It’s been painful watching Emmerdale’s Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) become more and more tormented with PTSD after accidentally killing Harry to save Mackenzie Boyd’s (Lawrence Robb) life.
But what will become of her after stabbing her husband in another accidental attack?
Her PTSD was triggered by Harry’s shooting death when she grabbed the gun to save her lover and it went off. Since then, images of that day have plagued her mind and she’s broken down at the sound of video games, she’s developed severe insomnia, and she’s exploded at an innocent Moses.
But why, with everything that she’s done, is Charity so affected by this unintended act? Legendary actress Emma Atkins explained to metro.co.uk: ‘It’s the reality that she can’t put this right, there’s no going back. Her body and mind can’t physically erase the trauma she has been through.’
She’s in a spiral, and things are only getting worse. She tries to smother her symptoms with a brave face and it’s barely working. Moira (Lawrence Robb) has seen through it, but no one else has. Everyone else is too distracted; Mack is missing Reuben, there’s the Tracy/Nate/Caleb saga, Cain’s brain injury, Chas’ cancer. Meanwhile, Charity secretly crumbles further.
Mack is slowly cluing in and is relieved when Charity finally agrees to do something about whatever is up. She heads to Harry’s (Robert Beck) grave where she experiences a cathartic moment of pure rage.
‘She goes looking for some answers at the grave,’ Emma told us. ‘She has this outburst where she tells him it was an accident and tells him to stop tormenting her. It’s torture and every which way she turns she doesn’t find the solution…she’s entered into very disturbing territory for her own mental health.’
That night, she sleeps for the first time. This is a eureka moment for her, except that it opens her mind to night terrors of Harry instead.
Mack senses something dire is going on, but Charity tries to put him off the scent. It’s a dangerous approach, especially when she starts drowning in paranoia.
Utterly fearful for her own safety, she arms herself. But a cruel twist of fate sees her suffer another night terror and she grabs the weapon – and when Mack innocently touches her in her sleep, she lashes out with the weapon. As she comes to, horror seizes her as she realises she’s stabbed her husband.
This is no dream; it’s bad, really bad. Mack’s life is slipping away.
Explaining the moment Mack is left with his life bleeding out of his body, Emma said: ‘Her mind plays tricks on her, and Mackenzie lets himself into the house and she’s having a night terror, and he walks round the sofa, realises that she’s dreaming and gently touches her leg.
‘Charity immediately lashes out thinking it’s something more sinister when in actual fact it’s just Mackenzie. And this is when all hell breaks loose and she lashes out at him leaving him gravely injured…’ It looks like Charity’s killed again.
