Marlon Dingle

Marlon Dingle
Emmerdale character
Portrayed by	Mark Charnock
Introduced by	Mervyn Watson
Duration	1996—
First appearance	17 October 1996
Classification	Present; regular
Spin-off appearances	The Dingles Down Under (1997) Revenge (1998) The Dingles in Venice (1999) The Dingles: For Richer, For Poorer (2010) Paddy and Marlon: The Big Night (2011)
Profile
Date of birth	23 March 1974
Home	Tall Trees Cottage
Occupation	Chef/Batman
Family Family Dingle Wife Tricia Fisher (2003–04) Donna Windsor (2006—) Father Albert Dingle Mother Deliah Dingle Brothers Eli Dingle Sons Leo Goskirk Uncles Zak Dingle Shadrach Dingle Caleb Dingle Ezra Dingle Cousins Nathan Dingle Ben Dingle Butch Dingle Sam Dingle Cain Dingle Tina Dingle Belle Dingle Chas Dingle Mandy Dingle Lilith Dingle Delilah Dingle Gennie Walker Romances Rhona Goskirk (2002, 2010)

Marlon Sebastian Dingle is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Mark Charnock. (He was known as Melvin by Matthew King.)

Storylines

1996–

Marlon arrived in 1996 as nephew of Zak Dingle. He arrived in a red sports car and later brought his dad Albert to the village. Marlon supported his uncle Zak through his testicular cancer and became good friends with Paddy Kirk.

In 1997, Marlon started working at Kathy Glover's establishment - tea rooms at day and wine bar at night, which is when he first showed his cooking skills. When Eric and Dee split up, Eric went into despair and put Marlon in charge of his business. The ambitious chef was overwhelmed by such a huge responsibility and grabbed the opportunity with both hands – even though the Dingles tried to take advantage by regularly dropping in for free food.

However, Marlon's reign as the culinary king of Emmerdale was cut short when Kathy hired hunky Carlos Diaz to work at the diner. Marlon was getting his feet well and truly under the table at the Woolpack anyway. Bernice Blackstock had been impressed by Marlon's cooking and let him do various nights there. The duo even shared a cheeky snog one night! But while his kiss with Bernice led to nothing, Marlon would find true love at the Woolpack.

New barmaid Tricia Stokes, a dippy girl with a heart of gold, began flirting with Marlon. After a few months of misunderstandings, the couple got together and went on holiday to Spain to celebrate that.

Their relationship was severely tested when Tricia agreed to marry Jason Kirk's boyfriend, Joe Fisher so he could stay in the country. Although she was offered a lot of money, Marlon was shocked she would even consider it and they nearly broke up. Just before the wedding, they reconciled and Tricia did her bit for Marlon's business, Chez Marlon, by giving him the money as an investment. Sadly, the business failed, and Tricia left Marlon after just a few months.

After spending ages trying to find her, Marlon moved on and began dating locum vet Rhona Goskirk. However, Marlon's world was turned upside down when Tricia returned and they decided to get married. When the big day came, Tricia hurt her neck and had to wear a collar. She was so upset that she called off the wedding and their friends Paddy and Emily got married instead.

However, Marlon and Tricia did eventually get married but just a few months later, Tricia was offered the chance to star in a Bollywood film and went to India for six months. While she was away, Marlon was dreadfully lonely and had a drunken one night stand with his cousin Charity. When Tricia returned, the secret came out and she left Marlon. His desperate attempts to win her back seemed to have failed but she seemed willing to forgive him after reading a romantic list of her characteristics written by Marlon.

On New Year's Eve 2003, Tricia was injured during a storm which resulted in part of the Woolpack's roof collapsing on top of her. Tricia was found alive and rushed to hospital but suffered a heart attack. The hospital staff managed to revive her but it took a long time and subsequent tests revealed she had suffered serious brain damage. She was soon declared brain dead and the medical team asked for permission to switch off her life support machine. Marlon took some convincing to agree to her life support machine being turned off, as he was still determined that she would recover, but he finally agreed to turn off her machine on realising that there was no hope of her recovering. He has never really gotten over Tricia. Even telling his second wife Donna (during a break-up) that Tricia had been his one true love.

Emily supported Marlon after the death of his first wife Tricia (2004).

