Emmerdale bosses have revealed that they will have a special episode dedicated to Ashley Thomas which will show the world from his perspective.
Last year Ashley Thomas was diagnosed with Vascular dementia and viewers have watched him struggling over the past few months. On his wedding night he forgot he had married Laurel, has been struggling with his faith and decided to retire as a vicar and forgot who his daughter was at her christening.
And now bosses will use special filming techniques to allow viewers to understand how Ashley sees the world and to show viewers how disorientated and distressful dementia can be.
Emmerdale's Series Producer Iain MacLeod revealed why he decided to create a special episode: "People living with dementia faces challenges most of us can barely imagine.
"So, I took it as a challenge to help people picture this experience – to put them inside the mind of someone living with this condition."
In the episode due to air next month, Ashley leaves the hospital alone and viewers will watch his journey back home to the dales. They'll see him catching a bus, buying something in a shop and having a conversation - all things that dementia suffers have to face on a daily basis.
Although bosses have kept the storyline surrounding this episode top secret, Iain did drop some hints:
"At its core, though, this has always been a love story between Ashley and his wife Laurel, and this episode is a heart-breaking landmark in the evolution of their relationship."
We can't wait to see this episode - we know it'll be amazing!
Theresa Knight, Media Relationships Manager for MHA also said: "We have been closely involved with Emmerdale since the team contacted us wanting John to visit one of our care homes for people living with dementia.
"Since then we have been involved in feeding back on scripts and storylines involving Ashley as his condition deteriorates.
"We have been delighted as to how serious the whole team at Emmerdale is taking the storyline and the lengths they are going to in their research.
"We know from having had discussions about and given feedback on the episode from Ashley's viewpoint that it will be an exceptionally moving piece of drama."
Last year John Middleton, who plays Ashley Thomas, revealed he is leaving Emmerdale after being on the show for 20 years. We will definitely be sad to see Ashley leave the show but we love that Emmerdale bosses have chosen to tackle this storyline and bring awareness to dementia.
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