Emmerdale star Mark Charnock has told ED! that he’s thrilled to hear the ITV soap has won not one, not two, but all four of the soap categories in the first-ever Entertainment Daily Awards.
The full results were revealed today (December 28), with Emmerdale winning by a landslide.
Not only that, but Mark – who has played Marlon Dingle in Emmerdale since 1996 – was given a special nod himself, for his one-screen partnership with Dominic Brunt.
Emmerdale scooped Best Soap, Best Soap Villain (Meena Jutla), Best Soap Double Act (Paddy and Marlon) and Stand-Out Soap Moment (Faith’s death).
Emmerdale star Mark Charnock on the soap’s appeal
Mark exclusively told ED!: “Given it’s our 50th anniversary, it’s an obvious thing to say, but it’s kind of thrilling to win the viewer votes.
“You’re doing it for the viewers so it means so much more coming from them, that reaction.
“There’s no point lying, we’ve won so many awards this year and it’s thrilling.”
Reflecting on the huge win for Emmerdale, Mark revealed what he thinks the secret to the soap’s success is.
He told ED!: “I think we tell our stories really well. We’ve got a really good blend right across the age ranges and across the type of stories we tell.
“We had that massive storm storyline this year. I think for a long time now, we’ve got a really loyal viewership, it’s just wonderful.
“And I always think with soaps it’s a kind of similar to a relationship – I see the viewers as part of a team, really.
“It’s for, by and about them, the show and I see them as part of how it’s made and how it’s designed. So, to get the feedback from them is really lovely.”
Marlon and Paddy win Best Soap Double Act
Mark also lifted the lid on his friendship with Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy, after the pair scooped the ED! Award for Best Soap Double Act.
“The only thing I can say about working with him is that we laugh all the time.
“We’ve got this working relationship where we almost don’t have to say anything out loud to each other to know what the other person wants to do with a scene.
“So it’s become like there’s a language between us that is unspoken.
“I can see that he’s going to do something and I’ll try and react to it. It’s an amazing thing to have when you’ve worked with somebody that long. I treasure it actually.
“I won’t speak for him, but I treasure it, those kind of working relationships don’t come along very often and when it does it’s really special.”
Speaking about their award, Mark added: “Can you thank people for us? M e and Dominic are really chuffed about that. I don’t think we’ve ever won one as best partnership so we’re really thrilled.”
Mark Charnock recalls the Emmerdale plane crash
This year has been a huge year for Emmerdale with the show marking it’s 50th anniversary back in October.
Viewers saw a storm sweep the village causing the deaths of Harriet Finch and Liv Dingle.
Next year will be 30 years since the plane crash in Emmerdale. The stunt, the first of its kind in Soapland, completely changed the way that soaps tell stories. It meant they began including more explosive storylines.
Mark remembers how engaged he was with Emmerdale as a result.
He told us: “I used to watch it when I was a little boy and then I went through a phase of not having watched it for a while.
“I was living in London at the time when Phil Redmond took over and decided to do the plane crash. I remember being in London and suddenly thinking oh, Emmerdale’s everywhere.
“There were posters of Ian Kelsey, you could tell ‘oh my gosh it’s really having a gear change’ and then the plane crash happened. So there were these massive, really long carriage-length posters of new characters in Emmerdale and storylines and how it was addressing a modern audience.
“By then I was really engaged with it and when the plane crash happened, I watched it thinking the budget on this must’ve been astronomical.
“It was amazing to watch and I think it’s a testament to how well delivered it was that people still talk about it.
“It wasn’t just a gear change for our show, it was a gear change for the genre actually.”
Mark Charnock explains why soaps need explosive stunts and killers
There has been some criticism levelled at the soap recently over such big storylines.
Even Mark’s Emmerdale co-star Chris Chittell (Eric Pollard) told The Sun the storylines are becoming “sensationalist” and that is “a shame”.
However, Mark is insistent he sees things differently.
He told us: “I’ve heard this argument before and I slightly disagree with it.
“I think those storylines are painted up and addressed more in the press so they seem like they’re more dominant in the storylines across a year of soap than they actually are.
