Shadrach Dingle
Encyclopedia
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 keep up with the busy schedule. The character was killed off on 23 July 2010 after collapsing, from liver disease, into a river, whilst attempting to retrieve some beer cans and drowning. He was written out of the show due to actor Andy Devine's retirement at age 68.
, who was grieving for his son.
Zak restrained himself from lashing out because he believed that he owed Shadrach. When they were younger, Zak had an affair with Shadrach’s wife Faith. Unknown to them, this resulted in the birth of Cain Dingle
. Cain had thought Shadrach was his father and after the truth was revealed, he was shocked to discover the man who’d brought him up was his uncle.
The Dingles weathered this crisis, but when Zak went to South America
in search of the Dingle fortune, Shadrach begged Zak’s wife Lisa
to take him in. Sticking to the Dingle code of loyalty, Lisa agreed and Shadrach spent the next few months trying to seduce Lisa and in order to get her to sleep with him. Order was restored when Zak returned but Shadrach’s behaviour continued to provoke disgust among his family and their neighbours alike.
A life of heavy drinking took a toll on Shadrach and his daughter Chastity, worried that her father would die of alcoholism. In order to try to wean him off alcohol, Chas bet Zak and Shadrach that they couldn’t stay dry for a month. Shadrach was unable to do so and spent the entire month attempting to get his hands on booze. Shadrach's best friend, Fat Pedro, never appeared on screen but often provided horse race betting tips which always lost money.
On 26 August 2007, Shadrach was in the church vestry, not realising that heavily pregnant Laurel Thomas
was asleep inside the church. However, Emily Kirk
had locked the doors, not knowing they were there and Laurel went into labour. Shadrach rang the church bells to alert the village to the emergency and helped deliver the baby.
After Daniel was born, Shadrach showed him more love than he had to any of the Dingle children and was over the moon when Laurel asked him to be godfather. Shadrach adored his godson, surprising everybody who knew him; he gave Daniel presents and promised to do things with him when he was older. But Daniel died of cot death, leaving Shadrach devastated. Initially Shadrach blamed himself, thinking that the alcohol fumes he had breathed on Daniel may have been the cause of death, but stopped blaming himself with help from Laurel and Diane
. Despite Daniel's death, Shadrach was still loving to him, visiting his grave with flowers and one of his great nephew Samson's old teddy bears to keep Daniel company. In spring 2008, Laurel and Ashley learned their biological son had been switched with the child of Greg and Melanie Doland. After months of turmoil, the court gave custody of Arthur Doland to Laurel and Ashley. Shadrach was initially reluctant to see the child, feeling this was disrespectful to Daniel's memory. On Arthur's first birthday, Laurel spoke to Shadrach and told him she'd never forget Daniel but she also loved Arthur. When Shadrach spoke of his memories of helping her give birth to Daniel, she reminded him that it had actually been Arthur. This helped Shadrach come to terms with Daniel's death.
Through their shared grief, Laurel and Shadrach formed a bond, and in March 2008, Shadrach told Laurel that as a young man, he had an affair with a woman called Shirley Pascoe. Eventually he had decided to leave his wife Faith for Shirley, but by the time he saw her again, she'd died in childbirth. Their child, Genesis Pascoe
, was born on 21 November 1987. Shadrach was devastated but felt he couldn't take her home to Faith and put her up for adoption. He later regretted it but by this time it was too late. She had been adopted and Shadrach, much as he had wanted his daughter back, was unable to have her.
Laurel told Chas and after getting over her initial hurt and anger, Chas and Shadrach went to Social Services. They learned Genesis had contacted them, wanting to get in touch with her birth parents. Shadrach later wrote to Genesis, asking her to contact him if she felt comfortable enough to do so. She agreed to meet him but didn't turn up. Shadrach assumed she'd changed her mind but he had no idea she was fighting for her life in hospital after a car had hit her motorbike whilst she was travelling to the village.
