Chas Dingle
| Chas Dingle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Emmerdale character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Lucy Pargeter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2002– | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 16 October 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Steve Frost (2002, 2003) Kathleen Beedles (2005) |
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| Spin-off appearances |
Emmerdale: The Dingles, For Richer For Poorer (2010) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Other names | Chas Livesy (first married name) Chas Spencer (second married name) |
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| Occupation | Stripper (2000–02) Café waitress (2003–05) Veterinary practice manager (2004–05) Taxi driver (2006–09) Barmaid (2003–05, 2006–) Factory supervisor (2010–11) Businesswoman (2011–) Pub landlady (2011–13, 2014–) |
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| Home | The Woolpack | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chastity "Chas" Dingle[1] (previously Livesy and Spencer) is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Lucy Pargeter. She made her first appearance during the episode broadcast on 16 October 2002. Chas returned on 21 September 2003. Chas was absent for six months in 2005, when Pargeter took maternity leave. She left temporarily in June 2005, and returned full-time from 13 December 2005. In 2013, Pargeter announced that she would be taking a short break from the show in order to appear in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. In December 2015 Chas was diagnosed with PTSD after years of built up stress, the disorder was triggered by Robert Sugden's shooting.
Contents
Development
Prison life and affair
Daniel Kilkelly of Digital Spy confirmed that Chas Dingle would begin a steamy affair with Cameron Murray (Dominic Power), the boyfriend of her niece Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb). The pair's attraction ignites after Cameron is employed at the Woolpack and later succumb as their love strengthens. However, back in the summer, Gennie Walker (Sian Reese-Williams) discovered that half-sister Chas was having an affair with Cameron, but she ultimately decided to conceal her discovery upon the illicit couple agreeing to end the fling. The latest twist begins as Chas plays with fire by suggesting that Cameron should meet her at Gennie's place as nobody will be in. However, as the pair passionately kiss in the house, the front door suddenly opens and Gennie catches them red-handed! Sian Reese-Williams hinted that Gennie may be later involved with protecting her secret, commenting: "Nothing ever goes unpunished in soapland, does it? I'm sure that this won't, either. Gennie's role in keeping the secret will be brought up again, I'm sure. It's lurking in the background!" As Emmerdale's 40th anniversary episodes aired, Debbie, along with parents Cain Dingle and Charity Sharma, finally uncovered Chas' affair with Cameron, marking the climax of one of the biggest stories in Emmerdale's history.
Storylines
Chas first appears when she arrives in Emmerdale dressed as a nun for her cousin Marlon's (Mark Charnock) stag night. She is hired by her father, Shadrach Dingle (Andy Devine), and ends the evening locked in the back of a van with Ashley Thomas (John Middleton). She moves in with the Dingles and gets a job as barmaid at The Woolpack. Chas has a son, Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller), with her ex-husband Gordon, whom she allowed custody. Aaron hated his mother, feeling that she had abandoned him. Aaron rejected Chas' attempts to make amends for this and after he deliberately told her about Carl and Delilah's fling, she ceased contact in order for Gordon, Aaron and his new wife, Sandra, to become a proper family.
Chas makes friends with Carl King (Tom Lister) shortly after he and his family move into Holdgate Farm. They share a bond due to the fact that they are both parental failures and begin dating. The attraction strengthens into love but Carl's family disapprove and send him away after Paul Marsden (Matthew Booth) dies but he later returns and they get together. Chas' relationship with Carl was never stable, and the couple go through numerous break-ups and reconciliations. Despite Chloe Atkinson's (Amy Nuttall) poison pen letter scheme, Tom and Rosemary's blackmail, Carl's guilt over murdering his father and marriage to Chas's former friend, Lexi Nicholls (Sally Oliver), the relationship survives but finally deteriorates upon Chas discovering Carl was sleeping with Eve Jenson (Suzanne Shaw). Heartbroken, she follows her second cousin Charity's (Emma Atkins) advice to persuade him to marry her and falsely claims to be pregnant. However, she steals the money meant for the wedding and jilts him at the altar, telling him that he should be grateful that she lied about expecting his child.
