Marlon Dingle has just been reunited with his daughter April Windsor after she went missing over Christmas but there’s some more harrowing scenes ahead, Mark Charnock has revealed

April Windsor will have to face another huge milestone in heartbreaking scenes on Emmerdale next week.

The teenager returned to the village this week after running away over Christmas. She found out she was pregnant and was worried about bringing another baby into the mix, with all that was happening in the house.

April had explained she ran away as she didn’t want to be a burden to Marlon and Rhona. With Marlon recently having suffered a stroke, and the court case about Ivy nearly splitting Rhona and Marlon up, April didn’t want to cause any more trouble for the family.

In scenes set to air next week, Marlon and Rhona enlist the help of Lydia, given that she had gone through something similar. Viewers will remember Lydia was just 15 herself when she became pregnant and gave birth to a stillborn boy called Toby in 1990.

Desperate to help April, Lydia puts her own pain aside and talks about her trauma. They try and convince April to go to the chapel of rest, but inside the chapel, Marlon is left devastated when he sees the small wicker coffin.

April rushes off, leaving Marlon heartbroken as he says a few words to his granddaughter. She seems apparently indifferent about all that’s gone on, leaving Marlon and Rhona to worry.

April returned home in a heartbreaking episode that aired in the week ( 
Image:
ITV)
Mark Charnock – who plays Marlon – explained to us that the loss of his granddaughter “doesn’t hit him” until he sees the coffin.

He told The Mirror in an exclusive interview: “He’s conflicted by that aspect of it. I think the loss of the granddaughter is really strange one for him to take on board because he’s it’s almost like a situation he’s not been privy to. It’s really peculiar him.

“I don’t think it really hits him, what it means to him until later down the line. He sees the coffin, this tiny tiny coffin and it’s at that moment that he thinks, ‘It’s not just that April’s lost her daughter. It’s oh my good God, it’s my granddaughter.'”

Mark explained that Marlon “falls apart” in the devastating scenes.

Speaking about the big scenes, which air next week, he said: “I don’t think he was ready for that. Even in a situation where she hadn’t disappeared, I don’t think he would have been ready for that but he’s certainly not ready for it given that he’s still trying to deal with the trauma of having lost his daughter. So when he sees that tiny wicker casket, he falls apart.”