmet menu. Diane reminded him that they were a traditional pub and not to get worked up about it. Unbelievably, they discovered they made it to the finals. Antony Worrall Thompson
Antony Worrall Thompson
Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson is a British celebrity chef, television presenter and radio broadcaster.-Biography:...
was discovered to be the celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
judge. This coincided with Val's surprise wedding to Eric Pollard
Eric Pollard
Eric Charles Pollard is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Chris Chittell.Pollard has appeared on the show since 1986, making him the second longest running current character after Alan Turner who has appeared since 1982. He has lied to, cheated and swindled...
.
Anthony was impressed with Marlon's cooking and asked Marlon to call him. When Marlon summed up the courage to call, Marlon was invited to a local television audition. A camera crew arrived at The Woolpack to record a programme featuring a special from Marlon. Marlon hired Jake Doland to help him in the kitchen and also had a column in The Hotton Courier. Marlon was later approached by the owner of Malt, The Woolpack's rival pub. He offered Marlon a better job with better pay but Marlon declined, wanting to stay in Emmerdale.
In 2008, Donna's mother, Viv, was arrested for fraud. However, Viv had been framed by Freddie Yorke. Donna found it hard, knowing her colleagues knew about her family situation. Wanting to prove her mother's innocence, she started going on unofficial stakeouts with colleague Ross Kirk
Ross Kirk
Ross Kirk is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Samuel Anderson. He appeared from 2007 to 2009. A cousin of Paddy Kirk, Ross is a police officer and during his 15 months in the village he has an affair with Donna Windsor-Dingle, and is imprisoned after being charged...
.
After some time searching, they discovered where he lived. Donna tried to apprehend him but Freddie escaped but Donna followed closely at high speed. Unfortunately she lost control of the car and crashed. Ross got them out of the car before it exploded and Donna spent months in hospital learning how to walk again. She became convinced she was a laughing stock at the station and decided to resign. Marlon was thrilled but when Donna came home, he saw she was miserable. He told her that he'd support her if she wanted to return to work.
In September, Donna and Marlon attended a police comedy night. Marlon's cousin Chas
Chas Dingle
Chastity "Chas" Dingle is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Lucy Pargeter.-Storylines:...
, Ross's date, got into a fight with the comedian. Marlon defended her and the fight ended with Marlon and Chas being thrown out. Marlon took Chas home, leaving Donna with Ross. Donna and Ross shared a night of passion in Donna's hotel room which Donna regretted afterwards.
She and Marlon decided to go on holiday. When they returned, Marlon announced he and Donna were planning to start a family but Ross tried to convince Donna that would be a mistake. He also told her that she had got married too young. On 1 January 2009, Donna told Marlon of her affair with Ross. Marlon had suspected it but was still devastated, especially when Donna said she loved Ross and Marlon. Hellbent on revenge, Marlon went to the police and implicated Ross in the murder of Shane Doyle.
He gradually started to warm to Donna and was considering taking her back, although Zak warned him against it. After a conversation with Eli, who reminded him that Donna had forgiven Marlon for the raid on the bookies, Marlon agreed to give his marriage another go - on the condition that she never saw Ross again. Donna agreed, but she was certain that Ross was innocent and broke her promise to Marlon, visiting her ex-lover in prison. Meanwhile, the other Dingles remained hostile towards her and she got a very cold reception at Zak's birthday party. Surprisingly, Eli came to Donna's defence, for which Marlon was grateful. However, during a conversation with Eli, Donna noticed a vital piece of evidence that could clear Ross's name and she shopped her brother-in-law to the police.
When Marlon realised that she had betrayed both him and his family in order to free Ross, he dumped her and later asked for a divorce. They might have reconciled, even so, had not Donna caught Marlon in a drunken clinch with his cousin Chastity. Following this, Donna departed the village - seemingly for good - leaving behind a devastated Marlon. To make matters worse, Marlon's best friend Paddy (who is in love with Chas) also found out about the kiss and the two of them fell out for quite a while.
Following a period of depression, Marlon then dedicated himself to helping little brother Eli, who had been disowned by the rest of the Dingle clan after his confession led to the arrest of Debbie. The two of them came up with several plots to try and set her free. Faced with Debbie's release, Eli went missing for a time, but Marlon eventually found him sleeping rough and managed to convince his wayward sibling to come home.
