With all the drama going on in their family, Dawn and Billy Taylor should be accused of many things except “dull” – yet Emmerdale fans are not happy.
Over the last year, the couple have been left devastated after their baby boy, Evan, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.
Their heart-breaking scenes have featured the pair finding resilience in the face of the disease, which is diagnosed in 650 children and young adults in the UK every year.
Topping that, Dawn’s mother Rose has seemingly disappeared under suspicious circumstances – and Rose could potentially be a match for Evan if he needs a bone marrow transplant.
But fans are not buying the dramatic storylines, with many saying they would be glad to see the back of “self-righteous” Dawn and her “angst ridden” family, alongside their “panto nonsense”.
On a fan forum, one wrote: “God I can’t take another second of Dawn, Billy and their bubble.
“Dull as dishwater. Always angst ridden. Always moaning. Same scene played again and again and again.”
Another called the current storyline “a bit of a nail in the coffin for the characters” and said: “At this point I can’t imagine seeing Dawn in a positive light again.
“They have made her such an insufferable, self-righteous grasping cretin. The sick child storyline hasn’t helped, it has just magnified her negative qualities.”
A third accused Dawn of having “ruined Billy” while another said: “Only ITV could turn a story about baby leukaemia into a disappearance of an irrelevant character where you end up hating the mum and the sick baby.”
One Emmerdale fan, tired of the “naff” storyline, wrote: “Apparently baby leukaemia isn’t enough, so it has to be stuffed with a long lost mum…a ridiculous disappearance [and] some panto did-they-didn’t-they-kill-Rose subplot.”
The long-running ITV soap revealed in April that Billy and Dawn would face one of their biggest challenges yet.
Show producer Laura Shaw said: “ALL is one of the most common childhood leukaemias.
“I think there’s 650 children and young adults diagnosed with that every year in the UK.
“What we really wanted to show with this story is what a stress and strain a long-term illness like this can put on a family.”
Over the years the likes of EastEnders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street have all tried to try outdo each other with their outlandish plots in a bid to keep us tuning in each week. But here are some of the darkest that had fans in shock…
Everything you need to know about Emmerdale
Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and is available on ITV1X.
