Yahoo News Emmerdale releases fresh details on 'never been done' dinner party episode with Tom, Belle, Rhona and Marlon
Emmerdale has released fresh details on the 'never been done' dinner party episode previously teased by the ITV soap involving two couples - Belle and Tom King and Rhona Goskirk and Marlon Dingle.
The special episode will showcase two different viewpoints of the same dinner party amid an ongoing storyline about domestic abuse between Tom and Belle while Rhona and Marlon's relationship has recently come under strain due to the arrival of baby Ivy.
Emmerdale's producer Laura Shaw previously revealed to the Manchester Evening News when discussing the coercive control storyline between Tom and Belle: "We’ve also been trying to find new and innovative ways to tell the story so we’ve got a bit of a special episode coming up and we do what everyone seems to like and step away from our usual Emmerdale format and do things a little differently.
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"So it’s a dinner party, mainly focused on Belle and Tom and Marlon and Rhona and we’ll see what is happening in their relationships but through the special way we’ve done it, we’ll be able to see that what you see in public is not necessarily what you’d see behind closed doors."
It's now been revealed that in the episode, airing on Tuesday, May 7, viewers will watch Tom (James Chase) and his wife Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) host a dramatic dinner party that ends with the guests leaving after married couple Rhona (Zoe Henry) and Marlon (Mark Charnock) come to blows.
The first half of the special will focus on the perspectives of Rhona and Marlon while the second part of the episode will rewind to the start of the dinner party to capture the events from Belle and Tom’s point of view, offering a glimpse into Tom’s controlling behaviour.
In the episode, Tom invites his colleagues to dinner after messing up at work. During the dinner party he becomes critical of Belle and asks her to change while Marlon and Rhona have a fight which leads to the guests making excuses to leave. After Belle fails in her attempts to get them to stay viewers see the reality of her life at home with Tom.
Speaking about public reaction to the Tom and Belle storyline, Eden, 26, said: “People have reached out which I think is a great sign that everything is resonating in some way. So many people go through this and I’m really grateful that I’ve been able to play out Belle’s story. We’ve worked with charities and people that have gone through this and it’s important that what we’re portraying is real."
Emmerdale legend Mark, 55, also said of the episode: "It’s a one-off in terms of structure and it’s a very different sort of episode where you kind of go back and forth in time during the dinner party. What it’s really cleverly done is it’s got what’s happening on stage, which is the dinner party, and what’s happening off stage, which is in the kitchen between Tom and Belle.
"So we see two charming hosts hosting these different couples and then when the hosts go back into the kitchen we see the darkness of what’s going on between them. Meanwhile, on stage you’ve got these happy couples – Mandy and Paddy and Vanessa and Suzy. And then there’s Rhona and Marlon who appear to be completely falling apart in front of everybody."
Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw added: "The dinner party episode puts a sharp lens on the relationships of the gathered people and gives the audience a unique view into their lives.
"Stepping away from the usual Emmerdale format, it offers our viewers the chance to see how some relationships like Rhona and Marlon’s can very publicly unravel and fall apart, whereas other relationships, like Tom and Belle’s, can present in public as perfect and behind closed doors tell a very different, much darker story."
Emmerdale has been working with Refuge for the Tom and Belle storyline. Refuge’s 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline is available on 0808 2000 247 and digital support via live chat Monday-Friday 3-10pm via www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk.
