Priya (Fiona Wade) has been struggling with her mental and physical scars since she was badly burned in the maze fire in horrific scenes in Emmerdale last October.

Multiple times since then we’ve seen how difficult it is for her to live with the change to her body as a result of the scars. Not long ago she was overwhelmed with anxiety when a photographer wanted to take her picture and at the HOP wedding showcase she had to rush outside when a picture of her in a sleeveless, low-backed dress came up, showing her skin as it used to be.

It was after this that she met Marlon (Mark Charnock) and, in a beautiful and touching scene, they bonded over their sorrow that they were no longer physically the people they used to be.

Marlon made a pledge: he was going to work hard so that he’d be able to walk up the aisle to Rhona (Zoe Henry) at their wedding. In return he wanted Priya to be there to cheer him on. ‘No jacket,’ he told her. It was time for them to both be proud of who they are.

As the day of Marlon’s wedding comes around, Priya has to decide whether she can follow through with the pact she made with him. She nervously waits outside the church, anxious for Marlon to arrive. He’s had troubles of his own that have meant he’s late for the wedding and arrives in his wheelchair, but he’s happy and excited about finally marrying the woman he loves.

And at the party after the wedding, Priya finally takes off her jacket and dances, confidently showing that she’s not going to let her scars ruin her life any longer.

It’s a joyful day all round and for Mark Charnock, he was really looking forward to intertwining Marlon and Priya’s storylines, as he explained to us here:

‘I think it’s a very smart piece of threading stories together. I think it’s really clever. She’s been on an awfully long journey with that, so for them to put that into this episode to make the reflection bounce off everything else that’s going on is clever. Again it refers back to that thing of a long investment in the show from the viewers. I had some scenes with Fiona where they first make the pact that he’s going to walk and she’s going to take her jacket off and show her back and scars and it was very moving to film.

‘You could see how much it meant to Fiona when we were doing it and she was pouring with tears in rehearsals as well as the take. So I think that’s a clever piece of storytelling. Again it’s one of the things that this format of drama, soap, it’s one of the only forms of drama that can do stuff like that and refer back so far and tie it into now, because we’ve got room to do it. It was great.’

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