Money’s always pretty tight for Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) and her husband Sam (James Hooton) in Emmerdale and they’re not a couple who’d splash out on luxuries.
So when Lydia sets her heart on seeing one of her favourite performers in concert, she has to save up for the ticket the hard way – by saving up her spare change.
Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and Sam know how much the concert means to her, so they’re happy to secretly round up the amount in the tin so they can get Lydia her ticket. Unfortunately when they try to book the concert they can’t get tickets.
Knowing how disappointed Lydia is going to be, Belle comes up with a plan and enlists Mandy (Lisa Riley)’s help.
Lydia is blindfolded and led into the room where a makeshift ‘Jason Donovan VIP experience’ has been set up. Lydia is touched by her family’s thoughtfulness and the karaoke party gets off to a great start. Sadly Lydia’s just about to do her solo number when the power goes out.
Sam tries to get the power back on, but it’s a job for a professional and Noah (Jack Downham) is summoned. The problem turns out to be a big one, with the house needing major rewiring. Lydia has no choice but to give Noah her ticket money to pay for the essential repairs.
Meanwhile Belle has managed to get hold of some tickets for the concert after all, but with Lydia having spent her savings, there’s now no money to pay for them. Then Sam and Belle come up with a plan to raise the cash. Can they make Lydia’s dreams come true?
Lydia may be putting a brave face on not being able to see her idol at the moment, but she’s going to be all smiles soon as it was recently announced that Jason Donovan himself has filmed a cameo part in Emmerdale.
The former star of Neighbours recently told Metro what his role involves.
‘I played myself,’ he said. ‘The only reason I decided to do that was because there was a connection with one of the characters, Lydia in Emmerdale, she’s a big fan.’
Jason thoroughly enjoyed the experience of filming in the Dales.
‘The whole crew, cast, production, couldn’t have been warmer and more amazing, actually. What a great day I had filming that. I was very lucky.’
It’s not the first time that Emmerdale has featured high-profile special guests.