Episode 8255/8256 (11th September 2018)

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Plot
Charity is on edge ahead of court. Things are made worse when a barrel burst over her and Debbie informs her she can't come to court. In a hospital like room, Rebecca utters "Seb" as she wakes up. The nurse orders Rebecca to go back to sleep, telling her she'll see her son when she's better. Rebecca protests she's been doing well and tries to get the nurse to hear her out. The nurse agrees to listens as long as Rebecca takes some pills first. Hoping to speed things up, DI Cox and DS Sanders suggests Lachlan seeks legal advice. Things don't get any better for Charity when Chas also pulls out of attending court. Charity believes Bails is bound to have the judge in his pocket and concludes she doesn't stand a chance. Robert is frustrated but the lack of developments in finding Rebecca but promises Seb he's going to find his mum. Marlon isn't best pleased to find the state Ellis has left Tall Trees Cottage in but all is forgotten when Marlon spots Ellis' zombie video game. Vanessa bumps in Noah in the shop. She tries to persuade him to pop over to see Charity and tell his mum he's thinking about her although Noah believes Charity doesn't want him around. Robert takes his frustrations out on Belle which leads Lydia to suggest Robert faces the possibility that they might never know where Rebecca is. Meanwhile, the nurse brings Rebecca a bowl of soup. Rebecca tells the nurse how Lachlan killed her father and sister but the nurse insists it's her brain injury talking and Lachlan cares about her very much. After some of the soup is spilled, the nurse pulls back the bed covers and pills fall to the floor. As Rebecca tries to stop the nurse calling Lachlan, she notices she's tied to the bed and questions why. Charity and Vanessa arrive at court where they learn Zak won't be there to supporting Charity either and Sam is there in his place. Cain assures Charity it'll be alright. Ryan returns from his night in the cells to find Noah in the pub backroom. Noah explains he wanted to wish Charity luck but he missed her. Noah is impressed to learn how Ryan was arrested for assaulting Bails with a plank of wood. Ryan offers to give Noah a lift to court but Noah doesn't think he'll be let in on his own because he's a child. At the court, proceedings get underway. Doug offers to babysit Seb but Robert wants to keep his son close. Instead, Doug suggests he and Diane make Robert something to eat. Charity takes the stand and tells the court how she first met Bails whilst she was soliciting on the streets; he was nice to her and made her feel special. One night, Bails picked her up and they went for a drive. They talked for hours and Bails offered her a flat. At the police station, Lawrence's former friend and solicitor gives Lachlan legal advice. Charity tells the court how Bails raped her on her first night in the flat. She asked him to stop but he just laughed. As Lachlan's solicitor tries to come up with a defense argument for him, Lachlan wonders if Belle actually wants a future with him. The solicitor is horrified to learn Lawrence and Chrissie's deaths weren't a result of a car accident. Lachlan tells her that Belle is the reason he did everything but all Belle has been doing is using him. Bails barrister, Mr Hutchins, quizzes Charity about her time on the streets. Charity admits she went to the flat of her own accord and she had a key for a while so Mr Hutchins questions why she chose not to leave. Charity states she had nowhere else to go and didn't want to admit she was being used. She explains she thought she and Bails were in a relationship at first and didn't realise he was grooming her. Robert blames the way he treated the Whites for Lachlan turning out to be a psycho. Diane insists he can't blame himself. When Aaron and Liv arrive home, Robert hugs Aaron in a long embrace. In the courtroom, Mr Hutchins asks Charity about her pregnancy. Charity states she didn't tell Bails about the pregnancy as she knew he'd try to hurt the baby. After Charity blurts out she had a child taken away from her before, Mr Hutchins suggests that Charity is blaming Bails because of her failure to keep her second child. Charity protests she didn't think her baby had survived but states she's since repaired her relationship with Ryan. At that moment, Bails looks around to see if Ryan is in the gallery which infuriates Charity. She brings up Bails getting Ryan locked up yesterday then shouts at Bails, telling him they both know he's lying.

