Emmerdale favourite Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) is becoming quite the expert at making moving speeches that have us reaching for the tissues. Only the other day at the carol concert he spoke movingly of how the NHS and the stroke charities had helped him through the toughest time of his life.

On Christmas Day Marlon had his hands full doing what he loves doing best – cooking. And when the meal was ready, Mary (Louise Jameson) wheeled the starters in to the assembled guests. ‘Prawn cocktail a la Marlon,’ she announced.

Marlon said it was as simple as a starter gets, but the important thing, as Mary pointed out, was that it was all his own work. Paddy (Dominic Brunt), Chas (Lucy Pargeter) and Bear (Joshua Richards) were amazed at how far he’d come to be able to create the dish on his own without help.

‘It’s the first thing you’ve made all by yourself since…’ April (Amelia Flanagan) told him, proudly leaning across the table to take her dad’s hand.

‘I didn’t make these myself,’ Marlon said. ‘These simple things, these tiny steps for most of mankind but giant leaps for me…’ He couldn’t hold back the tears.

‘They were made with the help and encouragement and humblingly colossal amounts of love that you people have shown me for the last nine months and four days.’

He apologised to April for having to listen to a speech that she must have helped him rehearse and she smiled.

‘I didn’t think I’d ever talk and you lot told me I would,’ he continued. ‘And I knew I wouldn’t walk and you lot told me I could. You dragged me down this path I never dreamed I’d take. I’m not at the end yet, but now I know I’ll get there because I’ve got you. So thank you.’

It was once again a beautiful performance by Mark Charnock who has had an amazing year, playing out Marlon’s storyline from the moment of the stroke right up until this point.

Through good times and setbacks we’ve seen every stage of Marlon’s recovery and the effect that his illness had on those around him – and we couldn’t be happier that he was able to have the Christmas he wanted to have with the people who loved and supported him at every step.

Source: Read Full Article