Dingles family values strike chord with soap fans

Dingles family values strike chord with soap fans
Dingles family values strike chord with soap fans

Emmerdale's Steve Halliwell believes the Dingles are well loved by soap viewers because of their old-fashioned values of family loyalty. Steve, who plays Zak, stars in a new spin-off DVD called Dingles For Richer For Poorer, which sees life change for the comedy characters when they win the lottery. But Steve insists when push comes to shove, the Dingles put each other before money. He said: "They have the old fashioned family values. Despite them being petty thieves and a bit part of the under-class of life, they still hold those old values that people are more important than money. "I think people that are watching that don't have much money think 'Yeah, they're right the Dingles, that's how it should be'. "We do strike a chord with a lot of people. Most of us will never be rich, so they can identify with the Dingles much easier than rich characters." But when the Dingles hit the jackpot in the comedy DVD, Zak and Lisa go wild, spending the money on makeovers and fast cars. Steve and Jane Cox who plays Lisa, weren't that keen on their new image. Steve admitted: "I think some of the vehicles were naff. I think Zak would have liked that car, but I just think if you had enough money to buy it you wouldn't buy that - you'd buy something else." Jane revealed: "I had a rather extravagant hairdo and some rather tight underwear - because I thought that posh Lisa would be quite constricted by her nether garments. "So I had a push-up brassiere and pull-in type under-things, and I was glad to get them off at the end of the day, I can tell you!"

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.