Shadrach finally met Genesis, now calling herself Gennie Walker
, several weeks later, when Paddy invited her to Shadrach's nephew Eli's birthday party. Shadrach was drunk and made a pass at her. Gennie was horrified when he told her his name was Shadrach, knowing that was her birth father's name. Later, she told Paddy that Shadrach was her father, not realising everyone would hear when the music was suddenly switched off. Gennie fled and Shadrach had to tell Lisa and Zak. Gennie soon returned, and wanted to get to know her father. He told her about the circumstances of her birth and adoption, and they began to form a close bond. He also tried to reassure Chas, who jealously resented the efforts he was making for his new daughter when he'd never bothered to support her during her life.
Shadrach eventually fled the village after he flooded the Dingles bath room, causing the ceiling to collapse. This led to Zak ordering Shadrach to leave. Shadrach moved into Mill Cottage with Chas and her boyfriend Carl King. Carl eventually grew impatient of Shadrach and argued with Chas over letting him stay. Shadrach overheard them arguing about him and decided to leave.
After buying a bottle of wine, Shadrach staggered into the road and was accidentally run over by his nephew Marlon
in his van. Whilst recovering in hospital, Shadrach learned from a doctor that he was dying from liver failure and a perforated ulcer due to his lifetime of heavy drinking, and the only thing that would make a difference to the length of his life expectancy between months and weeks was to stop drinking. Shadrach didn't listen to the doctors' advice and continued to drink, but once Marlon found out he demanded that Shadrach stopped and poured all alcoholic drinks down the sink. Shadrach took advantage of this and moved in with Marlon. Marlon helped Shadrach realise all of the good things in his life.
Shadrach was able to give up drinking for a few days but on his 62nd birthday Marlon decided to throw him a party, with the whole family invited, having forgiven him for the flooding. However Shadrach couldn't face his family and went on a drinking binge, much to the disgust of Marlon, who threw Shadrach out and told him he didn't care if Shadrach drank himself to death.
Shadrach immediately bought a six pack of beer. Whilst he was walking over a footbridge he half collapsed in pain caused by his liver failing and dropped his cans in to the river. Whilst attempting to retrieve them Shadrach was unable to hold his balance, both as a result of his heavy drinking along with feeling another sharp pain from his liver and he collapsed in to the water and drowned.
Shadrach was found by Marlon and his girlfriend Rhona Goskirk
and was dragged out of the water but they were unable to save him. Marlon held his Uncle's body in his arms, crying.
The official cause of death was drowning, however, the autopsy confirmed that Shadrach would have died from a ruptured liver within the next few hours had he not passed out in the stream and drowned.
Zak Dingle was devastated by his brother's death and lashed out at Marlon by banishing him from the Dingle homestead, locking him out. Angered and hurt at the way he had treated Shadrach over the years, Zak turned violent and got heavily drunk; fortunately Lisa, Cain, Chas and the other Dingles helped him through this. Deeply upset, Zak decided to lay Shadrach to rest on the Dingles' land. Following a ceremony conducted by Ashley, the Dingles and Laurel held a private vigil for Shadrach where they all said how much they loved him and what they would remember most about him, each then taking a swig of beer. Following the ceremony, Zak decided to sit by Shadrach's grave and cried, saying only, "Welcome home, Brother, welcome home".
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...
ITV 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 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 keep up with the busy schedule. The character was killed off on 23 July 2010 after collapsing, from liver disease, into a river, whilst attempting to retrieve some beer cans and drowning. He was written out of the show due to actor Andy Devine's retirement at age 68.
Casting
In 2010 it was announced that Andy Devine had reduced his number of appearances in the serial after he felt he could not keep up with the busy schedule at his age (67), but agreed to appear on an episodic basis returning for key storylines and episodes. On 20 June it was revealed that the character of Shadrach would be killed off on his birthday, reportedly devastating Devine. A friend of the actor said "Andy thought he would be able to come back every now and then, so to find out that Shadrach will leave Emmerdale in a body bag was a big disappointment." This would bring an end to a 12 year run the character in Emmerdale and a spokesperson for the soap said "Shadrach will be leaving the village on his birthday but how he goes remains to be seen. However, it’s not one to be missed."Development
Shadrach's main character traits were uselessness, laziness, selfishness, hypocrisy and a dependency on alcohol, although he occasionally surprised his family with sensitivity or support.2000–10
Shadrach first appeared at his nephew Butch’s funeral, and got so drunk he fell asleep in church — infuriating his brother ZakZak 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...
