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The Dingles are a long-running, ever-expanding family who have appeared in Emmerdale since 1994. They are currently Emmerdale's largest family with 11 generations of known family members.

Despite first appearing in 1994, 22 years into the soap's run, it was instantly stated that they had always lived in Emmerdale and were regulars at The Malt Shovel. By 1995, they were stated to had lived at Wishing Well Cottage for around thirty years.

Storylines[]

1990s[]

Ben Dingle arrives in August 1994 and is the first Dingle to arrive to the show. He nearly kills Dave Glover, who is saved by Joe Sugden, and then began to fight Luke McAllister and Biff Fowler. While fighting Luke, he suddenly collapsed and was then pronounced dead from heart defect. After this, Ben's father Zak Dingle appeared, challenging Ned Glover to a bare-knuckle fight. The family later become a permanent figure in the Beckindale village, and lived at Wishing Well Cottage. The family were an instant nuisance from the onset, and took the quiet residents of Beckindale a run for their money. Originally the family comprised of parents Zak and Nellie Dingle and their children Butch, Sam and Tina.

Emmie ep 1995

Tina watches on as the flames of Luke's car spark.

The next bulky storyline involving the Dingles came along when their daughter Tina got romantically involved with Luke McAllister, the boy the Dingles believed was responsible for killing Ben. From the beginning, Tina was seeking revenge but both the Dingles and Luke himself were oblivious to this and believed that Tina was really seeking refuge with him. The relationship gradually evolved, and Tina announced that she was expecting Luke's baby and because of this the pair decided to get married with the ceremony taking place in July 1995. Luke's happiest day of his life turned out to be the most misadventure when Tina jilted him at the altar and proclaimed she never loved him. However, Luke was strong-willed that Tina was very much in love with him and seized her into his car one day. That car ride turned out to be the last day of Luke's life when Tina jumped out of the car and Luke ended up crashing and the car exploded killing him in the process.

From then onwards the Dingles had very much set their status in the village and the family gradually grew with arrivals of Mandy and Marlon Dingle, arriving in March 1995 and October 1996 respectively, who also became permanent fixtures. However, with arrivals, came the departures. Nellie decided that her marriage with Zak had come to a halt and returned to Ireland in December 1995 and a year later Tina decided to leave Emmerdale as well. This decade also saw the marriage of Zak Dingle and Lisa Clegg as well as the birth of their daughter Belle on Christmas Day 1998.

2000s[]

Early 2000 saw the death of Butch who got injured in a bus crash and died in hospital after a bedside wedding to Emily Wylie. With Butch's death, came the arrival of Zak's brother Shadrach and his son Cain, as well as distant cousin Charity who arrived for his funeral and became permanent residents in the village. Butch's death also sparked a feud between the Dingles and the Tates whom they blamed for the accident as the lorry causing the crash belonged to Tate Haulage. In November 2000, Cain's mother Faith briefly visited the village, dropping the bombshell that Cain was actually Zak's son and not Shadrach's.

In 2002, Cain's sister Chastity arrived in the village, although she would only appear briefly until becoming a more permanent figure in 2003. Late 2002 also saw the arrival of 13-year-old Debbie Jones who was revealed to be Charity and Cain's daughter, resulting from a fling in their teens who was given up for adoption as a baby.

2010s[]

Episode 3695
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Family members[]

Dick Dingle, earliest mentioned member of the Dingle Family

Abraham Dingle, married an unknown woman.

Mick Dingle's branch[]

It is unknown where Tallulah Dingle, Dave Dingle, Tubby Dingle, Josiah Dingle, Uncle Heather Dingle, Hamish Dingle, Maud Dingle, Crocodile Dingle, Wendy Dingle, Jed Dingle, Donald Dingle, Cracco Dingle, Giuseppe Dingle, Charlene Dingle, Mantha Dingle, Lazarus Dingle, Eliakim Dingle, Goliath Dingle and Bob Dingle fit into the tree.

Gad Dingle (died 2023) also fits somewhere into the tree, being a great uncle of both Mandy and Sam Dingle. He was banished from the family in the 1990s for an unknown reason. The only person who spoke to him was Drusilla, whose position in the tree is also a mystery.

Key dates[]

Births[]

Marriages[]

Deaths[]

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