April drama in December…
In last night’s Christmas day episode of Emmerdale, viewers saw the heartbreaking moment Marlon Dingle, played by Mark Charnock, found that his teenage daughter April, played by Amelia Flannagan, had run away.
As Marlon begins to unravel the devastating reasons his daughter chose to go missing, he begins to discover she was leading a life he was completely unaware of. In the coming weeks, April’s family and the community of Emmerdale will try to keep their hopes of finding April alive. Whilst Marlon and Rhona, played by Zoe Henry, face every parent’s worst nightmare that they may never see their daughter again.
When devising and researching the storyline, ITV in Leeds worked closely with Missing People to give this storyline a realistic and authentic depiction.
Emmerdale Producer, Laura Shaw:
“Marlon has recently been struggling with his relationship with April but never imagined he would be in such a heartbreaking situation this Christmas. In the coming weeks, as the search for April intensifies, we explore the emotional turmoil a family faces when a young person goes missing. We are so grateful to the charity Missing People for their invaluable help and support with this storyline.”
Kate Graham, Head of Communications at Missing People:
“It has been an amazing experience to work with Emmerdale on this important storyline. The researchers were clear from the start that they wanted to ground the storyline in reality and in no way glamorise it. Everyone at Emmerdale, including the actors, have impressed us with their understanding of a very difficult subject matter, meeting with our team of experts, asking very relevant questions and really immersing themselves in the experience of both being missing and homeless, and also being the parents of a missing teenager.
“We hope that as viewers watch this story unfold they are able to gain some understanding of what families with a missing loved one go through and why our charity exists to support those families, as well as anyone thinking of being missing, or anyone already away from home.”
Emmerdale, Monday to Friday at 7.30pm on ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player