The two brothers lived together until Eli's departure in 2010, along with Lizzie Lakely
Lizzie Lakely
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Lakely is a fictional character from the British ITV1 soap opera Emmerdale, played by Kitty McGeever. She is Emmerdale's first blind character, and is played by a blind actress...
, a blind woman who Marlon befriended. Lizzie upset Marlon when she preyed on his gullibility by pretending to be a psychic, causing Marlon to spend a fortune on phone bills pouring his heart out to her. He got his revenge by tricking her into paying back his money.
His life was going smoothly until Moira Barton
Moira Barton
Moira Barton is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Natalie J. Robb. She made her first on-screen appearance on 17 July 2009.-Creation and casting:...
began to work in the Woolpack. Marlon had had a confrontation with Moira when she criticised his cooking and he didn't like her. The two argued furiously at work as Marlon felt that she was invading his domain and finding fault with his food on purpose. It reached boiling point and Moira quit, which led to an angry Diane giving Marlon the cold-shoulder until he apologised. Marlon did so and Moira returned to work, as Marlon explained that since Donna left him, his job is the one area in his life where he felt in control and Moira had threatened that. They reached an understanding and became friends. When Marlon received a letter from Donna, saying that she had met someone else and wanted him to file for divorce, a devastated Marlon found himself turning to Moira as a shoulder to cry on. Because of this, he developed romantic feelings for her and convinced himself that she felt the same way. Going against Paddy's advice, Marlon finally confessed to Moira that he thought he was falling in love with her, leaving her shocked. She let him down and Marlon was left feeling humiliated, but after a long heart-to-heart, she convinced him that she was flattered and that he would one day meet the right woman. Alongside this, Marlon also took in his cousin Charity Tate
Charity Tate
Charity Tate is a fictional character on the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She is played by Emma Atkins.The character was involved in numerous high-profile storylines during her first stint on the show, such as her marriage to Chris Tate, lesbian affair with Zoe Tate, the arrival of her...
and her young son Noah after the family turned against her for trying to steal Cain's money. When Zak and Cain found out, they were angry and Cain punched Marlon in the stomach.
In 2010, Rhona Goskirk returned to the village of Emmerdale. She and Marlon re-began a relationship, until Rhona expressed an interest in Marlon's best mate and her work partner Paddy Kirk. She split up with Marlon, and began a relationship with Paddy, much to Marlon's despair. It was later revealed that Rhona was expecting Marlon's baby, while she was still with Paddy. Marlon was very upset and told Rhona he did not want to be the part of the baby's life. He refused to go to Rhona's first scan too. On Monday 13th December 2010, it was also revealed that there is a possibility that Marlon and Rhona's baby may unfortunately suffer from Down's syndrome. It was later confirmed that this is definitely true. On Monday 20th December 2010, Rhona decided she was going to go ahead with the pregnancy, and Marlon and Paddy backed her up happily. The trio are all now good friends again.
On Thursday 13th January 2011, Marlon admitted to his housemate and colleague Bob Hope that his and Rhona's baby was sadly going to suffer from Down's syndrome. Later in the evening, Marlon comforted Bob after his best friend Terry Woods and ex-wife Viv Hope died in an arson attack caused by Katie Sugden's new boyfriend Nick Henshall. Soon after this, he told his friend Laurel Thomas about the baby's Down's syndrome. On Tuesday 1st February 2011, Marlon, Rhona and Paddy went for a scan of the baby, and this showed that its heart rate was healthy.
Reception
In 2005, Charnock was nominated for and won a British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance, after the death of his wife Tricia Dingle, and was nominated again in 2011 for Best Actor. The episode 'The Betrayed' was also nominated for Best Single Episode at the 2011 British Soap Awards.External links
- Marlon Dingle at itv.comItv.comitv.com is the main website of ITV plc, the UK's largest commercial television broadcaster which operates 11 out of 15 regions on the ITV network under the ITV1 brand. The website offers on-line streaming, ITV archive, news, sport, entertainment, games, soaps, lifestyle, drama and an interactive TV...