Chas also develops a relationship with her half-sister, Genesis "Gennie" Walker (Sian Reese-Williams). Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) tells her that Shadrach put Gennie up for adoption after her mother died in childbirth, believing he couldn't bring her home to his wife, Faith. After coming to terms with this, she helps her father write to Gennie and feels neglected when Shadrach seems obsessed with his new daughter. Chas and Gennie become friends and Chas advises Gennie on how to care for her mother. Chas also manages to rebuild her relationship with her son, Aaron. She discovers his whereabouts, with help from her cousin Marlon's wife, Donna (Verity Rushworth), who has arrested Aaron for drug offences. Initially he is not pleased to see her but after the Dingles rescue him from the McFarlanes, he moves in with them. Aaron is pleased when Chas stands up for him when Lisa (Jane Cox) throws him out for encouraging Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) to steal, so they move in with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). Initially, Chas enrolls him at the local school but he refuses to go and starts work at the garage with Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) and Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb).
Eventually, Chas' friendship with Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) develops into a serious relationship. Chas is unsure of the relationship's future but Katie Sugden (Sammy Winward) encourages her. Unfortunately Carl, newly separated from Lexi, decides he still loves Chas. Chas later succumbs to Carl's advances, but Chas decides that she wants to improve her relationship with Paddy and keeps her night with Carl a secret. Infuriated with this, Carl tells Paddy of their one-night stand, leading Paddy to kick her and Aaron out. No one is pleased with Chas but only Katie and Debbie support her. Aaron insists she choose between him or Carl. Chas chooses Carl, moves back in with the Dingles but then soon moves back in with Paddy. Angry with Carl, Aaron disconnects the brakes on Carl's car, nearly killing Jimmy (Nick Miles), Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) and their newborn daughter, Angelica King, when they borrow the car. Horrified, Aaron runs Jimmy off the road to warn him and Chas loses her temper with Aaron, telling him that she wants nothing more to do with him. This incident has more of an effect on Aaron than Chas realises and makes him seriously rethink his behaviour. He and Chas reconcile and Chas is devastated when Aaron almost commits suicide. Aaron finally tells his mother that he is homosexual and she supports him in his new lifestyle. She is thrilled for him when he meets Jackson Walsh (Marc Silcock) and they build a relationship, albeit a bit rocky.
Chas convinces Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen), landlady of The Woolpack, that they would benefit if Chas bought into The Woolpack. After weeks of pestering, which include Chas helping out behind bar for free, Diane relents and in desperate need of the money, sells half The Woolpack to Chas. Chas becomes colleagues with Debbie's boyfriend Cameron Murray (Dominic Power), needing the money, and an attraction grows. They finally give in to temptation and have a steamy sex session in the cellar. Chas tells Cameron that it was a mistake but they later begin an affair. After a fight between Cain and Cameron led to an impregnated Debbie being accidentally injured, endangering her and the baby she's expecting, they realise they cannot be together and part ways. Chas is told by Bob in the cafe that Dan Spencer (Liam Fox) fancies her. She invites him to dinner and they become a couple. Chas proposes to Dan after several dates, but he declines. However, he changes his mind and as he proposes to her, Chas accepts. Carl takes Chas' phone and finds photos of her with Cameron, discovering her relationship with Cameron. He threatens to tell Debbie about the affair, unless he is given his money back.
However, when Chas and Cameron refund the money, Carl reveals he still loves her and thinks she shouldn't marry Dan and Chas almost misses her hen night, arguing with him. Not long after marrying Dan, Chas tries to leave the village. Carl finds her and he tries to rape her but Chas picks up a brick and hits him over the head with it, before running back to the pub. Carl is later found dead and Chas believes she killed him. However, Cameron visited Carl soon after and as the pair had a heated confrontation, Cameron delivered the final attack, murdering him. Chas is then arrested for Carl's murder, facing trial. Debbie, wanting revenge for her affair with Cameron, takes to the stand against Chas, wanting her sent down in a bid to split up Chas and Cameron. Chas is found not guilty and returns to the village, much to the dislike of Debbie and Charity, with Debbie swearing to make Chas and Cameron's life a living hell.
