Emmerdale is tackling a huge health storyline that will be just like Ashley Thomas’ heartbreaking dementia battle, in news that will surely devastate fans.
Viewers watched as fan favourite Ashley developed early onset dementia and declined over years in the soap.
His tragic death won a raft of awards and was critically-acclaimed. It also raised huge awareness of how the condition can affect everyone involved. And now the ITV soap is going to tackle another health condition with a storyline that will last years. Producer Laura Shaw teased what is coming up for the soap.
Emmerdale news: ‘Big health storyline’
Speaking to Entertainment Daily! and other media, she said: “We’ve got a big health storyline coming up that involves one of our most loved, well-known characters.
“I can’t say at this stage who it is, but it’s definitely going to have a huge impact on their lives and all the people around them, and we’re working closely with an amazing charity who have been guiding us every step of the way.
Emmerdale reveals heartbreaking health storyline
“It’s going to be quite a long storyline. It’s going to run over a period of months, years. Think along the lines of Ashley’s dementia storyline. It’s going to be like that.”
And while Laura didn’t reveal which character would be at the centre of the storyline, she did reveal there will be a huge Dingle family storyline coming. And it’s big.
She said: “We know they’re one of our favourite families in soap and we’re going to be doing something a little bit special with the Dingles coming up.
“I think pretty much all the Dingles are going to be involved and the episodes were filmed in a slightly different way from our usual style and, true to its form, we’ve played with the format a little bit.
Read more: Emmerdale boss reveals huge Dingles special episode that will change the village forever
“There’s going to be lots of secrets being revealed and all the cast and crew that have been involved in the filming of it have been absolutely raving about it. Having seen the final episodes myself last week, I think it’s going to be very memorable.”
Emmerdale usually airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
So who do you think it will be? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.