As loveable vet Paddy Dingle, Dominic Brunt is celebrating 25 years on the soap, but the actor reveals his role was nearly over as soon as it started.
And it was only down to a legendary co-star that he did not find himself back in the job queue.
Dominic says: “I came for eight episodes and on the last day Norman Bowler who used to play Frank Tate asked, ‘Have you enjoyed yourself?’
“I told him I’d loved it and wished I could stay a bit longer. So he told me to go upstairs, knock on the producer’s door and tell them exactly that.”
Dominic had been signed up to play a locum covering for resident vet Zoe Tate, played by the late Leah Bracknell.
He knew Paddy’s time at the practice could last only as long as Zoe’s holiday.
But Dominic took a leap and followed Norman’s advice – despite fearing his bold move could easily backfire with bosses.
The 51-year-old recalls: “I was really nervous, I didn’t think it was my place. But I did it. And four months later they’d written me back in.”
Since then Dominic’s character has certainly been busy… with the female of the species.
Paddy’s been married four times, to Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley), Emily Dingle (Kate McGregor), Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) and most recently Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), where the vet change his surname from Kirk.
Not to mention his flings, memorably with Emily’s boss Viv Hope (Deena Payne) and stepson Leo’s teaching assistant Tess Harris (Nicola Stephenson).
Dominic says: “I’m not sure if you’d call it lucky or unlucky in love.”
But Paddy’s longest lasting relationship has been his “bromance” with Chas’s cousin Marlon (Mark Charnock).
Their friendship will be put through the ringer after Marlon’s stroke, when Paddy struggles to cope with the change in his best pal.
Marlon’s life changes forever following a joyful moment. After he and Rhona propose to each other he collapses as he searches for the engagement ring.
Dominic adds: “The reality is some people just can’t cope when things like this happen. And although Paddy’s very good at fixing animals he can’t cope with the fact he doesn’t know his friend anymore.
“He’s suffering from shock and he fails miserably. Is he a coward or is he just way out of his emotional range, having to deal with something that’s come out of the blue?
“We were written as a comedy duo originally, Emmerdale was more of a sitcom. There were some outrageous storylines and we had a whale of a time.
"Then the soap became very drama orientated and we were trusted with that too. We’ve been so lucky to have been served both sides of the coin otherwise we’d have been out years ago.”
Off screen, the pair’s “bromance” is just as strong, with the horror movie fans running the Leeds Zombie Film Festival together.
Dominic says: “Mark researched his new storyline massively, it’s admirable watching him. We’ve a friendship where I support him and he supports me whatever happens.
“I’ve worked with Lucy, Lisa and Zoe for years too. I’ve been so lucky and Mark’s been the constant. He’s bounded up to me on the first day and said: ‘Hi, how you’re doing?’
“We’ve got similar senses of humour and we’re working class lads from similar backgrounds.
“We live about 40 miles apart which is probably good because we spend hours and hours and hours together every day which is more than we spend with our own families.”
Before Emmerdale, Dominic, from Accrington, Lancs, was a welder and sheet metal worker for six years, paying his way through drama school by fixing cars and working in factories.
He had roles in The Bill and Soldier Soldier before playing Paddy.
Dominic says: “I loved welding and I was happy to carry on doing a bit of both, I was going to go and work on the oil rigs but the acting took off.”
He hasn’t looked back since and now family life for Dominic is a rural one, with his wife Joanne Mitchell, a fellow actor, two children and pets including, rather fittingly for a country vet character, five sheep.
Dominic has been asked for advice about other people’s pets, admitting he hasn’t much of a clue despite refresher courses at a real life vet’s surgery.
He is typically low key when it comes to his impressive 25 years on Emmerdale, saying he might celebrate if he reaches the milestone of 30 years.
Dominic adds: “I just kept my head down. I don’t really like a fuss.”
But he does not rule out a forced exit from the soap. Murders have been rife in Emmerdale, with serial killer Meena Jutla (Paige Sandhu) finally behind bars after years on the run.
Dominic says: “I said I’d never met Paige recently and somebody said, ‘It’s probably for the best.’ One day it will happen though, the show will end or there’ll be a new producer. That’s typical for lots of soap actors.
“I’m still totally in love with my job, it’s one of the best jobs in the world.
“Would I stay for another 25 years? Of course. I’ve had enough bad jobs to know this is a good one.”
* Emmerdale is on ITV every weekday at 7.30pm.
