Emmerdale‘s Charity Dingle finds the strength to return to her support group next week, and this time she speaks honestly about the impact of her horrific sexual assault at the hands of Dr Todd.

Having previously felt isolated from the other group members as her perpetrator is female, Charity is in more turmoil than ever. But will some powerful advice change everything?

“In the first meeting, Charity really struggled to know what to say because her situation felt so different to a male-female rape situation,” begins Emma Atkins, who plays the Dales icon.

“She didn’t know what to call it. I think she just felt so lost and lonely and has kept so much to herself. But in this second meeting, she feels braver.

At the start of the week, there’s a big shock for Charity, when her son Noah breaks the news that he’s moving to Dusseldorf. Charity is blindsided by this announcement and can’t hide her total heartbreak.

Noah is saddened by Charity’s reaction, so later makes the big decision to put his new life in Germany on hold to stick around in the village for his mum’s sake.

Later, Charity plucks up the courage to return to the support group, despite her tough experience at the last meeting – but thankfully, things are very different this time.

“The facilitator is so gentle in her approach, and she just asks Charity to try and speak,” explains Emma. “She finally explains that it was a woman who assaulted her, then once she starts, she can’t stop – it’s like taking the top off a bottle.”

In emotional scenes, Charity tells the other group members why she blames herself for Todd’s vile crime.

With the help of the kind facilitator, she begins to realise that the shame and guilt she is carrying should belong to her attacker instead. But will this breakthrough mark a turning point as Charity tries to move forward?

“It’s a lovely, natural progression for the character’s journey,” remarks Emma. “Charity’s confidence has begun to gently flourish again after it was wiped away.

“I think to connect to a group of strangers is quite bold, and it’s why these support groups are so incredibly important. She wants to get justice, whether that’s through the courts or not…”