While on her way to a party, Chas takes a lift from Debbie, but she takes Chas to an abandoned barn and pulls a gun on her. She ties Chas to a wooden pillar and blindfolds her, she intimidates her so she can understand how angry she is for what Chas has done with Cameron. Cain and Charity then arrive, at first, Cain is willing to let Debbie execute Chas but he and Charity eventually talk Debbie into letting Chas go. After this incident, Chas returns to running The Woolpack, however customers avoid the pub, due to the atmosphere. Chas tries her best to regain the regulars, but she is unsuccessful. She takes out a loan against the pub to try and keep the business afloat, stating she is very close to bankruptcy, with mounting legal fees to pay also. Chas and Cameron continue their relationship and remain in the village. In July, Gennie suspects that Cameron and Debbie are having an affair, and warns Chas about it. However, Chas thinks Gennie is trying to tear them apart and dismisses her claims. Soon, Gennie's suspicions are confirmed when she records a conversation in which Cameron confesses to killing Carl to Debbie, and the pair rekindling their romance. Gennie intends to tell Chas, but later dies after being suffocated by Cameron in order to keep his secret following a car chase between her, Cameron and Debbie. At Gennie's funeral, Chas learns that Cameron has been having an affair with Debbie. Chas delivers an emotional eulogy and then marches out of the church. Later, Chas packs Cameron's bags and brings them to Debbie's home, where she tells them they are selfish and deserve each other. Debbie and Charity both soften towards Chas and Charity apologises to her for treating her coldly for her affair with Cameron.
In September 2013, when Cameron's murderous crimes are exposed by Debbie and Chas, after gaining evidence from Gennie's phone, he is arrested and charged with the murders of Carl, Alex and Gennie. In October 2013, he manages to escape jail, gaining his passport and clothes. He then buys a ticket for a ferry, so people would assume he's left Yorkshire for good. However he doesn't attend the ferry. When Debbie, Chas and the other villagers are aware of his escape, they panic, with Debbie fearing the worst. Later on, Sarah is taken by Cameron, and is locked in a barn, assuring her that he will get Debbie and Jack, and go away as a family somewhere. She believes him, but when Zak and Moira are alerted of her disappearance, they look for her. Debbie and other villagers, including Chas, Diane and Zak, are in The Woolpack, panicking. They learn that Sarah has been found by Andy and Moira, but also know that Cameron is back and he breaks into The Woolpack, taking everyone hostage, knocking Marlon unconscious and leaving him in the cellar, where the flood water rises. Cameron accidentally shoots Alicia Harding (Natalie Anderson) in the stomach, and David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden) begs Cameron to let her out, in need of medical assistance, as she is dying. He lets David and Alicia out, along with the rest of the villagers, except for Debbie and Chas. After Marlon gains consciousness, Debbie and Chas rush to the cellar, as they are engulfed by the water rising to the top. Cameron manages to get to the cellar and insists on him and Debbie drowning together. They float to below the water. As Debbie struggles, she manages to get out of Cameron's reach with Chas intact. As Cameron gasps for breath, trying to pull Debbie back in, he fails, as she is outside, safe. He grabs a bulb and because of the encounter with the water, he is electrocuted, and is finally killed, ending his wrath and getting his comeuppance. Debbie rushes to Zak, soaking wet and crying as he reassures her Cameron is where he belongs - in hell, ending The Woolpack siege and Cameron's life. Chas then decides to go and stay in Southern France with Aaron for a few months.
In February 2014, Chas returns and quickly becomes romantically involved with James Barton (Bill Ward), who turns out to be Adam Barton's (Adam Thomas) biological father. When Chas discovers this, Adam's mother Moira Barton (Natalie J. Robb) goes to great lengths to make sure Chas does not tell her brother, Cain, who is married to Moira. She even locks her in The Woolpack cellar to make sure she does not tell anyone. The truth is revealed in April, however, when at Finn Barton's (Joe Gill) birthday party, an old tape recorder of the younger Bartons is played. In August 2014, Aaron returns to help his best friend Adam, who is involved in illegal dealings with Ross Barton (Michael Parr). Chas realises she misses Aaron so decides to hand him and Adam into the police, but Aaron stops her. Instead, Adam and Aaron both hand themselves in. Adam is granted bail but Aaron is not because he has already missed his court case. Eventually, he gets a suspended sentence and Aaron moves in with Chas in The Woolpack.
