07 November 2023 , 09:31
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Emmerdale fans were left emotionally charged when Lydia Dingle made the decision to end her relationship with Sam following his part in the death of her rapist Craig Reed.
Despite Sam being released from police custody on suspicion of murder, after it was revealed Kim Tate's horse, Ice, issued the fatal blow, Lydia has been struggling to come to terms with the fact that she knew Sam had beaten up Craig. In one of the most emotional scenes in the ITV soap, Lydia is seen frantically packing her belongings while a heartbroken Sam has no option but to look on as he says "they let me go".
Emmerdale fans have gone from loving Lydia Dingle to disliking her following heartbreaking scenes in Monday's episode (ITV)Refusing to engage in conversation, Lydia responded by saying: "I can see that." As Sam tells her of how Craig really died he asked: "Are you not glad? Why does it feel like you don't want me back here." He added: "You're not happy, it wasn't my fault Craig dying, it is supposed to be a good thing the coppers letting me go."
But, unable to understand Sam's logic, she fumed: "He still died, you still did what you did and you can't just undo that. The barn though if you hadn't taken him there, he wouldn't have been around there, would he? The horse would have swerved him and I wouldn't have to go through all this. That's what you keep saying, sorry. I have been through one of the worst things a woman can go through."
Clearly unable to control her anger, she raged: "I didn't want any of this bravado, fighting, you just dragged me back there to what he did, Sam. How am I supposed to heal when you do that?" Pleading with her to stay, Sam added: "I love you so much, Lydia, how can I make this better?"
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She hit back: "You can't. I can't be with you, Sam not like this. I need to pack, I need to get away from all of this and I need some space. I'm sorry," announcing she needed a break from both her husband and the village.
But this was clearly too much for fans to digest as Sam has been a much-loved character in the soap since his arrival in 1995. So much so, viewers took to X, formerly known as Twitter to vent their anger at her decision. Following the heart-wrenching episode, one fan said: ""How have #emmerdale managed to make Lydia the most dislikeable person in her storyline???" [sic]
Another added: "I wish Lydia would just go away and never come back. She's so annoyingly dull." Meanwhile another simply wrote "good riddance" on the back of her shock exit. Played by actress Karen Blick, Lydia's harrowing storyline was apparently far more difficult to film after the attack rather than before and during, according to Karen.
Speaking to Metro online in September, she said: "The scenes after, when we see Lydia interacting with Craig, they were harder to film than the scenes previous and the attack, in many ways. You’ve got all these feelings and he’s not acknowledging it. She doubts herself and it’s an absolutely horrendous situation for Lydia."
And this explains why Lydia made the tough decision to keep her brutal attack a secret as she feared she wouldn't be believed due to Craig's manipulative tactics. Karen added: "As soon as I played the scenes I completely understood why she did not go to the police. I had a real empathy, sympathy, understanding for her behaviour. " Karen added that the Emmerdale team worked closely with Rape Crisis UK on this particular storyline and their involvement helped shaped Lydia’s story in a "realistic" way, including the decision not to tell anyone about the rape.
* If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999