The grief suffered by Marlon was prolonged close to a year until he developed a friendship with Donna Windsor. It was thanks to Donna's kind heart that Marlon moved on from his loss. Although he rebuffed her early attempts to snare him early in the year, Donna Windsor proved she was the woman for Marlon when she helped him look after his cousin Lilith's children when she dumped them on him. A relationship started to develop that was more than friendly.

It didn't take long for Marlon and Donna to fall in love. When he proposed to her – en route to a chef's competition in Newcastle, Donna agreed and it looked like there was a happy ending in sight. However, being so young, marriage was a big thing for Donna to consider. She'd also recently become close to Max King and his death left her absolutely devastated.

A short while before their wedding, Marlon started having nightmares about Tricia. This was made worse when Donna tried on Tricia's wedding dress and was caught by Marlon, who momentarily thought Tricia had come back. Donna explained she felt like she was always being compared to Tricia. On the morning of the wedding, Donna confided in Marlon that she had developed feelings for Max while they were together. Heartbroken by this admission, Marlon wondered if they should get married but his love for Donna won over and they did tie the knot. It was a good decision and they returned from honeymoon even stronger as a couple than before.

On return from honeymoon, Marlon and Donna spent their first few months of married life living at Smithy Cottage with Paddy Kirk and Toni Daggert. Donna and Marlon were desperate to get on the property ladder but the prices at King & Sons' new development were too steep for them. So when they won the Kings River Showhome, they were thrilled but shocked to discover that they still had to pay a deposit. Viv offered Donna the money if Donna would be her surrogate. Marlon and Donna were stunned by Viv's suggestion that Donna get pregnant with her half-brother or sister but agreed because they needed the money if they didn't want to lose their new home.

Unfortunately the showhome collapsed following a gas explosion, leaving Marlon and Donna's dream shattered. Donna returned her mother's money as there was no longer a house to buy and Viv didn't need a surrogate, discovering she was pregnant. Following the showhome collapse, Marlon and Donna lived in a caravan outside Wishing Well cottage, they were building an "Eco Home" but realised the land they were building on belonged to Matthew King and the local council.

Donna had a major run in with Marlon's family when she reported Shadrach to the police for theft. Called up before the Dingle Court, Donna defied Zak and Lisa, revealing she planned to join the police force. Marlon backed her up and they stand strong together.

In October 2006, two men were looking for Marlon's brother Eli and broke into the Woolpack to get Marlon to tell them where Eli was, although Marlon didn't know. The pair wrecked the pub, beat up Marlon and stole thousands from the till. The men were later arrested after Eli framed them for firearm possession.

In December, Lillith left her children with Marlon and Donna while she went to work. Marlon, Donna and the children moved into the Woolpack, following Lilith's arrest for armed robbery. This didn't work out and Marlon decided the children should live with their uncle because his and Donna's living arrangements were inadequate. Donna was very upset and the children returned after running away from their uncle. Marlon saw how miserable they were and decided they should go on the run. Marlon and Donna had to say goodbye to the children again when they were taken away by Social Services, following formalities with the police. Marlon and Donna were devastated when they saw that the room they'd prepared for the kids going up in flames. When the finger of blame was pointed at Val, Donna hurled insults at her but Val gave as good as she got, calling Donna of being "a schoolgirl Hitler with poor fashion sense!" Donna lashed out at Val but was held back by Marlon.

Donna and Marlon went to their final meeting with social services and were glowing with pride as Mrs Jenkins said they'd had a very positive report. However, just as it was all going well, Marlon let slip that the back room of the pub had been damaged by fire. The social worker looked into it before breaking the bad news: they wouldn't get the kids until they had more suitable accommodation

Marlon is shot accidentally by Eli in the robbery (2007).

Marlon, attempting to improve his and Donna's financial problems, used their savings to place a bet. He won £18,000 but the bookie refused to pay up so he and Eli came up with a plan to get his winnings.

Just before Eli went into the bookie's, Marlon found he had a gun and learned Eli was planning an armed robbery. Marlon was shocked but let him go ahead. Eli was almost successful when a customer came in and a fight ensued. Marlon, who had been waiting in the car, got frustrated and went inside to find Eli struggling with the customer. Pretending not to know him, Marlon yelled at Eli to leave but he wouldn't. Marlon and the customer went to grab the gun but it went off, hitting Marlon in the chest. Marlon collapsed, telling Eli to go, leaving the customer to ring the police.

