Marlon Dingle will experience a life-threatening stroke during Emmerdale next week.
The cheerful Woolpack chef will undergo a serious health battle in order to raise awareness of the warning signs that come before a stroke and to shed light on how the condition can impact others.
The long-running ITV soap will focus primarily on Marlon (Mark Charnock) and tell the narrative from his character’s perspective.
Marlon’s harrowing story has been produced with the support of the charity, the Stroke Association, who has worked closely with Emmerdale’s scriptwriters, research and production teams in order to provide a realistic portrayal.
The story will also explore how Marlon’s diagnosis will affect his loved ones and the wider community.
(Image: ITV)
Commenting on the scenes, Emmerdale Producer, Laura Shaw said: “Warm, witty and kindhearted Marlon is undoubtedly one of Emmerdale’s most loved characters and with Mark Charnock’s sheer skill, craft and incredible range, it felt totally right to play such an incredibly important story as this, with Marlon highlighting that a stroke can happen at any time and showing the catastrophic consequences it can have on the person affected and their whole family.”
Laura also shared her disbelief regarding the number of stroke survivors in the UK.
She added: “When we first started researching this storyline I was shocked by the stark statistics that the UK alone has 1.3 million stroke survivors, so we knew we wanted to do those people and their families justice by showing the raw reality of a stroke as truthfully and honestly as we could.”
Laura added that extensive research was done in order to reflect the painful reality that many stroke survivors go through.
The soap producer explained: “As the story unfolds, we follow the tragic and heartbreaking long-lasting repercussions it has on Marlon and his friends and family and how their love for each other shines through as they all pull together at this most difficult time.”
Sharing her thoughts on Marlon’s story, Juliet Bouverie OBE, Chief Executive at the Stroke Association said: “Many viewers will be able to identify with Marlon’s storyline, including the 1.3 million stroke survivors living in the UK.
“A stroke can leave people facing the rest of their lives with a disability, and the emotional strain caused by the condition can be devastating on the stroke survivor and their family.”
English actor Mark has played the role of Marlon since 1996 and has been involved in several hard-hitting storylines.
Speaking about his experience with playing a stroke victim he said: “Working with Emmerdale‘s research team and the Stroke Association on this storyline has been a total eye-opener for me.
“We hear the word ‘stroke’ bandied around a great deal, but being confronted with the sheer weight of numbers in this country alone has been a shock.
“A stroke occurs every 5 minutes in the UK. Over 100,000 a year. More can and should be done to raise awareness and hopefully, this story can help with that.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
