Emmerdale launches unexpected new spin-off series with first episode imminent

All rise! Court is in session! …Dingle Court, that is, as Emmerdale brings the iconic family’s age-old tradition to YouTube.

Yep, that’s right, the viewers are officially being welcomed into the hallowed rite of Dingle passage, as Emmerdale launches a brand new digital feature, which will show the ITV soap’s cast out of character.

Beginning this Sunday (July 19) and premiering on Emmerdale’s official YouTube channel, weekly instalments of Dingle Court will follow.

Viewers will be taken to the iconic Dingle dinner table, at which two cast members will sit down to engage in debate and discussion.

Topics will change every episode and will range from everyday happenings to the truly bizarre, with nothing off-limits and everything being left on the table.

Who’s first up, we hear you ask? Well, in true Dingle Court fashion, Eden Taylor-Draper and Jeff Hordley who play the heads of the Dingle clan, Belle and Cain Dingle, respectively, will be the inaugural pairing that viewers can look forward to seeing in deep discussion.

‘Somebody would normally get banished from the family in this situation,’ Jeff teases in the trailer short. ‘We’re going to introduce topics to one another and we’re going to agree or disagree.’

The rest of the trailer teases what’s to come, with frank discussions including going to the same place on holiday, satin pyjamas and toilet roll holders.

The rest of the pairings are yet to be revealed, though Emmerdale have promised that the new feature won’t be exclusively fronted by the – incredibly populated – Dingle family, any and all villagers could turn up to debate.

What is Dingle Court?

The new series takes its name from how the Dingle family deal with members that would break the Dingle code.

While no one source reveals the full code itself, it seems to comprise three iron-clad rules: Do not steal from or betray family members, Dingles stick together – no matter what the circumstance and police involvement is the biggest, fattest no-no: a Dingle never grasses.

Zak Dingle (Steve Halliwell), the late patriarch of the entire clan would usually preside as the judge over Dingle Court.

Since his passing, though, Cain has stepped into his shoes, despite finding himself at its mercy on a number of occasions, while the other members of the clan act as members of the jury.

At the beginning of proceedings, the accused is summoned to Wishing Well Cottage, the official Dingle Court house, though the barn and the garage have both been used as alternate locations.

From then, the other family members take it in turns to air their various grievances, leading to a family vote.

If found guilty, a Dingle can expect complete and total excommunication, the most severe of punishments, leading to them being officially disowned, cast out of the cottage, and treated as a ghost by the entire family.

Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) is perhaps the Dingle who’s faced the wrath of the court the most, with her long history of scheming, manipulation and dangerous power plays finding her on the receiving end of a nasty banishing more than once.

Fortunately for Charity, though, she’s incredibly adept at clawing her way back into the family, just as she is at clawing her way back into our hearts, no matter what an epic cow she’s been.