Recently Emmerdale viewers saw Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins), whose mental health has been in a spiral recently, lashing out in a panic at Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb), stabbing him.
This has all stemmed from the horrific incidents at Christmas, when Mackenzie was held captive in a disused warehouse by evil gangster Damon ‘Harry’ Harris (Robert Beck) – the father of Chloe (Jessie Elland).
When Charity tracked Mack down, she was horrified to see that he’d been brutally beaten up and Harry had a gun pointed at him.
In the scuffle that followed, Charity ended up shooting Harry and killing him – a moment that has tormented her ever since.
Mackenzie was stabbed and rushed to hospital
Lawrence Robb explained that when he heard about Charity stabbing Mackenzie, he thought it meant his time on the show was at an end and his character would die.
‘We were told about it in the producer’s office. So basically – they love to do this, producers – they pitch it as though you’re gonna leave the show. And they were like, “So basically Charity stabs McKenzie” and I was like, “Oh, I need to start looking for another job then!” But I think my exact reaction was “What?! After everything, she stabs me?”’
Luckily it didn’t mean an exit for Lawrence, so after his initial shock he was excited by the storyline – and particularly the medical aspects.
‘I was excited about having that because whilst I’ve been in the show for a little while now, I’ve not actually got the chance to do that. Needless to say the novelty of laying in a hospital bed wore off pretty quickly!
‘They pitched it as I was gonna flatline at the end of one ep. And you know, everyone was going to be left with, “Oh my God! Is Mackenzie gonna die?” Which I thought was quite exciting.’
All of this comes at the end of a traumatic period for Charity and Mackenzie as a couple, but Lawrence believes that despite everything it’s a partnership that can last.
‘They’ve had the worst luck, I don’t know how they’re still standing!’ he said. ‘Car crashes, kidnappings, a stabbing. That’s only the last six months!
‘The last year for Charity and Mackenzie has been relentless. I think it’s the toughest in terms of it’s nearly broken them up but I think all the challenges coming to this point have helped them come to this epiphany, that we love each other too much to allow life to get in the way – and life in Emmerdale is hard.’
While their characters have been going through some gruelling times, the actors who play them do manage to have fun, as Lawrence pointed out.
‘I hope we stay together, we have such a laugh working together and getting to take part in these ridiculous stories, it’s been great fun. I think Emma and I have had a great couple of years doing all this and maybe a little re-set and getting back to what Charity and Mackenzie do best would be a bit of fun.’
