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Shadrach Dingle

Shadrach Dingle
ShadrachDIngle.jpg
Emmerdale character
Portrayed by Andy Devine
Duration 2000–2010
First appearance 30 March 2000
Last appearance 23 July 2010
Introduced by Kieran Roberts (2000)
Steve Frost (2002)
Classification Former; regular
Profile
Occupation Unemployed

Shadrach Meshach Dingle is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, Emmerdale. Played by Andy Devine, the character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 30 March 2000. Since early 2010 the character appeared from time to time on an episodic basis after Devine felt he could not keep up with the busy schedule. The character was killed-off on 23 July 2010 after collapsing, from liver disease, into a river, whilst attempting to retrieve some beer cans and drowning. He was written out of the show due to actor Andy Devine's retirement at age 68.

In 2010 it was announced that Andy Devine had reduced his number of appearances in the serial after he felt he could not keep up with the busy schedule at his age (67), but agreed to appear on an episodic basis returning for key storylines and episodes. On 20 June it was revealed that the character of Shadrach would be killed-off on his birthday, reportedly devastating Devine. A friend of the actor said "Andy thought he would be able to come back every now and then, so to find out that Shadrach will leave Emmerdale in a body bag was a big disappointment." This would bring an end to a 12-year run the character in Emmerdale and a spokesperson for the soap said "Shadrach will be leaving the village on his birthday but how he goes remains to be seen. However, it’s not one to be missed."

Shadrach's main character traits were uselessness, laziness, selfishness, hypocrisy and a dependency on alcohol, although he occasionally surprised his family with sensitivity or support. This was shown when he helped Donal escape from the grasp of the games.

Shadrach first appeared at his nephew Butch’s funeral and was so drunk that he fell asleep in church — infuriating his brother, Zak, who was grieving for his son. Zak did not lash out because he believed that he owed Shadrach. When they were younger, Zak had an affair with Shadrach’s wife, Faith. Unknown to them, this resulted in the birth of Cain Dingle. Cain had thought Shadrach was his father and after the truth was revealed, he was shocked to discover the man who’d brought him up was his uncle.


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Wikipedia

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