Mr Hutchins quizzes an emotional Charity about the men she alleges Bails brought to the flat. Charity explains they looked like coppers. Mr Hutchins moves on to Bails arresting Charity in late-2014 and how he sent her down for perverting the course of justice. He suggests Charity is manufacturing these allegations against Bails to get revenge. Doug tries to talk to Liv about college but Liv is more bothered that nobody believed her allegations about Lachlan. Diane informs Aaron how Robert believes Rebecca is still alive. Mr Hutchins questions if Charity confided in anyone that her relationship with Bails wasn't consensual. Charity states she told the police but didn't tell anyone else as she wanted to forget being used as a whore. Charity's testimony is clearly uncomfortable for everyone in the courtroom, especially Vanessa and Cain. Charity explains how she used to lie with her eyes shut and dreaming of the sky and fields and when she was being abused. Mr Hutchins suggests Charity is describing the life she chose which leads Charity to questions if he's suggesting that she can't be raped because she sold her body. At that moment, Ryan and Noah appears in the gallery. Mr Hutchins proposes Charity is looking to re-imagine her past. Charity questions if that's more likely than a bent copper exploiting a vulnerable girl. She declares she's not that girl anymore - it's taken her twenty-eight years to stand here and say this so if they can't see Bails for who he is, then they can stuff their justice. Rebecca begs the nurse not to bring Lachlan here. The nurse agrees so long as they have no repeats of today. The nurse hands Rebecca more pills which she willingly takes then she lies down to sleep. Following her testimony, Charity heads the gallery and sits between Noah and Ryan. She cuddles her eldest two sons for support as Bails takes the stand. Aaron is worried about Robert. Bails tells the court how rented Charity a flat although he denies having intercourse with her on her first night in the flat. Instead, he claims they developed feeling for each other although admits he knew Charity was under sixteen and what he was doing was wrong. Jessie isn't impressed to find Marlon and Ellis have been playing video games all day. She warns Marlon that Ellis is playing him and advises him to be smart. The prosecution questions why Bails lied in his initial statement about having sex with Charity and renting her a flat and asks how they can believe he's not lying now. Bails claims he cared for Charity and would never have done what's been alleged. The prosecution questions why a married twenty-five-year-old police officer would have a relationship with a fourteen-year-old girl. Bails states Charity might have been fourteen, but she had a baby and was soliciting on the streets. Bails' wife Chloe is called to give evidence next which leaves Charity wondering what she's is going to say as this all took place twenty years before she even knew Bails. A heavily pregnant Chloe takes the stand and tells the court about her and Mark's run in with Charity at the hospital where Charity revealed she and Bails had a baby. Chloe then tells the court how Charity sat in her car outside her house watched them. She claims she was scared of what Charity might do to her and Mark's children so she called Mark home and he ordered Charity to leave. Chloe goes on to claim that Charity said she was going to destroy Mark and there was nothing he could do about it so she and Mark discussed things and decided to pay Charity off. At the police station, Lachlan tells DI Cox and DS Sanders he's not going to tell them what they want. DI Cox concludes they're wasting their time and orders DS Sanders to tell the search teams they're now looking for a body. Belle believes Lachlan hasn't called her because what he's done to Rebecca is so bad. As the nurse calls Lachlan again, a mobile rings in the Dingles barn. Charity returns from court. Marlon is disappointed to learn Jessie wants to take things slowly now that Ellis has moved into Tall Trees Cottage. Chas feels terrible that she wasn't in court to support Charity. She also worries about Belle whilst Aaron is concerned about Robert. Debbie calls by the farm to find out how it went in court. Cain explains Bails got his wife to lie on the stand and the defence made a big deal of Bails sending Charity down when she was protecting Pete. Debbie already feels bad enough for not being in court. Debbie reminds Cain of all the times he's thrown Charity's past in her face and used it as a stick to beat her with. Cain states he's not proud of that, and if he'd known what Charity had been through, he would've helped her. Cain fears it'll break Charity if the case doesn't go her way. Meanwhile in the backroom, Charity sits crying with a bottle of vodka as things said in court play in her mind. Charity can't take it any longer and smashes her glass.

Regular cast

 * Vanessa Woodfield - Michelle Hardwick
 * Marlon Dingle - Mark Charnock
 * Charity Dingle - Emma Atkins
 * Debbie Dingle - Charley Webb
 * Rebecca White - Emily Head
 * Lachlan White - Thomas Atkinson
 * Paddy Kirk - Dominic Brunt
 * Robert Sugden - Ryan Hawley
 * Sebastian White - Lily Westmoreland (uncredited)


 * Matty Barton - Ash Palmisciano
 * Noah Dingle - Jack Downham
 * Zak Dingle - Steve Halliwell
 * Belle Dingle - Eden Taylor-Draper
 * Lydia Hart - Karen Blick
 * Cain Dingle - Jeff Hordley
 * Sam Dingle - James Hooton


 * Tracy Metcalfe - Amy Walsh
 * Harriet Finch - Katherine Dow Blyton
 * Doug Potts - Duncan Preston
 * Diane Sugden - Elizabeth Estensen
 * Aaron Dingle - Danny Miller
 * Liv Flaherty - Isabel Hodgins
 * Jessie Grant - Sandra Marvin
 * Chas Dingle - Lucy Pargeter

Guest cast

 * Nurse - Cathy Sara
 * DI Cox - Nia Gwynne
 * DS Sanders - Clare Yuille
 * Ellis Chapman - Asan N'Jie
 * DI Bails - Rocky Marshall
 * Ryan Stocks - James Moore
 * Chloe - Joanna Miller
 * Court Clerk - Helen MacFarlane
 * Defence Barrister - Gilly Gilchrist
 * Prosecution Barrister - Emma Bowe
 * Judge - Christopher Ravenscroft
 * Jury Foreman - Lizzie Davies
 * Solicitor - Sarah Groarke

Locations

 * The Woolpack - Corridor, bar and backroom
 * Unknown room
 * Hotten Police Station - Cell, corridor and interview room
 * Flat 1, Mill Cottage - Downstairs rooms
 * Tall Trees Cottage - Living room and kitchen
 * David's Shop - Shop floor
 * Café Main Street - Outdoor seating area and interior
 * Main Street
 * Hotten Crown Court - Lobby and court room
 * Wishing Well Cottage - Downstairs rooms and yard
 * Butlers Farm - Kitchen