Former Brookside star John McArdle has joined the cast of ITV's Emmerdale. The actor will play Ronnie Hale, a friendly plumber who could possibly be Chrissie White's (Louise Mawood) estranged biological father.
"I am really pleased to be joining the cast of Emmerdale," said John, who began filming this month. "The standard of the show is equal to anything I have worked on before and I am really happy to become a part of that."
John's character Ronnie will soon find himself at the centre of a family argument at Home Farm as Chrissie uses a water leak as an excuse to call him and find out if he really is her dad.
"I am really pleased to be joining the cast of Emmerdale," said John
Iain MacLeod, Emmerdale's series producer said: "I am thrilled to welcome an actor of John's pedigree to the show. And in Ronnie we have a character that will unearth every painful fragment of love and loss buried in the White's family past – with the odd unexploded bomb thrown in for good measure!"
The 66-year-old actor, who is best known for his roles as Billy Corkhill in Brookside and Oliver Mead in Waterloo Road, will be onscreen from mid April.
The news comes shortly after it was announced that Emma Atkins made a shock return to Emmerdale as Charity Burbage, who announces herself as the new joint owner of the Woolpack.
Emma said: "It is just brilliant to see her behind the bar. Something very different. She will be under the watchful eye of Chas (Lucy Pargeter), but both characters can give as good as they get so it will be a colourful dynamic.
"The bar is a bit like a stage for Charity where she can show off and deliver her explosive one liners to the locals. Her behaviour will no doubt fluctuate from good to bad to ugly, with a decent dose of naughtiness thrown in."