Marlon Dingle is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Mark Charnock. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 17 October 1996. Following the departure of Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell), Marlon currently serves as the second longest-running character featuring in the programme, surpassed only by Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell). In terms of appearances, Marlon serves as the character with the most appearances to date, having appeared in over 3900 episodes. He is also the only one to appear in all 5 direct-to-home-media Emmerdale films. For his portrayal of Marlon, Charnock won the British Soap Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 2023 British Soap Awards.
Storylines
Marlon comes to Emmerdale to stay with his uncle Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell). He tells his family that he has heard about the new road development and hoped there would be some work going. His cousin Butch Dingle (Paul Loughran) offers to put in a good word with the local security firm. Marlon supports Zak when he is diagnosed with testicular cancer and he befriends Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). Marlon finds employment as a chef at Kathy Glover's (Malandra Burrows) tea rooms and wine bar. When co-owner Eric Pollard's (Chris Chittell) marriage ends, he puts Marlon in charge of his business. Marlon is initially overwhelmed by the responsibility. Kathy later hires Carlos Diaz (Gary Turner) to work at the diner and Marlon goes to work at The Woolpack. Bernice Blackstock (Samantha Giles) is impressed by Marlon's cooking and they share a kiss, but it leads nowhere. New barmaid Tricia Stokes (Sheree Murphy) regularly flirts with Marlon and they soon begin dating.
Marlon and Tricia's relationship is tested when Tricia agrees to marry Jason Kirk's (James Carlton) boyfriend, Joe Fisher, so he can stay in the country. They almost break up, but reconcile just before the wedding. Tricia invests the money she is given by Joe in Marlon's business, Chez Marlon. When the business fails, Tricia leaves the village. Marlon has a brief relationship with locum vet Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry), until Tricia returns and they decide to get married. Ahead of the wedding, Tricia injures her neck and calls off the wedding, so their friends Paddy and Emily Kirk (Kate McGregor) marry instead.
Marlon and Tricia did eventually marry a few months later. Tricia was offered the chance to star in a Bollywood film and went to India for six months. While she was away, Marlon was dreadfully lonely and had a drunken one night stand with his cousin Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins). When Tricia returned, the secret came out and she left Marlon. His desperate attempts to win her back seemed to have failed but she was willing to forgive him after reading a romantic list of her characteristics written by Marlon. On New Year's Eve 2003, Tricia was injured during a storm which resulted in part of the Woolpack's roof collapsing on top of her. Tricia was found alive and rushed to hospital but suffered a heart attack. The hospital staff revived her but tests revealed that she had suffered serious brain damage. She was declared braindead and the medical team requested permission to switch off her life support machine. Marlon took some convincing to agree, as he was still determined that she would recover, but he finally agreed on realising that there was no hope of her recovering.
The grief suffered by Marlon was prolonged close to a year until he developed a friendship with Donna Windsor (Verity Rushworth). It was thanks to Donna's kind heart that Marlon moved on from his loss. Although he rebuffed her attempts to snare him early in the year, Donna proved she was the woman for Marlon when she helped him look after his cousin, Lilith Dingle's (Amanda Hennessy), children when she suddenly left them with him. It didn't take long for Marlon and Donna to fall in love. When he proposed to her en route to a chef's competition in Newcastle, Donna agreed and it looked like there was a happy ending in sight. However, being so young, marriage was a big thing for Donna to consider. She'd also recently become close to Max King (Charlie Kemp) and his death left her absolutely devastated.
Shortly before the wedding, Marlon started having nightmares about Tricia. This was made worse when Marlon caught Donna trying on Tricia's wedding dress, making him think that Tricia had come back. Donna explained she felt like she was always being compared to Tricia. On the morning of the wedding, Donna confided in Marlon that she had feelings for Max while they were together. Heartbroken by this admission, Marlon wondered if they should get married but his love for her overwhelmed his doubts and they married.
On return from honeymoon, Marlon and Donna spent their first few months of married life living at Smithy Cottage with Paddy and Toni Daggert (Kerry Stacey). Donna and Marlon were desperate to get on the property ladder but the prices at King & Sons' new development were too steep. So when they won the Kings River Showhome, they were thrilled but shocked to discover that they still had to pay a deposit. Donna's mother, Viv Hope (Deena Payne), offered Donna the money if Donna would be her surrogate. Marlon and Donna were stunned by Viv's suggestion that Donna get pregnant with her half-brother or sister but agreed because they needed the money to keep their new home. However the showhome collapsed following a gas explosion, leaving Marlon and Donna's dream shattered. Donna returned her mother's money as there was no longer a house to buy and Viv didn't need a surrogate, discovering she was pregnant. Following the showhome collapse, Marlon and Donna lived in a caravan outside Wishing Well cottage. They were building an "Eco Home" but realised the land they were building on belonged to Matthew King (Matt Healy) and the local council. Donna had a major run in with Marlon's family when she reported Shadrach (Andy Devine) to the police for theft. Called up before the Dingle Court, Donna defied Zak and Lisa Dingle (Jane Cox), revealing she planned to join the police force. Marlon backed her up and they stood strong together.
