'YOU'LL SEE IT ALL ESCALATE'

Tensions boil over when Emmerdale newlyweds Belle and Tom throw a dinner party, as the cast of a one-off special episode reveal

- ALICE PENWILL

Dinner parties in TV soaps usually result in food fights, juicy secrets being revealed or insults being thrown – and they nearly always end in disaster. No surprise then that an upcoming Emmerdale soiree is sticking to that tradition – but with a dark twist.

In a one-off special episode, the lives of two couples in the village will be explored. Belle Dingle and new husband Tom King’s relationship behind closed doors will be exposed to viewers. And Rhona Goskirk and Marlon Dingle’s marital problems will also be brought to the fore, resulting in a very tense gathering.

“It is essentially an episode of two halves,” says Zoë Henry, who plays Rhona.

“The first one is the surface stuff, what you can plainly see going on, particularly dominated by Marlon and Rhona’s now dysfunctional relationship and how real and ugly that currently is. The second half is a repeat of the same action, but this time it’s the under-the-surface stuff, the hidden agendas, the secrets, the unspoken.”

Rhona and Marlon are still at odds after the court case in which she landed Gus Malcolms in prison for stealing her embryos. While this means the couple have custody of Ivy, it hasn’t given them the happily ever after they thought it would.

“Marlon isn’t always reasonable in the story. He overreacts, but I get it up to a point,” reasons Mark Charnock, who plays the long-running character. “I feel sorry for Rhona because he does overreact, but at the same time I also see it from his point of view.