Mark Charnock took aim at TV critics as the Emmerdale star won one of the top accolades of the night at this year's British Soap Awards.
Much loved actor Mark has been playing Marlon Dingle in the ITV soap for 27 years now and has been involved in some huge storylines, including the tragic Christmas death of wife Tricia and, most recently, Marlon suffering a life threatening stroke, with those scenes proving to be an incredibly tough watch as Mark delivered a stand out performance last year.
Sheree Murphy, who played Tricia, joined two more of Marlon's romantic interests, Gemma Atkinson, who played Carly and Verity Rushworth, who played Donna, on stage at the Soap Awards, hosted by Jane McDonald, to hand the Outstanding Achievement award to Mark, as the announcement that he was the recepient received a huge reaction inside the theatre.
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After some of Mark's biggest Emmerdale moments to date played out on screen, Mark took to the stage and, addressing his peers in the audience, said: "Everybody in this room, we work in a genre where sometimes people are a bit, they can be a bit snooty sometimes. But you know what? They don't get it, because the work that goes into these shows, how much it means to all of us. The stories that we pump out every week, that mean so much to people; I don't think we should allow ourselves to be talked down."
He added: "I think the care and the passion and the art that goes into what we do. And do you know how I know it matters, is that, with all the choices the British public have now, they still stick with us. night after night, in their millions and so, thank you to everyone. What a job. I'm so proud to be part of this."
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