Emmerdale viewers will once again see Paddy Kirk leave the village next month following his struggles with depression. However, this time it will be to seek help.
Two months ago fans of the ITV soap were devastated to see the much-loved vet, played by Dominic Brunt, contemplating taking his own life. After being found by his estranged wife Chas and his best pal Marlon, Paddy returned to the village and is still on the slow steps of recovery.
As he continues to struggle with his mental health, soon Emmerdale viewers will see him seek help away from the village. In a bid to help his friend, Marlon, played by Mark Charnock, planned a lock-in in The Woolpack with some of their fellow male villagers where Liam Cavanagh opened up about his own suicide attempt as a doctor.
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The special all-male episode, aired last month, eventually saw Paddy start to open up and since then, Man Club has continued. And as much as Paddy is grateful for the support of his Man Club friends, his family and the wider village community who have all rallied round to help him, he has felt somewhat constrained about opening up and talking his problems through with his immediate friends.
It is for this reason that in the episode airing on ITV on Thursday May 11 that fans will see Paddy venture to a men’s help group away from his village.
Filming for the special scenes took place at Bradford City Football Club ground in the very room where regular Andy's Man Club meetings are held. The soap has worked closely with the men's suicide prevention scheme and emotional support charity Samaritans on the storyline since August last year.
And programme makers made the intentional decision to use an authentic meeting point for Paddy's visit to seek help. Producer Laura Shaw said of the latest part of Paddy's storyline: "We've already seen Paddy speaking to his GP, being prescribed medication, going for counselling and talking to his friends and family, to help him with his struggling mental health.
"Our research showed that in addition to these things, many people find it easier to talk to strangers about their problems and so we wanted to show Paddy doing just that - opening up in a different environment and talking to strangers.
"It was vitally important to us that we portrayed these scenes authentically, hence the scenes were shot on location at a real Andy's Man Club venue and AMC carefully and brilliantly guided us through scripting and filming the scenes so they were as true to life as possible.
"We hope if anyone watching is feeling like Paddy, like they can't talk to friends or family, they might be encouraged by these scenes to reach out to their own local club for help and support."
Nell Wain from Andy’s Man Club was also delighted to have Emmerdale on his home patch. "When Laura Shaw first asked me about doing this episode I jumped at the opportunity to let men see a bit of how AndysManClub runs and this will hopefully help us challenge the stigmas around men talking," he said.
"In reality, many men take the step to travel out of their area to attend clubs so they can really be themselves and talk freely with strangers and to see Paddy doing this is a real life snapshot of the thought process for many men. "
He added: "A huge Thank you to Emmerdale for their support in highlighting the struggles men go through but that, through talking, we all have hope of brighter days ahead."
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