Zak Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Steve Halliwell. He first appeared on 20 October 1994. Halliwell initially joined the show as part of the Dingle family and was only initially supposed to appear for a few episodes, but has become a key part of the soap since his introduction. He has been nominated for several awards for his portrayal of Zak. Some of Zak's storylines have included his wife Nellie (Sandra Gough) divorcing him in 1997, marrying Lisa Clegg (Jane Cox) in 1998, having a daughter, Belle (Emily Mather; Eden Taylor-Draper) in 1998, the death of his son, Butch (Paul Loughran) in 2000, Lisa being raped in 2011, assaulting his son Cain (Jeff Hordley) and leaving him temporarily paralysed in 2011, suffering a mental breakdown in 2012, trying to control his rebellious daughter and dealing with the death of Lisa. Storylines Zak arrives in the village in October 1994 and immediately challenges old bare-knuckle boxing adversary Ned Glover (Johnny Leeze) to a bare-knuckle fight, which he goes on to lose. Zak's family start a feud with the McAllister family over the death of his son, Ben (Steve Fury), following a fight with Luke McAllister (Noah Huntley) two months earlier. Despite discovering that Ben had a heart defect, the Dingles still blame Luke and force the family, except Luke, to leave the village. He is enraged to discover his daughter, Tina (Jacqueline Pirie) is in a relationship with Luke and attacks him until Tina tells him she is expecting Luke's baby. The truth is revealed when Tina humiliates Luke at the altar and tells him that there is no baby, in revenge for Ben's death. After Luke is killed in a car crash in August 1995, the Dingles and McAllisters put the feud aside. Zak's wife, Nellie (Sandra Gough) attends to her sick father, Jimmy in Ireland but does not return. Lisa Clegg (Jane Cox) enters Zak's life and they begin a relationship, and despite a few hiccups, they eventually marry. Lisa gives birth to a daughter, Belle (Emily Mather) at Christmas 1998, which is a shock as she did not know she was pregnant. Zak's and Lisa's happiness is tested when Nellie (now Maggie Tagney) returns and tries to win Zak back but is unsuccessful. When a bus crashes in the village, Butch is injured and his condition rapidly deteriorates and he