The following article contains spoilers from the episode of Emmerdale dated June 12. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX and YouTube.
Mackenzie Boyd (Lawrence Robb) is deeply worried about Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) in Emmerdale, completely unaware of what she’s going through.
Charity was sexually assaulted by Doctor Caitlin Todd (Caroline Harker) a few days ago. She went to the police not long after it happened, and had to undergo a physical examination, as well as questioning, to collect evidence.
Doctor Todd was interviewed by DS Reid (Anglea Lonsdale) the next day, but insisted that she and Charity had both consented to sex. She was let go, and DS Reid later arrived at Charity’s house to update her.
The detective explained that because Caitlin is claiming that everything was consensual, and because Charity’s physical examination came back inconclusive, they don’t have enough evidence to support her statement.
It was Moses’ birthday in today’s episode of the ITV soap, but feeling joyful and celebrating her son was something Charity found incredibly difficult.
While Mackenzie was out at the shops, Charity had time alone and felt the full weight of her trauma. When Mack returned, he realised that Charity had been crying.
She reassured her partner and said that he hadn’t done anything wrong, but also wasn’t particularly clear about what was bothering her.
Mackenzie tried to tell Ross Barton (Michael Parr) that he was worried about Charity, but all he could think about was his mate getting close to the truth about baby Leyla.
Mack eventually found support from Vanessa, and later suggested to Charity that she might be struggling with post-natal depression.
Charity was incredibly withdrawn in this moment. She didn’t confirm that Mack’s theory was correct, but also didn’t deny it.
That evening, Mack came downstairs and found Charity sat on the sofa by herself. She told her husband that she’d ring Manpreet and look at getting an appointment, and Mackenzie believed that this was a positive step forward.
In future episodes, Manpreet will prescribe Charity some medication for PND, but it leaves her feeling even more overwhelmed, as it’s just another lie on top of everything else.
Charity then discovers that Mackenzie has spoken to Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill) about her mental health. Unable to deal with the reality, Charity grabs some wine and sleeping pills.
The unexpected and pretty heartbreaking twist is that Sarah will take full responsibility for how her Gran is feeling and begins drowning in guilt. She believes Charity is battling PND all because she was Sarah’s surrogate – making it all her fault.
