Zak Dingle

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Zak Dingle
Emmerdale character
Portrayed bySteve Halliwell
Duration1994–2023
First appearanceEpisode 1914
20 October 1994 (1994-10-20)
Last appearanceEpisode 9714
27 June 2023 (2023-06-27)
ClassificationFormer; regular
Introduced byKeith Richardson
Spin-off
appearances
  • Emmerdale: The Dingles Down Under (1997)
  • The Dingles in Venice (1999)
  • The Dingles for Richer for Poorer (2010)
In-universe information
OccupationHandyman
Pig farmer
Father
Peg Dingle
Brothers
Wife
  • Nellie Dingle
    (until 1997)
  • Lisa Dingle (1998–2016, 2019)
  • Joanie Wright
    (2016–2017)
Sons
Daughters
Tina Dingle
Belle Dingle
Grandsons
  • Nate Robinson
  • Samson Dingle
  • Kyle Winchester
  • Isaac Dingle
Granddaughters
Bert Dingle
AuntsMaud Dingle
NephewsMarlon Dingle
Eli Dingle
Nieces
First cousins
  • Obadiah Dingle
  • Solomon Dingle
  • Elvis Dingle
Other relatives
  • Charity Dingle
  • Noah Dingle
  • Marilyn Dingle
  • Sarah Sugden
  • Jack Sugden
  • Aaron Livesy
  • Moses Dingle
  • Leo Goskirk
  • April Windsor
  • Molly Sharma
  • Matthew Dingle
  • Mark Dingle
  • Luke Dingle
  • Jon Dingle
  • Eve Dingle

Zak Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera

Butch (Paul Loughran) in 2000, Lisa being raped in 2011, assaulting his son Cain (Jeff Hordley
) and leaving him temporarily paralysed in 2011, suffering a mental breakdown in 2012, trying to control his rebellious daughter and dealing with the death of Lisa. Halliwell died on 15 December 2023.

Storylines

Zak arrives in the village in October 1994 and immediately challenges old

Nellie (Sandra Gough) attends to her sick father, Jimmy in Ireland
but does not return.

Faith
(Gillian Jephcott; Sally Dexter). After some violent words, the two men accept the situation and a bond develops between them.

In 2001, Zak discovers he has

Samson
(Bradley Milnes) is born. Zak and the family rally round to help Sam.

Zak strikes up a friendship with Rosemary King (Linda Thorson). He takes her at face value, despite her being devious and manipulative. They get on and she asks him to keep a discreet eye on her son, Grayson Sinclair (Christopher Villiers), and let her know what he is doing. She hires him as gamekeeper at Home Farm and confided family secrets, knowing she could trust him. Rosemary bonds with Belle and pays for her to attend private school but Zak cuts this associate short when he learns Rosemary has been poisoning her daughter-in-law Perdita Hyde-Sinclair (Georgia Slowe).

When Cain is viciously attacked in December 2011, Zak is very uncomfortable to the extent he refuses to visit him hospital. He later reveals himself to Cain as his attacker when he discovers Cain is trying to get

flu
. However, an appointment later reveals that Zak does not have pancreatic cancer.

Zak begins to act erratically and becomes paranoid, he is told by a vet that his chickens are healthy but, in his paranoia, and belief that there is something wrong, he kills them. He later starts believing he has cancer again and talks to a doctor about it, the doctor tells him he does not have cancer but Zak refuses to believe it and tells his family that he has cancer. It later becomes apparent that Zak has suffered a nervous breakdown and is later sectioned.

On Christmas Day 2015, Belle reveals to Lisa that she'd seen Zak having an affair with their lodger

Joanie Wright (Denise Black
). Lisa is heartbroken by the news, and her and Zak separate. This separation effectively severs Zak's ties to the rest of the family, who convene at Wishing Well Cottage and decide to "excommunicate" Zak from the Dingles. Zak and Joanie then move in with the biological grandmother of Joanie's adoptive grandson Kyle, Kerry.

Early in 2016, Zak tries to regain the attention of his estranged family, especially after they all begin to act rather out of character. Zak becomes determined to know what's going on, and he pesters Sam and Belle in the village shop to tell him the secret they're supposedly hiding. The two initially try to keep it together, but, pushed to her limit, Belle blurts out that Zak's great-nephew Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller) was raped as a child by his father Gordon. Much like the rest of the family, Zak is devastated by the news, and Joanie begins to question his loyalties.

After Joanie accepts Zak's proposal of marriage, they quickly plan their wedding and during the stag do put together at The Woolpack, Zak drinks too much and mistakenly calls Joanie 'Lisa' which causes her to panic and get cold feet. On the day of the wedding Zak is upset after thinking that Joanie has jilted him, however she arrives at the church late and they are eventually married.

Despite his commitment to Joanie, Zak still remains close to Lisa causing Joanie and him to argue constantly. On Christmas Day, Joanie splits up with Zak due to his unresolved feelings for Lisa and he tried to reconcile with Lisa, who rejects him. When Joanie dies suddenly after being released from prison, Lisa comforts Zak in his grief and she accepts him.

Lisa and Zak then get back together and in early 2018 Lisa, Zak and the Dingles protest to save their house from being torn down by Joe Tate. In May 2018 Lisa and Zak's relationship take a turn and Lisa tells Zak she has got a job offer in Scotland and has been called up to work there for a few months. In September it's revealed that Lisa is now travelling overseas and Zak offers to go with her so he leaves.

