Lisa Dingle (also Clegg) is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Jane Cox.

Lisa's storylines include being raped by her colleague Derek Benrose (Stephen Bent), becoming a parent in later life, assaulting a police officer, suffering an angina attack, dealing with her daughter's psychosis and discovering that her husband Zak (Steve Halliwell) has fallen in love with their lodger Joanie Wright (Denise Black), which led to their divorce after 18 years of marriage.

Lisa was deeply saddened when Zak's son Butch (Paul Loughran) was killed in a bus crash in the village.

Although she enjoyed a few dates with Bob Hope's (Tony Audenshaw) brother Eddie (Nigel Betts), it was clear that Zak was still the man for Lisa – a fact confirmed by his return and their subsequent reunion.

So when Debbie gave baby Sarah to Emily Kirk (Kate McGregor), who then disappeared, Lisa hit the roof.

The morning of the competition in Emmerdale's 5000th episode, Lisa accidentally knocked out Val Lambert (Charlie Hardwick) by pushing her down some stairs while carrying a big bag of linens.

Val was fuming at the Dingles until Lisa accidentally let it slip that Eric Pollard (Chris Chittell) was planning the wedding for that day.

When Eli and Shadrach found out, they kept making wisecracks so Lisa decided to stop due to the lack of support from people round her, after admitting to Zak that she felt good about herself.

Also towards Christmas, Lizzie was knocked down in the dark by Zak's great-nephew, Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller), as he was angry over his discovery that he was gay.

Lisa was utterly shocked, but stood by her husband while Cain decided not to press charges, but his relationship with the rest of the Dingle clan became strained.

Chas Dingle's (Lucy Pargeter) boyfriend Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) was sent to prison for the murders of Carl, Alex Moss (Kurtis Stacey) and Gennie Walker (Sian Reese-Williams), but he escaped and took the entire Woolpack hostage, including Zak, who was nearly shot by Cameron when he engaged in a struggle with him.

Zak, along with most of The Woolpack (excluding Debbie and Chas), was freed by Cameron, to a relieved (but still worried) Lisa's joy, that her husband had escaped.

In April 2014, tragedy struck as Belle pushed Gemma over during an argument, and the latter banged her head on a stone, causing a brain hemorrhage which proved fatal.

The two warring families then made peace after this event, but Belle was consumed by guilt and in July 2014, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after initially planning to confess to murder, but changed her mind at the insistence of Cain.

Stress continued to pile on to Lisa throughout the months as Charity's life spiralled out of control when her husband Declan Macey (Jason Merrells) attempted to kill her, and Sam's girlfriend Rachel Breckle (Gemma Oaten) was forced to go into hiding to cover for her, and it all came crashing down in October 2014 when Lisa, after welcoming Belle home against her boss Jai's wishes, was sacked from Sharma & Sharma, and suffered what she believed to be a heart attack as she cried herself home.

This was found to be fueled by a drug addiction introduced to Belle by local teen Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson).

She returned in September to find out that a helicopter had crashed into the village hall during Debbie's failed wedding to Pete Barton (Anthony Quinlan).

Lisa also introduced Granny Clegg's secret cordial wine recipe to Belle and her new business partner Kirin Kotecha (Adam Fielding).

They showcased their opportunistic proposal to Lisa's former boss Jai and went into business, attempting to sell "Granny Clegg's Cordial" to big-buck supermarkets.

However, concern was inevitable to Lisa as she began to suspect Belle and Kirin to be in a more "physical" relationship, so she had Debbie talk to her about intimate matters.

On Christmas Day 2015, Belle reveals to the family that she had seen Zak and the lodger Joanie Wright (Denise Black) together, making Lisa heartbroken.

Lisa's self-esteem drops to an all-time low as a result of the impending dissolution of her marriage, despite the Dingles' especially Belle's, efforts to support her.

She is then knocked for six after Cain informs the entire family of a devastating truth; Aaron was raped repeatedly from the age of 8 by his father, Gordon Livesy (Gary Mavers).

She later has to deal with a fresh family crisis when it's found out that Belle has been having an affair with a married man over twice her age, Dr. Jermaine Bailey (Micah Balfour), who actually treated Lisa for an angina attack not long before the revelation.

Initially the family is disgusted with Bailey, and Cain and Zak even try to rough him up, only to be stopped by Lisa, who argues that in this case, the "Dingle" way of dealing with things won't work this time.

The affair seems over, but Belle suddenly reveals she is pregnant with Bailey's baby, which results in him staying in the village after planning to leave due to the collapse of his medical career and marriage.

Lisa ultimately decides life in Emmerdale is no longer enjoyable so she opts to leave for Scotland, where she takes a job as a youth counselor.

However Mervyn Watson gave the role to Sandra Gough, Cox was pleased she got the part of Lisa Clegg instead because she really enjoyed the character.

][1] On 8 March 2019, during a special episode to commemorate International Women's Day, the character returned after a temporary break and told Charity Dingle (Emma Atkins) that she had been diagnosed with terminal heart condition amyloidosis.