, who was grieving for his son.
Zak restrained himself from lashing out because he believed that he owed Shadrach. When they were younger, Zak had an affair with Shadrach’s wife Faith. Unknown to them, this resulted in the birth of Cain Dingle
Cain Dingle
Cain Dingle is a fictional character in the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He is played by Jeff Hordley.-Character creation:In 2000 series producer Kieran Roberts introduced three new members of the Dingle family. The new characters were introduced to the regular cast in 2000, who first arrived...
. Cain had thought Shadrach was his father and after the truth was revealed, he was shocked to discover the man who’d brought him up was his uncle.
The Dingles weathered this crisis, but when Zak went to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
in search of the Dingle fortune, Shadrach begged Zak’s wife 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...
to take him in. Sticking to the Dingle code of loyalty, Lisa agreed and Shadrach spent the next few months trying to seduce Lisa and in order to get her to sleep with him. Order was restored when Zak returned but Shadrach’s behaviour continued to provoke disgust among his family and their neighbours alike.
A life of heavy drinking took a toll on Shadrach and his daughter Chastity, worried that her father would die of alcoholism. In order to try to wean him off alcohol, Chas bet Zak and Shadrach that they couldn’t stay dry for a month. Shadrach was unable to do so and spent the entire month attempting to get his hands on booze. Shadrach's best friend, Fat Pedro, never appeared on screen but often provided horse race betting tips which always lost money.
On 26 August 2007, Shadrach was in the church vestry, not realising that heavily pregnant Laurel Thomas
Laurel Thomas
Laurel Thomas is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Charlotte Bellamy. She debuted on-screen during the episode airing on 3 September 2002. Laurel has been off-screen at various times while Bellamy has taken maternity leave.-Casting:In 2004, Bellamy announced she...
was asleep inside the church. However, Emily Kirk
Emily Kirk
Emily Kirk was a fictional character in ITV Soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Kate McGregor....
had locked the doors, not knowing they were there and Laurel went into labour. Shadrach rang the church bells to alert the village to the emergency and helped deliver the baby.
After Daniel was born, Shadrach showed him more love than he had to any of the Dingle children and was over the moon when Laurel asked him to be godfather. Shadrach adored his godson, surprising everybody who knew him; he gave Daniel presents and promised to do things with him when he was older. But Daniel died of cot death, leaving Shadrach devastated. Initially Shadrach blamed himself, thinking that the alcohol fumes he had breathed on Daniel may have been the cause of death, but stopped blaming himself with help from Laurel and Diane
Diane Sugden
Diane Sugden is a fictional character on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. She is portrayed by Elizabeth Estensen.-Backstory:...
. Despite Daniel's death, Shadrach was still loving to him, visiting his grave with flowers and one of his great nephew Samson's old teddy bears to keep Daniel company. In spring 2008, Laurel and Ashley learned their biological son had been switched with the child of Greg and Melanie Doland. After months of turmoil, the court gave custody of Arthur Doland to Laurel and Ashley. Shadrach was initially reluctant to see the child, feeling this was disrespectful to Daniel's memory. On Arthur's first birthday, Laurel spoke to Shadrach and told him she'd never forget Daniel but she also loved Arthur. When Shadrach spoke of his memories of helping her give birth to Daniel, she reminded him that it had actually been Arthur. This helped Shadrach come to terms with Daniel's death.
Through their shared grief, Laurel and Shadrach formed a bond, and in March 2008, Shadrach told Laurel that as a young man, he had an affair with a woman called Shirley Pascoe. Eventually he had decided to leave his wife Faith for Shirley, but by the time he saw her again, she'd died in childbirth. Their child, Genesis Pascoe
Genesis Walker
Genesis "Gennie" Walker is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Sian Reese-Williams. She made her first appearance on 1 April 2008.-Character creation and development:...
, was born on 21 November 1987. Shadrach was devastated but felt he couldn't take her home to Faith and put her up for adoption. He later regretted it but by this time it was too late. She had been adopted and Shadrach, much as he had wanted his daughter back, was unable to have her.
