Emmerdale's Mark Charnock opens up on 'harrowing' Marlon Dingle stroke storyline

22 March 2022, 15:35 | Updated: 22 March 2022, 15:37

Marlon to weather major health scare in Emmerdale trailer

What happens to Marlon in Emmerdale? Mark Charnock has opened up about his scary stroke storyline.

Emmerdale fans were left in tears this week, when Marlon Dingle suffered a stroke.

Mark Charnock's iconic character was seen walking home to pick up Rhona Goskirk's (Zoë Henry) engagement ring.

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But suddenly his vision went blurry and Marlon saw his mouth droop to one side in the mirror before he collapsed to the ground.

As everything moved in slow motion, he then realised he was having a stroke as the voice inside his head repeated ‘Face, Arm, Speech, Time’.

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This is the Stroke Association's FAST acronym that is used to identify a stroke.

As he tried to stay awake, Marlon’s young daughter April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) arrived home to find her dad on the floor and called an ambulance.

After he was rushed to hospital, doctors confirmed that he'd suffered a stroke and would need surgery to remove a clot on the brain, leaving his family shocked.

What happens to Marlon in Emmerdale?

While we don’t know what will happen to Marlon, Mark has spoken out about the storyline, calling it ‘harrowing’.

He told This Morning hosts Phillip Schofield and Josie Gibson: "Marlon is set to get engaged and is on top of the world. Something overwhelms him and he has a stroke which takes over his whole life.

"April finds him which is harrowing. It’s just happened, there's no build up and it's a hideous event. Marlon can’t express himself, can’t move, he had to realise what it’s like."

He went on to explain how he worked with Stroke Association and two stroke survivors, continuing: "Stroke Association have been amazing. I've been speaking with two stroke survivors.

"If you have to see it, it’s distressing viewing and upsetting so I’ve been guided through it scene by scene. It’s the people around them that overnight become carers, their roles change dramatically. It’s a communal response and in Marlon's storyline there is a lot of love and light in it."

Viewers at home have praised Mark’s portrayal, with one writing on Twitter: “Wow how amazing for @markcharnock portraying this storyline well done @emmerdale for raising awareness #Emmerdale.”

Someone else said: “Incredible performance tonight from @markcharnock #Emmerdale Well done Mark ”.

A third added: “Wow. Just wow. What a phenomenal and incredibly emotional episode. @markcharnock take a bow #Emmerdale.”