In October 2006, two men were looking for Marlon's brother Eli (Joe Gilgun) and broke into The Woolpack to get Marlon to tell them where Eli was, although Marlon didn't know. The pair wrecked the pub, beat up Marlon and stole thousands from the till. The men were later arrested after Eli framed them for firearm possession. In December, Lilith left her children with Marlon and Donna again while she went to work. Marlon, Donna and the children moved into The Woolpack, following Lilith's arrest for armed robbery. This didn't work out and Marlon decided the children should live with their uncle because his and Donna's living arrangements were inadequate. Donna was very upset and the children returned after running away from their uncle. Marlon saw how miserable they were and they went on the run, rather than return them to their uncle. However, they were soon caught by the police and Social Services took the children away. Marlon and Donna applied for custody of their children via the courts and prepared a room for the children but Val Lambert (Charlie Hardwick) accidentally started a fire in The Woolpack, damaging the building temporarily. Despite a positive report, their social worker, Mrs Jenkins, told them that they would not get the kids until they had more suitable accommodation.
Marlon, attempting to improve his and Donna's financial problems, used their savings to place a bet. He won £18,000 but the bookie refused to pay up so he and Eli came up with a plan to get his winnings. Just before Eli went into the bookie's, Marlon found he had a gun and learned Eli was planning an armed robbery. Marlon was shocked but let him go ahead. Eli threatened the bookie and was almost successful when a customer came in and a fight ensued. Marlon, who had been waiting in the car, got frustrated and went inside to find Eli struggling with the customer. Pretending not to know him, Marlon yelled at Eli to leave but he would not. Marlon went to grab the gun but it went off, hitting Marlon in the chest. Marlon collapsed, telling Eli to go, leaving the customer and the bookie to ring the police. Marlon was rushed to hospital and made a full recovery. Marlon is put in the paper as a hero. Marlon is filled with guilt when the grateful bookie turns up to give him his winnings and when Donna even praised him for stopping the robbery. With the money, Marlon and Donna purchase a house, hoping to raise their family there.
However, Marlon later told Donna the truth and although she was very angry, quickly forgave him. Eli began blackmailing them. He got Donna to use her position in the police force to allow him to break into a warehouse. While at the warehouse, Marlon got cold feet and warned Eli that it was a trap. Eli was angry, but Donna had informed Zak of everything that had happened. Zak confronted Eli and kicked him out of Donna and Marlon's house. However, far from it all being over, Marlon set off to work only for Eli to kidnap him.
Bundled into the back of a van, Eli drove him to the top of a multi-storey carpark, where he pretended he was going to throw him off the edge of the building to punish him for his 'betrayal'. Marlon was terrified, unsure of what his volatile brother was capable of, and asked what he had ever done to Eli. Eli revealed that he had always resented his older brother because everybody loved him and nobody had ever loved Eli. Marlon eventually managed to get free and the brothers had a fight which ended with Eli toppling over the edge of the building and only hanging on by his fingertips. Marlon tried to save him – offering his hand – but Eli refused to be rescued. Eventually Donna arrived and helped Marlon haul him to safety, but Eli ran off, apparently upset at being saved. Marlon broke down in tears and later confessed to Donna that he had considered allowing his younger brother to die and he thought that made him a terrible person. He warned Donna that being with him might only cause her trouble, but Donna reassured him.
In 2008, The Woolpack was entered in a magazine Pub of the Year competition. Val bribed Jasmine Thomas (Jenna-Louise Coleman) to tell her when the judge was coming. Marlon, Val and Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen) went frantic with Marlon trying to create a gourmet menu. Diane reminded him that they were a traditional pub and not to get worked up about it. Unbelievably, they discovered they made it to the finals. Antony Worrall Thompson was discovered to be the celebrity judge. This coincided with Val's surprise wedding to Eric. Anthony was impressed with Marlon's cooking and asked Marlon to call him. When Marlon summed up the courage to call, Marlon was invited to a local television audition. A camera crew arrived at The Woolpack to record a programme featuring a special from Marlon. Marlon hired Jake Doland (James Baxter) to help him in the kitchen and also had a column in The Hotton Courier. Marlon was later approached by the owner of Malt, The Woolpack's rival pub. He offered Marlon a better job with better pay but Marlon declined, wanting to stay in Emmerdale.