Emmerdale has revealed that there’s a hard-hitting and sensitive storyline coming up for one of the show’s most beloved characters, as Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) is going to be raped by her former childhood friend and current boss Craig Reed (Ben Addis).
Lydia recently bumped into Craig at a careers event where she’d been looking for work. After recognising her the two were soon catching up on old times. They’d both been in the same children’s home, and in fact it was soon revealed that Craig had been the father of Lydia’s baby, Toby. The baby was stillborn and Lydia, who was very young at the time, buried him under a tree.
In upcoming episodes Craig turns up at Wishing Well asking to visit Toby’s final resting place. Lydia takes him to the spot where the baby’s ashes were scattered.
‘For the first time she thinks that somebody understands this,’ Karen Blick told us. ‘As much as Sam (James Hooton) loves Lydia and he supports her, it’s not the same. He wasn’t Toby’s dad. So for the first time she’s standing there with the baby’s father thinking “We share this grief. He understands.” They’re talking about the man he could have been. It was 33 years ago – what would Toby have done in those 33 years? Who would he have become? What would his childhood have been like. Having somebody to share those thoughts and feelings with is really important and it’s the first time Lydia’s ever had that.’
This leads to a charged moment between the two and they almost kiss. Lydia confides in Kim (Claire King) about what happened and plans to resign from her job with Craig. Before she can do so, Craig tells her how much it’s meant to him to reconnect with her and she decides to take back the resignation.
Things soon turn nasty, however, when Craig tells Lydia he has feelings for her and then forces himself on her.
Karen Blick told us that these scenes will be difficult for the audience to watch.
‘It’s uncomfortable viewing. I’m not going to shy away from that at all,’ she said. ‘It’s a difficult, uncomfortable subject. We are left at the end of that scene knowing that that has happened. So difficult, challenging, but dealt with in a hugely respectful way by everyone.’
Emmerdale worked closely with Rape Crisis UK in developing the storyline and their CEO, Jayne Butler, told us that she hoped the story would help other rape and sexual assault survivors.
‘There’s still so much stigma around rape,’ she said. ‘People are scared to talk about it, they feel shame and humiliation. There’s a lot of concerns of people feeling it’s their fault, that somehow they caused this. I think by being open about it and talking about its impact in the way that this storyline allows us to do, it helps to break some of that stigma so people know there’s nothing to be ashamed of and they’re not at fault for what’s happened.’
In the aftermath of the rape viewers will see Lydia deciding to keep what’s happened a secret from her family.
‘She’s fearful about being believed and she does not want to upset her family,’ Karen Blick explained. ‘That’s a big thing. We see Lydia in the aftermath when she goes back to the Dingles’ and Sam and Mandy (Lisa Riley) are there. She’s thinking about others: “What will this do to Sam?” She just wants it to go away. ‘I’ll get on with this, I’m going to pretend this has not happened and get on with my life.’ I can completely understand why she takes that decision.’
Jayne added: ‘If anyone has been impacted by Lydia’s storyline, we want you to know that Rape Crisis is here for you. Whether it happened recently or a long time ago, or you’re not sure what happened – we have lots of information and support on our website that might help.
‘You can also call our 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line on 0808 500 2222 or chat to us online 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk.’
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