1 week Ago By [email protected] (Jessica Sansome)
Mark Charnock has insisted soaps can tell stories in a way "other dramas can't" as he revealed his "main thought" in his latest hard-hitting Emmerdale storyline. Fans of the ITV soap know that April Windsor went missing on Christmas Day leaving her dad Marlon Dingle and step-mum Rhona Goskirk beside themselves with worry. Since the first episode of her disappearance, the village has been on lookout for the teen and worrying scenes such as April getting into a random car caused concern for viewers.
Things took a turn when Jacob - during his first shift in A&E - was convinced that a girl who had been stabbed was April as she had her purse. Going against protocol, Jacob contacted Marlon and Rhona to inform the pair that April was dead. After a stern telling off, Jacob was less than impressed at his performance on the first day of the job.
The search for April has since continued with a positive sighting of her alive and in Leeds but her return hom still seems to be a long way off for her worried family. Now Mark - who has played Marlon since 1996 - has reflected on the way the long-running show and other soaps can explore their characters with more depth. Speaking to the Metro newspaper's 60 Seconds column , the 56-year-old actor said: "I really feel this and I would even if I wasn't working on one but this is why these shows matter.
Other drams can't do this day-to-day reality of it. The bits in between, those are the bits that really speak to people and might make them feel differently if they see a missing people's poster." A worried Marlon hasn't yet found his teenage daughter (Image: ITV) Mark - who added he feels "so passionately about what soaps can serve" - also admitted his latest plot has extra layers of emotion.
He explained: "For example, in a recent episode, they see her alive and there's this amazing piece of hope. Then they can't find her - it doesn't happen. Fireflies of hope that are quenched by reality.
"If they're lucky enough to find her in the human haystack and get her back, there's the challenge of keeping her. Her life has changed so much in ways that her mum Rhona and Marlon can't behind to comprehend." Mark revealed his "main thought" was making sure his young co-star Amelia Flangan, who plays April, was looked after on set.
He added: "She's brilliant but you forget how young she is at 16 and that she's not had anything this extreme before. My initial reaction was, 'How do we get this right as actors?' I thought they'd done it properly.".
