Even just looking at the family photo above hits it home – the Dingles are, and always will be, one of TV’s most iconic clans.
30 years on from their debut in Emmerdale, headed up by the late Steve Halliwell’s alter-ego Zak, the Dingles continue to make their mark.
The biblical named members continue to crawl out from the woodwork andexpand through love interests and children, and it’s impossible to think about soap families without immediately picturing the Dingles.
From their inception, they brought with them many traditions that carry on to this day – wedding punch-ups, petty crimes, the Dingle code, Dingle court and drinking from the welly on a stag night.
Remind me never to marry a Dingle for that reason alone.
This week, honorary new head of the family Cain (Jeff Hordley) was forced to inform his loved ones that Zak has passed away.
What followed was an incredibly moving montage of reactions from key members who were left shellshocked and emotional.
It was instantly clear that there was very little acting involved, the tears and love exuding from them were very real as they remembered Steve.
In an episode devoted to the story, we saw the characters reflect on what they had lost, and it’s an understatement to say that the Dingles will never be the same again.
For fans, the emotion was almost as raw; I found myself shedding a tear or two through the episodes.
Such is the power of soap – what other genre allows us to get to know characters over 30 years? Living through their development and experiencing their history – which is tapped into even now, especially through these episodes – is a unique experience, so it’s no wonder that it hits us hard as well.
For many, we have lost someone we knew almost as well as our own friends.
Zak and his beloved Lisa encompassed what everyone could possibly want from a relationship. A marriage filled with fierce protection, absolute devotion, bickering and laughter, it was true love.
Marriage goals! (Picture: ITV)
Let’s just forget the whole Joanie affair, I think it’s widely agreed that that didn’t happen and was a fever dream, okay!?
As years went by, some of soap’s most iconic characters would be introduced. You don’t need to be a soap fan to recognise the names Mandy Dingle, Charity Dingle and Cain Dingle.
The family represents so many people – the calm, reasoned Lydia, the sometimes dim but completely loyal Sam, the quirky, funny Marlon, the volatile Cain, the feisty and troubled Charity, the sparky and prone to mistakes Chas and even the up and coming generation including Sarah, Noah and Samson are vastly different characters.
Weave in honorary Dingles such as Aaron, one of the show’s most enduringly suffering but popular characters. Moira, who you’d never mess with but you’d want as a friend for life. And Paddy – well, Paddy is Paddy (I have written before on how he is one of Emmerdale’s best).
Fast forward through scandals, scraps and shocks and they are still central to the action.
Eden Taylor-Draper as Belle is in the midst of one of soap’s most talked about stories of the year, with Tom King subjecting her to horrendous abuse.
Rallying round her are Cain, Charity, Lydia and others, all who bring their own past traumas to the table.
Meanwhile, we also have Cain and Moira giving heartbreaking performances following Moira’s diagnosis with a brain tumour.
Historic abuse, depression, cancer, alcoholism, grief, baby loss – the Dingles have wowed us with performances in the most hard-hitting of storylines as well as being a funny, tight knit, chaotic and sometimes camp clan.
The fact that the Dingles remain at the beating heart of the show and are bigger than ever is a testament to the development of them through casting, writing and acting.
In great shape, I can’t see a time when the Dingles aren’t synonymous with iconic TV families.
As the man who headed them up from day one, the late, great Steve Halliwell would be proud.
