Lisa Dingle
| Lisa Dingle | |||||||||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Jane Cox | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1996– | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 13 August 1996 | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | Mervyn Watson | ||||||||||||||
| Spin-off appearances |
The Dingles Down Under (1997) Emmerdale: The Dingles For Richer for Poorer (2010) |
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| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Home Artist (1996–2010, 2014) Packer (2010, 2011–) |
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| Home | Wishing Well Cottage | ||||||||||||||
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Lisa May Dingle (previously Clegg) is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale played by Jane Cox. Lisa's storylines include being raped by her work colleague Derek Benrose (Stephen Bent), becoming a parent in later life, assaulting a police officer, suffering an angina attack and discovering that her husband Zak (Steve Halliwell) has been having an affair with their lodger Joanie Wright (Denise Black).
Creation
Casting
Lisa Clegg was first introduced by producer Mervyn Watson in 1996 who cast Jane Cox for the role. Lisa first appeared in August 1996, as a potential love interest for Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell) after his wife Nellie Dingle (Sandra Gough) left to care for her father in Ireland.
Jane Cox really loved the idea to play Lisa Clegg in Emmerdale. In an interview shortly after landing the role of Lisa, Jane stated [...] 'I was told that Lisa was a big lady and most comfortable in wellington boots [...] . Jane Cox had originally auditioned for the role of Nellie Dingle. However Mervyn Watson gave the role to Sandra Gough, Cox was pleased she got the part of Lisa Clegg instead because she really enjoyed the character. [...] She's very practical and down to earth. I like the fact that she spends most of the time in a boiler suit but can be sassy.[...] [1]
Storylines
1996–
When Lisa met Zak Dingle, she was instantly smitten. While other women may have been turned off by Zak's dodgy dealing and oddball family, Lisa didn’t care about any of it. However, the path of true love didn't run smoothly for the couple - especially when Lisa’s ex-husband, Barry, turned up and tried to blow up the Dingle homestead.
Despite their problems, Zak and Lisa married on 28 January 1998. Various family troubles kept them busy during that year, but Zak and Lisa were surprised when Lisa went out to the barn and went in labour when Lisa didn't know she was pregnant.
The arrival of baby Belle served to deepen Zak and Lisa’s marriage, even surviving the nightmare that was Zak's ex-wife Nellie’s stay in the village.
Lisa was deeply saddened when Zak’s son Butch was killed in a bus crash in the village. She even moved out when it was clear Zak blamed her as she’d fixed the brakes on the vehicle before it crashed. After a few months, Zak realised he couldn’t live without Lisa and begged her to move back in.
In 2001, tragedy hit again when Zak was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Zak overcame the illness with Lisa's support and repaid his wife by inviting his mother Peg to move in. With Peg around, tensions in the Dingle household reached fever pitch. When she went, everyone was relieved.
The family was split again when Zak went off to South America in 2002 in search of the Dingle treasure - without Lisa’s blessing. With her husband away, Lisa felt vulnerable - especially with Zak's sleazy brother, Shadrach, coming on to her all the time. In the end, Lisa resorted to violent tactics to make Shadrach back off and was relieved he got the message.
Although she enjoyed a few dates with Bob Hope's brother Eddie, it was clear that Zak was still the man for Lisa - a fact confirmed by his return and their subsequent reunion.
Lisa and Zak were shocked to discover that Zak's granddaughter Debbie was pregnant and no one was aware of her pregnancy. Lisa felt she’d let Debbie down and was determined to give her all the support she needed to bring up baby Sarah. Unfortunately, Debbie couldn’t cope with being a mum. She did everything she could to avoid looking after her daughter which infuriated Lisa, causing many rows and this left Lisa at the end of her tether. So when Debbie gave baby Sarah to Emily Kirk, who then disappeared, Lisa hit the roof. Unable to bear the sight of Debbie, Lisa was relieved when she departed the Dingle home.
