Emmerdale star Lisa Riley praised Emma Atkins for her "exceptional" work in the aftermath of Charity Dingle's heartbreaking assault.
Actress Lisa joined the ITV soap back in 1995 as Mandy Dingle and has since become a well-loved character among fans of Emmerdale. During her time in the Dales, Lisa has worked alongside fellow Dingle Emma Atkins, who joined as Charity in 2000 before becoming a more permanent fixture nine years later. Their last major storyline was back when Mandy returned to the village in late 2019, bringing along a bag of stolen casino chips and money. It was soon revealed that Charity was secretly her partner-in-crime in a scam that had gone terribly wrong, leaving them both running for their lives from a dangerous man named Terry.
Taking to her Instagram, Lisa went to praise Emma for her "exceptional" work for her acting in the aftermath of Charity being sexually assaulted by the villainous Dr Caitlin Todd. Posting a picture of Charity, Lisa penned: "one word…….EXCEPTIONAL @missemmaatkins absolutely EXCEPTIONAL @emmerdale", as Angela Lonsdale, who is currently starring as DS Reid, added: "She truly is the most beautiful soul too xx"
As viewers will recall, after weeks of an ongoing feud with Charity desperate to keep baby Leyla's true parentage a secret while being blackmailed by Dr Todd, things escalated. Todd went on to kiss a drunken Charity, who swiftly rejected her before falling asleep on the sofa, thinking that Todd was about to leave. Noticing she'd finished a bottle of wine, Dr Todd hovered over Charity and sneered: "Wake up. Drunk, disgusting w****! One too many? Bad, bad girl. You should know better than to lose control."
It was then that the horrific assault aired as she could be heard unzipping Charity's trousers before she awoke and realised what was happening. Begging Todd to get off her, Charity sat upright as she tried to process what had just happened to her.
On Monday (June 8), viewers saw the beginning of the aftermath as Charity made her way over to the Woolpack to help celebrate Sarah's 21st. After her granddaughter gave a heartfelt speech over her being the strongest person she knows, Charity made an excuse to leave and made her way over to the police station. Reporting Dr Todd for the assault, Charity agreed to undergo a medical examination to try and provide as much evidence as possible. In the coming weeks, Charity will try to come to terms with what's happened.
However, during Wednesday's (June 10) episode, police arrived in the village to question Dr Todd, who was packing up her car ready to move to Sheffield. After she was questioned over the allegations, Todd turned things back on Charity and said it was all consensual. Sadly, DS Reid had to let her leave until any evidence came in, and as the detective asked Charity if there's anything else she needs to know that could help with the case, Charity decided not to divulge about the blackmail. With Todd free to leave and start a new life in Sheffield, Charity watched as the former doctor was waved off by Manpreet and Vanessa. Mack found her outside and offered to comfort her, with no idea of the massive secret she's carrying on her own.
