Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw reveals what Lydia’s future will look like (Picture: ITV)

Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw has been talking to us about the upcoming storyline in which Lydia Dingle (Karen Blick) is raped by her boss and former childhood friend Craig Reed (Ben Addis) – and why it was decided that Lydia was the one this should happen to.

‘It came from Lydia being such an anchor in the Dingle family. She’s solid, she works hard, she’s moral, she looks after everyone,’ Laura told us. ‘Lydia is the glue that holds that family together.’

With Rape Crisis UK, who worked closely with the show on this storyline, revealing the horrific statistic that one in four women will experience rape or sexual assault, the Emmerdale team wanted to show that, ‘Rape isn’t something that happens to bad people. We wanted to show the reality that someone like Lydia could sadly be that one in four person,’ Laura explained.

‘When it was first pitched and people around the building heard about it, the reaction’s been the same – a lot of people going “No, not Lydia. You can’t do that to lovely Lydia.” So many people have said that to me. I think that made me realise why it’s so important to play it with somebody like Lydia.’

Laura described how Lydia copes in the immediate aftermath of the attack, which takes place in Craig’s office where she’s recently started work as a cleaner.

‘It’s shock, initially,’ she told us. ‘Craig’s someone that Lydia absolutely trusted, someone she once loved and relied on. He was the shining light in the darkness when they were younger and lived at the home together. Then he’s done this most unimaginable and heinous thing.’

As Lydia begins to try to process what’s happened, her immediate impulse is to protect her family from the pain that she’s going through by keeping the horrific incident a secret.

‘Lydia at her core is a protector and that’s what she wants to do, she wants to protect her family from it,’ Laura explained. ‘That’s what’s running through the initial aftermath is she just wants her family to be ok. She’ll push her own feelings aside to make sure that Sam (James Hooton) and Samson (Sam Hall), those around her are protected from it.’

This, of course, isn’t a long term solution and eventually Lydia will reach out to others to help her. ‘She’s got to confront what’s happened to her and find a way to live with it,’ according to Laura.

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The producer was also keen to stress that while this storyline will shake Lydia’s foundations, what it won’t do is change her personality.

‘Particularly with a character like Lydia, who we know so well and love – that moral, kind, hard-working, down to earth matriarchal character. While a story like this can rock those foundations a lot, Lydia’s always going to be Lydia and the way she reacts and everything that happens going forward are always going to be within the confines of what makes her Lydia.

‘I feel like big stories like this can only help to cement those qualities further, really, and cement in the audience’s head that that’s who Lydia is.’

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‘Lydia is the glue that holds that family together.’