More tragedy was to hit the family when Zak's son, Sam, announced his girlfriend Alice Wilson was pregnant – only for that news to be followed by the revelation that Alice had cancer. Lisa proved to be the backbone of the family as everyone tried to prepare Sam for Alice's death and looking after their baby son, Samson, alone.
The morning of the competition in Emmerdale's 5000th episode, Lisa accidentally knocked out Val Pollard by pushing her down some stairs while carrying a big bag of linens. Lisa and Val had been feuding and Lisa worried Val might have it out for her. Eli Dingle tied and gagged Val whilst Lisa was gone, intending to ransom her. Val was fuming at the Dingles until Lisa accidentally let it slip that Eric Pollard was planning the wedding for that day. Val and Eric did get married in front of friends and family.
Lisa was relieved when Belle's time at private school came to an end. She went there initially because Rosemary King realised how intelligent Belle was and offered to pay the fees. Anything else from the uniform to school trips were to be funded by the Dingles. But when Rosemary left the village, she stopped paying the fees and it was a struggle for Zak and Lisa to pay them. They borrowed a lot of money from Debbie, leading her to get into trouble with Carl King, who she borrowed the money from.
After Zak quit his job at Home Farm, following a row over breakages Matthew insisted Zak pay for, Belle's friends found out that Zak hadn't paid the fees and teased her about it. So, recognising the problem, Zak and Lisa removed her from the private school and re-enrolled her into state school.
In April 2009, Lisa's blind cousin, Lizzie Lakely arrived, and Lisa got her a job working at Sharma and Sharma alongside her.
Lisa also managed to create a bond between Debbie and her daughter, Sarah. Andy agreed to let the Dingles see Sarah regularly and by getting Debbie to visit at the same time as Sarah and play with her, a mother-daughter bond developed.
Towards Christmas 2009, Lisa started nude modelling as the Dingles needed the extra cash for Christmas in order to buy Belle a laptop and other presents for family. When Lisa told Zak how tight fisted she thought Nikhil Sharma was, Zak grew suspicious as Lisa had said the money for Belle's laptop came from a works bonus. Lisa was forced to tell Zak the truth. He initially wasn't happy she kept it from him, but he came round. When Eli and Shadrach found out, they kept making wisecracks so Lisa decided to stop due to the lack of support from people round her, after admitting to Zak that she felt good about herself. Also towards Christmas, Lizzie was knocked down in the dark by Zak's great-nephew, Aaron Livesy, as he was angry over his discovery that he was gay. She dropped her purse and Lisa was horrified, determined to know who it was. Soon after, Aaron returned Lizzie's purse to her, but refused a reward, as she didn't know who he really was. Later, Lisa accidentally punched a police officer, was arrested, and was sentenced to three months in imprisonment.
Upon her release in late 2010, Derek Benrose began working at the Sharma Sweet Factory alongside Lisa. They formed a close friendship, and Zak got on well with Derek too, but in January 2011, after agreeing to work overtime with Lisa, Derek took advantage of the fact they were alone and raped Lisa, Lisa faced further heartache in March when she eventually told the police about her rape, they didn't have enough evidence to pursue a case against Derek.
Lisa is furious because of this, but resigns herself to get over it. By the end of 2011, Cain had turned the whole village against himself as his conniving ways had gotten everyone fed up with him. In December 2011, Cain got justice when he was found badly beaten and on the verge of death. The main suspects in the attack were John Barton and Jai Sharma, who both had reasons for Cain's commeupance; John's wife Moira had an affair with Cain, while Jai and Cain were sworn enemies due to his history with Charity. Lisa herself believed it may had been Jai, but it all came to ahead when in January 2012, after Aaron broke Jai's window, Zak confessed to all that he was Cain's attacker.
Lisa was utterly shocked, but stood by her husband while Cain decided not to press charges, but his relationship with the rest of the Dingle clan became strained. In April 2012 Lisa began to notice some changes in Zak; he had been consumed in paranoia over his chickens, and while a vet confirmed they were fine, Zak had them all killed. Alarmed, the family put it down to Zak's cancer returning, but doctors later confirmed Zak was suffering a mental breakdown, and he was sectioned. While Zak was eventually reunited with his family, he still felt guilty over his acts.
