EMMERDALE fans have been left furious with one Dingle family member after she refused to return to the village for the funeral of her grandfather.
There was heartbreak in the Dales after it was revealed that Zak had passed away following the off-screen death of his actor Steve Halliwell.
One Dingle member was notable absent from Zak’s funeral[/caption]
Debbie Dingle failed to turn up despite living with Zak at the time of his passing[/caption]
Debbie was too distraught to travel back to Emmerdale for Zak’s funeral[/caption]
On-screen, Zak had been residing in Scotland with his granddaughter Debbie after taking some time away from the chaos of the Dales.
Upon realising her granddad had died in her home, Debbie was thought to be left distraught after she rushed to phone back home to confirm his passing.
It caused Zak and Sam to race up to Scotland to retrive thier father’s body after he insisted on at-home burial within 48 hours of his passing.
However, Debbie, who was played by Charley Webb, chose not to return to Yorkshire after being unable to cope with the news that he had died.
Despite arguably being the closest member of the family to him in his final years, Debbie shunned the chance to say a final goodbye to the beloved Zak after she could not face it.
It has enraged fans who have aired their feelings on the matter and made it clear that they believe Debbie should have been made to return.
Writing online, one penned: “The idea that the Dingles would accept Debbie just not wanting to attend the funeral doesn’t seem very authentic to me.
“I know it seemingly cant be helped but the Dingles I know would look at something like that as showing disrespect.”
A second then said: “Debbie not returning is a joke and seems Emmerdale are short changing folks as usual.
“I know actors may not be available but makes me wonder who was even approached to come back for the funeral.”
Someone else then stated: “If Debbie isn’t returning for the funeral then that means Charley is never returning. I’ve said before I think the only reason Debbie hasn’t been killed off or recast is having Debbie in Scotland gives the writers easy exits for dingle characters when actors take breaks because without that it creates problems of how they leave.”
It comes after fans were left fuming at the soap’s decision to recast Tina Dingle for the episodes.
While Debbie did not make a comeback, Tina did but this time she was played by a brand new actress – Samantha Power.
The move left many fans raging and baffled as to why Emmerdale bosses had decided to revive an iconic character from the 90s but have a brand new face playing her.
Hitting out online, one viewer said: “Tina was a big character in the day. If you can’t bring back the original don’t bother.”
Another echoed: “With the greatest respect to the actress who has taken over the role, I do feel it was a huge mistake to reintroduce Tina in this episode.”
The Brassic and Ackerly Bridge actress crashed the funeral before clashing with her on-screen family.
And despite Tina being carted off by the police for breaching her probation – she will be back – and it may not be for just a short stint.
Asked if she wants to make a return following her stint, Samantha said: “Definitely!
”Emmerdale is an amazing place to work and Tina is just fantastic to play so I would love the opportunity to come back and cause more mischief.”
The Dingle clan gathered to say goodbye to Zak one final time[/caption]
