Emmerdale's Paddy Kirk will consider taking his own life in heartbreaking scenes in the ITV soap after a build up of isolation, grief and confusion which was triggered by the sad breakdown of his marriage to Chas Dingle.
Viewers have seen the village vet ( Dominic Brunt ) has been struggling to cope ever since he discovered his wife Chas (Lucy Pargeter) had been cheating on him with Al Chapman ( Michael Wildman ).
Unbeknowst to his close friends and family, Paddy begins to say veiled goodbyes to his loved ones before leaving the village with the aim of ending his own life.
Emmerdale star Dominic has revealed how this heartbreaking storyline will affect Paddy going forward as he reaches out for help. He told The Mirror: "He's opened the door to it [suicide thoughts] now he's capable of having those thoughts, he’s capable of attempting to take his own life.
"He’s going to have to watch that now for the rest of his life and thankfully, the story isn't dropped like that, there'll be hints hopefully forever that he's capable of that," he continued.
"But there's also a lot of light as well. I think what Emmerdale do, brilliantly time and time again is, it's not a misery fest.
"It's not this dark storyline that's awful to watch. It's really well coloured in with the pace and even two blocks later, there's little pinches of light - he’s found his humour again but, at the same time, he has to watch himself."
"It normalises the talking so he has a little slump and he turns to someone and says, ‘Are we alright to grab a cup of tea? I just want to talk to you about something just something that's bothering me.'"
Emmerdale programme researchers and writers have taken advice and worked closely with both Samaritans and Andy’s Man Club.
Lorna Fraser, the Executive Lead for Samaritans’ Media Advisory Service commented: “Paddy’s story creates an opportunity to show others, particularly middle-aged men, however difficult times can become, it's always possible to get help and get through, and ultimately recover. Depression and suicide are extremely serious topics, so we’re pleased to have seen the producers work so hard to ensure they got this story right in its telling.
"We encourage anyone touched by this story to reach out to Samaritans, our amazing volunteers are always here to listen, day and night.”
If you are affected by this storyline, help can be found at andysmanclub.co.uk or www.samaritans.org
