EMMERDALE viewers got a dose of light relief tonight at Marlon Dingle’s useless attempts to deliver Chas’s baby in the pub toilets.
Her waters break while she’s arguing with the hapless chef in the Woolpack gents – with the pair locked behind a faulty door.
As her contractions begun, Marlon tried to soothe her with some calming words, saying: “Imagine that you are this beautiful flower slowly opening.
“This little boy has got a mind of his own and we are ready for anything. Your body is super-good at this. You’ll be all… loose.”
She snapped: “You were doing so well until then.”
With no means of escape, the pair tried to time her contractions based on the fact the song that was playing on the jukebox – Diana Ross hit I’m Coming Out – was three minutes long.
Fans seemed to enjoy the distraction from the intensity of Cain’s fishing trip, tweeting: “I’m really loving the Chas and Marlon scenes tonight, emotion and humour wonderfully entwined #Emmerdale”
Marlon even lay his white chef’s jacket on the floor in a nice spot near the urinals in preparation for the baby’s arrival.
In the end, Bob Hope managed to dial 999 and a crowbar was fetched to free the imprisoned pair from the gents.
And Paddy – himself suffering some problems from being locked in with Aaron and Liv – was alerted to what’s going on.
The birth is certain to be an emotional experience for Chas as it comes a year after she gave birth to her daughter, Grace, who died shortly after her birth.
The worried character told Marlon: “It can’t come yet, there are so many things that can go wrong. I need the sensor thing on my tummy.
“I’m scared of holding a little baby and watching the life slip away from him. I can’t lose another baby.”