Marlon was rushed to hospital and made a full recovery. However, Donna found out Marlon was involved and although very angry, forgave him, but Eli started blackmailing them. He got Donna to use her position in the police force to allow him to break into a warehouse. While at the warehouse, Marlon got cold feet and warned Eli that it was a trap. Eli was angry, but Donna had informed Zak of everything that had happened and a furious Zak confronted Eli and kicked him out of Donna and Marlon's house. However, far from it all being over, Marlon set off to work only for Eli to kidnap him!

Bundled into the back of a van, Eli drove him to the top of a multi-storey carpark, where he pretended he was going to throw him off the edge of the building to punish him for his 'betrayal'. Marlon was terrified, unsure of what his volatile brother was capable of, but asked what he had ever done to Eli? Eli revealed that he had always resented his older brother because everybody loved him and nobody had ever loved Eli. Marlon eventually managed to get free and the brothers had a fight which ended with Eli toppling over the edge of the building and only hanging on by his fingertips. Marlon tried to save him - offering his hand - but Eli refused to be rescued. Eventually Donna arrived and helped Marlon haul him to safety, but Eli ran off, apparently upset at being saved. Marlon broke down in tears and later confessed to Donna that he had considered allowing his younger brother to die and he thought that made him a terrible person. He warned Donna that being with him might only cause her trouble, but Donna reassured him it would be OK.

In 2008, The Woolpack was entered in a magazine Pub of the Year competition. Val bribed Jasmine Thomas to tell her when the judge was coming. Diane, Val and Marlon went frantic with Marlon trying to create a gourmet menu. Diane reminded him that they were a traditional pub and not to get worked up about it. Unbelievably, they discovered they made it to the finals. Antony Worrall Thompson was discovered to be the celebrity judge. This coincided with Val's surprise wedding to Eric Pollard.

Anthony was impressed with Marlon's cooking and asked Marlon to call him. When Marlon summed up the courage to call, Marlon was invited to a local television audition. A camera crew arrived at The Woolpack to record a programme featuring a special from Marlon. Marlon hired Jake Doland to help him in the kitchen and also had a column in The Hotton Courier. Marlon was later approached by the owner of Malt, The Woolpack's rival pub. He offered Marlon a better job with better pay but Marlon declined, wanting to stay in Emmerdale.

In 2008, Donna's mother, Viv, was arrested for fraud. However, Viv had been framed by Freddie Yorke. Donna found it hard, knowing her colleagues knew about her family situation. Wanting to prove her mother's innocence, she started going on unofficial stakeouts with colleague Ross Kirk.

After some time searching, they discovered where he lived. Donna tried to apprehend him but Freddie escaped but Donna followed closely at high speed. Unfortunately she lost control of the car and crashed. Ross got them out of the car before it exploded and Donna spent months in hospital learning how to walk again. She became convinced she was a laughing stock at the station and decided to resign. Marlon was thrilled but when Donna came home, he saw she was miserable. He told her that he'd support her if she wanted to return to work.

In September, Donna and Marlon attended a police comedy night. Marlon's cousin Chas, Ross's date, got into a fight with the comedian. Marlon defended her and the fight ended with Marlon and Chas being thrown out. Marlon took Chas home, leaving Donna with Ross. Donna and Ross shared a night of passion in Donna's hotel room which Donna regretted afterwards.

She and Marlon decided to go on holiday. When they returned, Marlon announced he and Donna were planning to start a family but Ross tried to convince Donna that would be a mistake. He also told her that she had got married too young. On 1 January 2009, Donna told Marlon of her affair with Ross. Marlon had suspected it but was still devastated, especially when Donna said she loved Ross and Marlon. Hellbent on revenge, Marlon went to the police and implicated Ross in the murder of Shane Doyle.

He gradually started to warm to Donna and was considering taking her back, although Zak warned him against it. After a conversation with Eli, who reminded him that Donna had forgiven Marlon for the raid on the bookies, Marlon agreed to give his marriage another go - on the condition that she never saw Ross again. Donna agreed, but she was certain that Ross was innocent and broke her promise to Marlon, visiting her ex-lover in prison. Meanwhile, the other Dingles remained hostile towards her and she got a very cold reception at Zak's birthday party. Surprisingly, Eli came to Donna's defence, for which Marlon was grateful. However, during a conversation with Eli, Donna noticed a vital piece of evidence that could clear Ross's name and she shopped her brother-in-law to the police.