Laurel told Chas and after getting over her initial hurt and anger, Chas and Shadrach went to Social Services. They learned Genesis had contacted them, wanting to get in touch with her birth parents. Shadrach later wrote to Genesis, asking her to contact him if she felt comfortable enough to do so. She agreed to meet him but didn't turn up. Shadrach assumed she'd changed her mind but he had no idea she was fighting for her life in hospital after a car had hit her motorbike whilst she was travelling to the village.
Shadrach finally met Genesis, now calling herself Gennie Walker
Genesis Walker
Genesis "Gennie" Walker is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Sian Reese-Williams. She made her first appearance on 1 April 2008.-Character creation and development:...
, several weeks later, when Paddy invited her to Shadrach's nephew Eli's birthday party. Shadrach was drunk and made a pass at her. Gennie was horrified when he told her his name was Shadrach, knowing that was her birth father's name. Later, she told Paddy that Shadrach was her father, not realising everyone would hear when the music was suddenly switched off. Gennie fled and Shadrach had to tell Lisa and Zak. Gennie soon returned, and wanted to get to know her father. He told her about the circumstances of her birth and adoption, and they began to form a close bond. He also tried to reassure Chas, who jealously resented the efforts he was making for his new daughter when he'd never bothered to support her during her life.
Shadrach eventually fled the village after he flooded the Dingles bath room, causing the ceiling to collapse. This led to Zak ordering Shadrach to leave. Shadrach moved into Mill Cottage with Chas and her boyfriend Carl King. Carl eventually grew impatient of Shadrach and argued with Chas over letting him stay. Shadrach overheard them arguing about him and decided to leave.
After buying a bottle of wine, Shadrach staggered into the road and was accidentally run over by his nephew Marlon
Marlon Dingle
Marlon Sebastian Dingle is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Mark Charnock. -1996–:...
in his van. Whilst recovering in hospital, Shadrach learned from a doctor that he was dying from liver failure and a perforated ulcer due to his lifetime of heavy drinking, and the only thing that would make a difference to the length of his life expectancy between months and weeks was to stop drinking. Shadrach didn't listen to the doctors' advice and continued to drink, but once Marlon found out he demanded that Shadrach stopped and poured all alcoholic drinks down the sink. Shadrach took advantage of this and moved in with Marlon. Marlon helped Shadrach realise all of the good things in his life.
Shadrach was able to give up drinking for a few days but on his 62nd birthday Marlon decided to throw him a party, with the whole family invited, having forgiven him for the flooding. However Shadrach couldn't face his family and went on a drinking binge, much to the disgust of Marlon, who threw Shadrach out and told him he didn't care if Shadrach drank himself to death.
Shadrach immediately bought a six pack of beer. Whilst he was walking over a footbridge he half collapsed in pain caused by his liver failing and dropped his cans in to the river. Whilst attempting to retrieve them Shadrach was unable to hold his balance, both as a result of his heavy drinking along with feeling another sharp pain from his liver and he collapsed in to the water and drowned.
Shadrach was found by Marlon and his girlfriend 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,...
and was dragged out of the water but they were unable to save him. Marlon held his Uncle's body in his arms, crying.
The official cause of death was drowning, however, the autopsy confirmed that Shadrach would have died from a ruptured liver within the next few hours had he not passed out in the stream and drowned.
Zak Dingle was devastated by his brother's death and lashed out at Marlon by banishing him from the Dingle homestead, locking him out. Angered and hurt at the way he had treated Shadrach over the years, Zak turned violent and got heavily drunk; fortunately Lisa, Cain, Chas and the other Dingles helped him through this. Deeply upset, Zak decided to lay Shadrach to rest on the Dingles' land. Following a ceremony conducted by Ashley, the Dingles and Laurel held a private vigil for Shadrach where they all said how much they loved him and what they would remember most about him, each then taking a swig of beer. Following the ceremony, Zak decided to sit by Shadrach's grave and cried, saying only, "Welcome home, Brother, welcome home".
External links
- Shadrach Dingle on the ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
official website.