In early 2019, it is revealed that Lisa has a deathly heart condition and has not got long left to live. Lisa then tells Charity that Zak can barely cope with the news and that she does not want Charity to tell anybody yet. Zak asked Lisa to marry him and after only two days of planning they married on 23 May 2019 in the church. Before the wedding, the Dingle's pigs escaped from their pen and were rounded up by Cain, Belle and Lisa in their wedding outfits causing Lisa's dress to become covered in mud. After the wedding, celebrations were held in the pub and Lisa went home to get changed as she did not want her wedding photos to be of her covered in mud. Zak went to find her and found her asleep on the sofa but when he tried to wake her up he realised that she had died.

Casting

Steve Halliwell joined Emmerdale as Zak in September 1994.[1] He explained that Zak was brought in to fight Ned Glover (Johnny Leeze), whom he lashed out at following the death of his son Ben. Halliwell revealed that he was only supposed to be in the show for two episodes, but he tried to "make a mark" and hoped that he would be asked back.[1] Zak was introduced along with the rest of the Dingle family to "run riot through the rural tranquillity and put the muck back into the mix".[2] The family were initially planned to be "nothing more than a bit of spot of bother over a couple of episodes."[2] The Dingles celebrated their ten year anniversary in 2005.[2]

In 2003, it was announced Halliwell was to take a break. This led him to comment that he had "no axe to grind" and it was not "about salary or storylines" and added "I love Zak, I love Emmerdale, but I've asked for a spell out to spend some quality time with my family and friends".[3] In 2010, Halliwell said that his casting in Emmerdale was "the greatest break in my professional life".[4] In September 2018 Halliwell had to take five months off from Emmerdale for health reasons, which he later revealed was due to having heart surgery.[5] Halliwell returned to play Zak on 13 May 2019. Halliwell then left again in October 2019 with a storyline where he leaves to help Debbie in Scotland. Due to return sometime in 2020, Halliwell’s return to filming was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Zak made his first reappearance alongside relative Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb) in the episode first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2021. Halliwell died on 15 December 2023 making his final appearance on 27 June 2023.

Characterisation

ITV described him as the "patriarch" of the Dingle family, adding he is "ostensibly a scrap dealer and pig farmer" although he spends "most of his time either doing nothing at all, or dreaming up scams and schemes". They also labelled him as occasionally being "a violent man" who is "prone to jealousy, however, he will do anything for a quiet life and a pint in the Woolpack!"[6] Halliwell said that Zak was "brought in as a violent nutter, then after they introduced the rest of the family, this workshy, loveable rogue started to emerge, and they started writing more comic elements for the Dingles".[4] Halliwell described the family saying they are "petty thieves" and "a bit part of the under class of life" who "still hold those old values that people are more important than money". He added that "[The Dingles] do strike a chord with a lot of people. Most of us will never be rich, so they can identify with the Dingles much easier than rich characters".[7] What's on TV described him as a "General dodgy dealer" who is an "all round wrong 'un" and the "keeper of the 'Dingle code' – which basically means that he makes sure all Dingles live on the wrong side of the law".[8] Holy Soap described him as "head of the Dingle clan, Zak is the scallywag you can't help but have a soft spot for" before adding that he "has had several odd jobs over the years, but he tends to fill his coffers by masterminding several dodgy deals with his brother, Shadrach (Andy Devine)."[9]

Reception

At the

British Soap Awards in 2002, Halliwell was nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of the part, and Zak was nominated for Hero for his testicular cancer storyline.[10] In 2007 he was again nominated for Best Actor.[11] In a poll to find the "top soap bloke" of all time which was run by Loaded, Zak came fourth.[12] The character was selected as one of the "top 100 British soap characters" by industry experts for a poll to be run by What's on TV, with readers able to vote for their favourite character to discover "Who is Soap's greatest Legend?"[13] Fellow Emmerdale cast member James Hooton commented that said Steve Halliwell often gets recognised for his alter ego saying "Steve can't tie his shoelaces in the street without people noticing. It's the beard".[14] A writer from Holy Soap named Zak's most memorable moment as being his introduction into the series; challenging Bernard McAllister to a bare knuckle fight.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Peake, Jon (February 1996). "Zak cracks up!". Inside Soap. No. 43. p. 45.
  2. ^ a b c Green, Kris (27 May 2005). "Emmerdale Family Album: The Dingles". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  3. ^ Hart, Beth (3 August 2002). ""Emmerdale's" Zak to take a rest". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b "spotlight on...Steve Halliwell". Western Mail. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  5. ^ Mapstone, Lucy. "Zak Dingle actor Steve Halliwell to return to Emmerdale after heart surgery". Independent.ie. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Cast and Characters – Zak Dingle". ITV. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  7. Hachette Filipacchi
    . Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  8. IPC Media
    . Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Zak Dingle". Holy Soap. (Northern & Shell). Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  10. Hachette Filipacchi
    . Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  11. Hachette Filipacchi
    . Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  12. Hachette Filipacchi
    . Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  13. IPC Media
    . Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  14. Hachette Filipacchi
    . Retrieved 20 September 2011.

External links

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