When Marlon realised that she had betrayed both him and his family in order to free Ross, he dumped her and later asked for a divorce. They might have reconciled, even so, had not Donna caught Marlon in a drunken clinch with his cousin Chastity. Following this, Donna departed the village - seemingly for good - leaving behind a devastated Marlon. To make matters worse, Marlon's best friend Paddy (who is in love with Chas) also found out about the kiss and the two of them fell out for quite a while.

Following a period of depression, Marlon then dedicated himself to helping little brother Eli, who had been disowned by the rest of the Dingle clan after his confession led to the arrest of Debbie. The two of them came up with several plots to try and set her free. Faced with Debbie's release, Eli went missing for a time, but Marlon eventually found him sleeping rough and managed to convince his wayward sibling to come home.

The two brothers lived together until Eli's departure in 2010, along with Lizzie Lakely, a blind woman who Marlon befriended. Lizzie upset Marlon when she preyed on his gullibility by pretending to be a psychic, causing Marlon to spend a fortune on phone bills pouring his heart out to her. He got his revenge by tricking her into paying back his money.

His life was going smoothly until Moira Barton began to work in the Woolpack. Marlon had had a confrontation with Moira when she criticised his cooking and he didn't like her. The two argued furiously at work as Marlon felt that she was invading his domain and finding fault with his food on purpose. It reached boiling point and Moira quit, which led to an angry Diane giving Marlon the cold-shoulder until he apologised. Marlon did so and Moira returned to work, as Marlon explained that since Donna left him, his job is the one area in his life where he felt in control and Moira had threatened that. They reached an understanding and became friends. When Marlon received a letter from Donna, saying that she had met someone else and wanted him to file for divorce, a devastated Marlon found himself turning to Moira as a shoulder to cry on. Because of this, he developed romantic feelings for her and convinced himself that she felt the same way. Going against Paddy's advice, Marlon finally confessed to Moira that he thought he was falling in love with her, leaving her shocked. She let him down and Marlon was left feeling humiliated, but after a long heart-to-heart, she convinced him that she was flattered and that he would one day meet the right woman. Alongside this, Marlon also took in his cousin Charity Tate and her young son Noah after the family turned against her for trying to steal Cain's money. When Zak and Cain found out, they were angry and Cain punched Marlon in the stomach.

In 2010, Rhona Goskirk returned to the village of Emmerdale. She and Marlon re-began a relationship, until Rhona expressed an interest in Marlon's best mate and her work partner Paddy Kirk. She split up with Marlon, and began a relationship with Paddy, much to Marlon's despair. It was later revealed that Rhona was expecting Marlon's baby, while she was still with Paddy. Marlon was very upset and told Rhona he did not want to be the part of the baby's life. He refused to go to Rhona's first scan too. On Monday 13th December 2010, it was also revealed that there is a possibility that Marlon and Rhona's baby may unfortunately suffer from Down's syndrome. It was later confirmed that this is definitely true. On Monday 20th December 2010, Rhona decided she was going to go ahead with the pregnancy, and Marlon and Paddy backed her up happily. The trio are all now good friends again. On Thursday 13th January 2011, Marlon admitted to his housemate and colleague Bob Hope that his and Rhona's baby was sadly going to suffer from Down's syndrome. Later in the evening, Marlon comforted Bob after his best friend Terry Woods and ex-wife Viv Hope died in an arson attack caused by Katie Sugden's new boyfriend Nick Henshall. Soon after this, he told his friend Laurel Thomas about the baby's Down's syndrome. On Tuesday 1st February 2011, Marlon, Rhona and Paddy went for a scan of the baby, and this showed that its heart rate was healthy.

Reception

In 2005, Charnock was nominated for and won a British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Performance, after the death of his wife Tricia Dingle, and was nominated again in 2011 for Best Actor. The episode 'The Betrayed' was also nominated for Best Single Episode at the 2011 British Soap Awards.^[1]

References

1. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (7 March 2011). "British Soap Awards 2011 voting opens". Digital Spy (Hachette Filipacchi UK). http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/scoop/a307476/british-soap-awards-2011-voting-opens.html. Retrieved 2011-03-07. 

External links

• Marlon Dingle at itv.com