The Emmerdale villagers gather together this week in the ITV soap to say goodbye to Zak Dingle.
Actor Steve Halliwell died last December. Earlier this year, Emmerdale confirmed they would film a goodbye storyline that sees the Dingle family discover their beloved Zak has died.
A few days ago, Cain (Jeff Hordley) left the Dales for Scotland, where Zak has been living with Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb). She had previously made it clear that Zak was unwell, so Cain went up there to spend time with his dad.
In tonight’s episode, Cain returns home unexpectedly. It’s a nice surprise for Moira (Natalie J Robb), but she fails to tell her husband that she’s received news of an available operation slot for her brain tumour.
Just as Cain goes for a shower, Moira takes a call from Debbie who confirms that Zak has died.
As the hours tick by, Cain makes his way around the family to inform them about Zak’s passing. After Cain, Sam (James Hooton) and Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) spend time reminiscing about their father, attention then turns to Sam and Cain leaving for Scotland to collect Zak’s body.
While Chas (Lucy Pargeter) sets the Woolpack up as a place for the villagers to mourn, Matty (Ash Palmisciano) finds his mum and wonders why she’s choosing to delay her operation.
On the day of Zak’s funeral, as the Dingles and fellow residents say their goodbyes, a long-lost relative appears at the graveside, leaving everyone stunned.
Moira receives the news first (Picture: ITV)
Reflecting on these episodes, Lisa Riley aka Mandy Dingle told us: ‘The best part for us, as the Dingle family, was the way that this went through production. From Laura (Shaw), our producer, who’s known us for years, grown up with us, and then Peter Kerry who has written the script, who was part of the development team of the Dingles all those years ago.
‘Finally, Jeff Naylor, our director, directed Steve Halliwell and Zak’s first ever episode! So you’ve got all that thrown in the mix, it’s so nostalgic! So for us, as a family, it was obviously the biggest blessing and we’re so happy that it all happened in this way.’
‘Also, when you think of Steve Halliwell and the character of Zak, you always think of his love of music. So the team has brilliantly incorporated his music into this episode. Zak’s love of music and the nostalgia are all there for the viewers to see.’
‘I have so many brilliant memories of Zak’, James Hooton said.
‘I used to like the really silly, unbelievable stuff that we did back in the 90s. One memory is of a crying Elvis doll that the Dingles tried to convince people was like a crying Mary Magdalene sort of thing. It was a doll that they’d stolen from a secondhand clothes shop and they were using it to make money.
‘Another hilarious story that springs to mind is when they tried to send Butch into orbit, the most unbelievable storyline at that time but we always tried to do it with pathos and believability. It used to make us laugh so much that sometimes it became difficult to get through a scene.’