“Those storylines are necessary because the important thing about what they do is they are kind of like a pivot on which really the human stories that go on in the village happen.
“I don’t think any soap tells a big explosive disaster story for the sake of it. I think they do it because of what they’ve already got established. The audience’s investment in the people who are in jeopardy and in peril.
“So for me they are a smart way of ramping up the people that we are concerned about, ramping up their fate.
“Those stories, when you think about it, are actually few and far between across the soap year. They’re not as prevalent as people make them out to be.
“It’s what happens after them that’s crucial. It’s not the explosion, it’s what happens to people after; it’s how they manage the tragedy afterwards that is the real drama.
“So for me those things are absolutely necessary because the most important thing about soaps is human beings and people, and all that does is ramp up the jeopardy.
“So for me that argument is slightly overstated.”
What’s next for Marlon?
Mark was more than a little cagey when asked what’s coming up for his Emmerdale character.
However, he did tease that he has some “absolute belters” when it comes to his upcoming storylines.
“There’s a lot of stuff coming up that I’m involved with and that’s directly related to Marlon, but obviously I’m going to be really careful because some of the stories coming in the New Year are absolute belters.
“I’ve loved every minute of this show so I’m going to protect its integrity by saying I can’t give anything away, but there’s lots to look forward to. It’s great.”
Mark Charnock on Emmerdale character Marlon’s stroke
It’s been a busy and emotional year for Mark in the Dales, with his character Marlon suffering a stroke.
He told us: “It’s only impacted me in that I felt a great responsibility to get it right.
“When we first started researching it, I was really shocked by the numbers. I was thinking, you know, you have a stroke every five minutes.
“So immediately I was nervous about getting it right because you do have to make choices with the storyline – physical, verbal, psychological choices.
“And what makes it tricky is the fact that each stroke is a bespoke stroke to that individual, so I was nervous about getting it right.
“The responsibility of it impacted on me really and once the viewing response started to come in, I felt like, right, okay, I know it might not be the same as your auntie’s stroke or you uncle’s, but you are reacting to it on an emotional level that tells me that at the very least we’ve moved people.
“It’s been the best story I’ve ever had and it’s been really rewarding working with survivors, with stroke charities.
“I’ve found it incredibly rewarding all the way through,” he concluded.
‘A public service’
Asked if it made him worry about his health, Mark admitted: “I don’t think you can think of it in that way, because otherwise you just get swamped down by it.
“I think it almost acts almost like a public service in a way. I think all soaps do this very well when they put this social story, it acts as almost an information in some ways.
“That was another part of the responsibility as well that we were raising awareness. The ultimate aim was to raise awareness.
“You can have no symptoms for a stroke and it just happens. You almost have to second guess it with lifestyle choices. That’s the kind of awareness we were trying to raise.”
Mark Charnock rules out Dancing On Ice
With several of Mark’s fellow soap stars entering reality shows such as I’m A Celebrity and Dancing On Ice, we asked Mark if he would ever be tempted.
Mark laughed and said: “Sorry to laugh, but I mean Dancing On Ice, it would be like Bambi. I don’t think the viewers would enjoy it! It would be more like ‘is he going to stay alive?’ by the end of it. It won’t be ‘is he any good?’ but ‘will he live?’
“So that’s a definite no!
“The other stuff, to be honest I doubt I’ll be asked. I just think it’s an impossible question to answer until you’re offered something like that. I don’t have any presumption that I will ever be asked to do any of those shows. If I was I honestly don’t know what my answer would be.”
Mark continued: “I watch the others who do it in absolute admiration because with those things you’re out there, you’re just you. I honestly do not know the answer to that question. It’s a rubbish answer but it’s true.
He added: “I love those shows, I watch them. I love the jungle, I love Strictly. I think it’s impossible to envision what you would be like in them.
“But I do know with Dancing On Ice it would be a catastrophe.”
Read more: Who is in the cast of Emmerdale? Meet the full line-up
Find out if Mark won the ED! Award for Best Soap Double Act on December 28 when the full results are announced.
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
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