Emmerdale star reveals major prostate cancer storyline for Cain Dingle – and "artistic" special episode
The character will receive his diagnosis next week.
An emotional storyline is set to kick off in Emmerdale next week, as Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) faces a serious health battle with an aggressive, yet localised, form of prostate cancer.
Naturally, the soap favourite struggles with how to process the diagnosis and what side effects could follow with the treatment, and rushes out of his consultation.
The story will be explored in a special episode, where viewers will be able to hear Cain's internal dialogue - something which was recently explored with David and Shona Platt in sister serial drama Coronation Street.
"We see him through the journey of a day, including going to the hospital to get the news from the doctor about what the state of his cancer is, to leaving there and walking back to the village, to working at the garage," Hordley explained to RadioTimes.com and other outlets.
"It’s just a really lovely episode. You get to see somebody dealing with this, and wanting to work it all out and how they’re going to deal with it."
Reflecting on a number of somewhat 'experimental' episodes in recent years, he continued: "We’ve had these special standalone episodes - you think about John Middleton and the dementia storyline, Mark Charnock with [Marlon's] stroke.
"There’s been so many, but we now as a team, the writers and producers are thinking outside of the box and not necessarily telling the stories in the usual formats.
"They came up with this idea where it’s about the camera being focused on him. Everybody else is in soft focus. You occasionally hear the thoughts in his head. [Director] Paul Copeland, being a big lover of Eastern European film, has been given an opportunity to shoot this in a different way and create something a bit more artistic and outside of the Emmerdale box."
We'll also see Cain clash with those who cross his path, determined to face the disease alone. To make matters even worse, wife Moira (Natalie J Robb) has been mistakenly charged with the murders of Celia Daniels and Anya Berisha.
Emmerdale's scriptwriters, story, research and production teams are working with Prostate Cancer UK to ensure the plot is delivered sensitively and accurately.
Producer Laura Shaw added: “Cain instinctively felt like the right character to tell this story. He is a complex man that doesn’t normally talk about his feelings or channel them in a helpful way.
"It’s important men are encouraged to get checked, but we also want to sensitively explore the possible side effects patients may have, but don't necessarily talk about.
“It’s also a love story for Cain and Moira as they navigate the tough times ahead as a married couple.”
The long-running story will play out across the coming months, as Cain wonders how to navigate his future and the impact his diagnosis will have on his loved ones.
Hordley reflected: "I think he’s faced with his own mortality here and he knows this is something that could finish him off.
"He’s lost his mother to cancer so he’s all too aware of what can happen. With a wife in prison who might end up staying there and then him leaving, who takes the boys?
"I think it will change him. I think when something like this happens to you, your life suddenly has a different lens on it, a different filter on it. I think it will certainly take him into a different headspace.
"I don’t think we’re going to have a return to the Cain of old, that’s for sure."
Read more:
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- Emmerdale boss teases killer cover-up story for Robert and Victoria Sugden after John's brutal death
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.
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Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