In February 2015, Chas loses her best friend, Katie, in an accident at Wylie's Farm when Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) pushed her during an argument and she fell through rotting floor. In his grief, Aaron bursts into tears and Chas comforts him and tells him that she needs him strong for her. The next day, she finds out that Robert and Aaron are having an affair so she slaps Aaron, which leads to Aaron ending the affair. She is furious when Tracy Shankley (Amy Walsh) disrespects Katie's memory, so she throws a drink over her and orders her to leave. Chas is livid when she discovers that James has slept with his scheming ex-wife, Emma (Gillian Kearney), leading to Chas throwing a drink over Emma and Aaron hitting James over the head with a glass bottle. Chas later accompanies Aaron on his running sessions, unaware that he is actually self-harming. When he goes missing after suffering a fall, Robert helps Chas find him, however, she threatens to tell his wife Chrissie White (Louise Marwood) about his affair with Aaron. In order to keep her silence, Robert contemplates killing Chas with a rock, but when they find Aaron, he throws the rock away. When they return to the village, Robert hires a hitman to make Chas disappear once and for all, but when she later tells Robert that she is not going to tell Chrissie, he realises that he has made a big mistake. When he spots the hitman about to abduct Chas outside The Woolpack, Robert quickly stops him and pays him a large amount of money not to hurt Chas.
In August 2015, while attending Debbie's wedding to Pete Barton (Anthony Quinlan), Chas and the rest of her family are involved in a helicopter crash when a helicopter which Pete had hired as a surprise for Debbie is hit by a gas canister from an explosion caused by Chrissie, and the helicopter careers into the village hall. Chas is not seriously injured, and helps other villagers out of the rubble. Chas later confronts Chrissie when she sees her with a gun, vowing to kill Robert after the truth about Katie's death is revealed. After Robert is shot while arguing with Chas, she immediately accuses Chrissie, however Aaron is later arrested for the shooting but Diane begins to believe Aaron is covering for Chas. After a break in at the pub, Diane believes Chas has smashed glasses on the floor, which she did not, leading to them falling out. In a flashback episode, the real culprit behind Robert's shooting is revealed to be Ross Barton (Michael Parr). Chas is later spooked when strange things begin to occur around the pub; her clothes thrown around her bedroom, the taps being turned on in the night and somebody messing around in the pub cellar. Emma locks Chas in the pub cellar whilst one of the beer pumps is releasing poisonous gas, causing Chas to fall and hit her head, knocking her unconscious. It is later revealed that Chas is the real culprit as she has been sleepwalking. Later, Chas believes the "intruder" has returned to the pub and picks up a knife for defence. Chas goes to the bar and unknowingly stabs Diane, who has returned from a night with her family. She is overwhelmed with guilt and after hearing Cameron's voice in her head, she hands herself into the police, but is released on bail. When staying over at Cain's house, Chas hallucinates Robert in the kitchen, however he is bleeding after the shooting. She flees and finds herself in the woods, where she hallucinates Diane after she stabbed her and sees Robert again, who repeatedly states what he said on the night he was shot. She also hears Cameron's voice, and imagines Robert pinning her down on the floor, reciting the same things that Carl said on the night he was murdered. Chas then attempts to flee but trips and hits her head on a rock, knocking her unconscious. She is found by Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler) and taken back to Aaron and Cain, where Emma diagnoses her with post traumatic stress disorder, after years of built up stress from Cameron's reign of terror and Carl's murder, however the illness was triggered after she witnessed Robert being shot.
Reception
On Digital Spy's 2012 end of year reader poll, Chas and Cameron's affair was voted fourth in the "Best Storyline" category, receiving 8.9% of the vote.[2] Pargeter was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at The British Soap Awards 2013, and was also nominated for the same award in 2014, although she did not win.
