Emmerdale star’s ‘jaw dropped’ reading Christmas Day episode

Soaps are well known for pulling out all the stops come Christmas time, and according to Lisa Riley, this year will be no different for Emmerdale.

Millions of us every year tune in at the end of the day to see a plethora of storylines culminate across the Yorkshire Dales, Walford and Weatherfield -it’s a staple of December 25 and a time when so much happens.

While Lisa was cagey about what her character, Mandy Dingle, will be getting up to in the episode, what she did say suggests that we’re in for some festive-flavoured drama to tuck into alongside the customary tub of Quality Street.

Apparently, she had the reaction we’re all always hoping for when reading the script…and again when filming it!

‘The Christmas Day episode – when I read it, my jaw fell,’ she admitted. ‘When we shot it, my jaw fell.’

‘It is so true. I played it as Mandy, when finding out.

‘It is all about the jaw drop – not the mic drop’ she told Leeds Live while attending the Pride of Britain Awards.

Mandy’s most recent storyline saw her forced to bid goodbye to her beloved son, Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) after he answered a video call from Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) while driving, taking his eyes off the road, veering into the wrong lane and caused Jimmy King (Nick Miles) to swerve.

Jimmy’s car ran straight into the marquee in which Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) was set to wed Joe Tate (Ned Porteous), something that ultimately claimed the life of both Dawn and Jimmy.

He initially kept quiet about the role he played in the apocalyptic incident, though his good nature eventually won out, and he began to confess to those closest to the people who lost their lives, leading Jimmy’s widow, Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) to call the police.

Sticking to his guns, Vinny told the police the entire truth, and despite Mandy’s pleas for him to flee the country, he vowed to face the full consequences of his actions, with Mandy accepting his choice and going out of her way to make his final days in the village the best.

She was left utterly rocked though, when not only was Vinny sentenced to a custodial sentence, but a seriously lengthy one, with a judge handing him a 10 year stretch, something Joe Tate orchestrated as a final act of revenge.

She was further wounded when she learned that Vinny had been subject to a brutal beating in prison, her heart breaking when she realised how powerless she now was to protect her boy.

As for what’s to come next, Patsy Kensit, who plays the village’s arch bitch Sadie King, hoped for a potential friendship between the two characters.

Patsy said it’d be ‘amazing’ for Sadie ‘to have a relationship with Mandy, because I get on with Lisa Riley really well.’

‘She has a beauty bar, so it would be great if Sadie had a storyline where she had money to invest in that.’