In October 2013, Chas' boyfriend Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) was sent to prison for the murders of Carl, Alex Moss, and Gennie Walker, but he escaped and took the entire Woolpack hostage, including Zak, who was nearly shot by Cameron when he engaged in a struggle with Cameron. Zak, along with most of the Woolpack, excluding Debbie and Chas Dingle, was freed by Cameron, to a relieved but still worried Lisa's joy, that her husband had escaped.
In January 2014, a feud between the Dingles and the Andrews family ignited when Belle's boyfriend Sean Spencer (Luke Roskell) was found to have gotten Belle's friend Gemma Andrews (Tendai Rinomhota) pregnant. Lisa forbade Sean from seeing Belle again and forced him out when he visited to try and make amends. In April 2014, tragedy struck as Belle pushed Gemma over during an argument, and the latter banged her head on a stone, causing a brain hemorrhage which proved fatal. The two warring families then made peace after this event, but Belle was consumed by guilt and in July 2014, plead guilty to manslaughter after initially planning to confess to murder, but changed her mind at the insistence of Cain. Belle was sentenced to three months in a young offender's unit and Lisa was distraught.
Stress continued to pile on to Lisa throughout the months as Charity's life span out of control when her crazy husband Declan (Jason Merrells) attempted to kill her, and Sam's girlfriend Rachel (Gemma Oaten) was forced to go into hiding to cover for her, and it all came crashing down in October 2014 when Lisa, after welcoming Belle home against her boss Jai's wishes, was sacked from Sharma and Sharma, and suffered what she believed to be a heart attack as she cried herself home. Lisa's health scare lead to her being diagnosed with angina, and what she suffered was an angina attack. She would have to rest a lot more now, so Zak took up most of the household chores for Lisa's sake.
In January 2015, after months of Belle's increasingly wavey and disturbing behaviour, Zak and Lisa discovered she had been hearing Gemma's voice in her head after she almost ran over Zak. This was found to be fueled by a drug addiction introduced to Belle by local teen creepo Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson). They pleged to help her when Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward) told the Dingles she knew of Belle's condition, but things went from bad to worse when Katie was found dead and Belle assumed bad events, such as Gemma and Katie's deaths, happened when she was around, and deciding the world would be better without her, almost jumped from the top of a barn roof, but was talked out of it by Harriet Finch (Katherine Dow Blyton), and caught by Cain when she lost her balance. Following this emotional rollercoaster, Belle was sent to an institute to help her problem, though she could not attend Katie's funeral, which upset her greatly. When Belle was released, Lisa was relieved to have all her family reunited.
Throughout the Summer of 2015 Lisa had vacated Emmerdale to dote on Granny Clegg, who had suffered a fall and needed care. She returned in September to find out that a helicopter had crashed into the village hall during Debbie's failed wedding to Pete Barton (Anthony Quinlan). Lisa also introduced Granny Clegg's secret cordial wine recipe to Belle and her new business partner Kirin Kotecha (Adam Fielding). They showcased their opportunistic proposal to Lisa's former boss Jai and went into business, attempting to sell "Granny Clegg's Cordial" to big-buck supermarkets. However, concern was inevitable to Lisa as she began to suspect Belle and Kirin to be in a more "physical" relationship, so she had Debbie talk to her about intimate matters. Disgusted, Belle briefly began to drift away from Lisa, to her heartache, but they eventually sorted matters out. It was just Zak they had to watch out for. On Christmas Day 2015, Belle reveals to the family that she had seen Zak and the lodger Joanie Wright (Denise Black) together, making Lisa heartbroken. Zak is then exiled from the family.
Reception
Cox was nominated in the category of "Best Actress" at the 2011 British Soap Awards.[2]
