Zak Dingle actor Steve Halliwell died, at the age of 77, last year

Jeff Hordley has told Emmerdale fans of the emotional goodbye the soap will pay to legendary character Zak Dingle following the death of actor Steve Halliwell.

Last year, Steve, who first started playing Zak in 1994, died at the age of 77. In upcoming scenes, the Dingle clan will mark the death of the iconic character.

Viewers know Zak has been up in Scotland staying with his granddaughter Debbie. Tragedy will strike after the character is taken ill in a farewell storyline honouring Zak and Steve.

Jeff Hordley, 54, who plays Cain Dingle, has spoken to the Metro about the scenes. He explained: “The way they’ve written it, there were little scenes where I had to go to various members of the Dingle family.”

He added: “It was good, you know? It was a nice little piece. They react in various degrees of reacting to sad news. Nobody was expecting it.”

Jeff said he and his colleagues had former co-star Steve in their heart while playing out the scenes.

“There’s really poignant moments in it,” Jeff said. “And whilst we were filming, we were all focused and giving the script everything it needed. But off camera as well – and Steve would have enjoyed this, because Steve always liked to have a giggle behind the camera – while we weren’t rolling, we made sure we had some laughs as well. Because when we do get together as a group, we do make sure that it’s fun to film.

“What I’m trying to say is that the mood wasn’t just downbeat, we were making sure that we were having a laugh, and Steve wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”