"It's obviously the hardest storyline I've had."

Charity Dingle's childhood abuse is set to be revisited in Emmerdale later this month. The long-time character was groomed and sexually and emotionally abused by police officer DI Bails from the age of fourteen, it was recently revealed. Viewers will now see Charity's traumatic teenage years for themselves in an hour-long special of the ITV soap to be shown on 29 May. Mica Proctor has been cast in the role of younger Charity.

"It's such a brilliant opportunity for me to explore Charity's past and a chance to discover why Charity behaves the way she does a lot of the time," said actress Emma Atkins, who plays Charity.

"It's stuff that's been locked away for years, very painful stuff, and she finally feels able to talk about it.

"The storyline is very serious in nature compared to the comedy I've done more recently, so it is a wonderful challenge. The relationship between Charity and Vanessa is showing a different dimension to the usual gold digging Charity. It's a love story and it's breathing new life into my character, especially seeing her finally face up to her secret, dark past.

"It's obviously the hardest storyline I've had due to the subject matter and I am duty bound to play it as truthfully as I can. If it in any way helps give anyone out there who's suffered any kind of abuse the strength to open up, even just to talk about it, then that can only be the start of a good thing."

The soap worked with North Yorkshire's Rape Unit to make sure it handled the storyline properly. Viewers are in for a surprise, producer Ian McLeod confirmed.

"Charity is a character with a complicated, fascinating and heartbreaking history – some of which has previously only been alluded to on screen.

"We wanted to do one of our signature, stylised episodes to fill in the blanks and explore the devastating, formative experiences she went through as a vulnerable teenager – adding in a massive surprise for viewers in the process."