Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker) recently caught Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) urinating in the water cooler in the surgery in Emmerdale – and it was a clear sign that something was up.

The doctor sat on the other side of the desk and revealed to Manpreet that he’d been experiencing problems with controlling his bladder for a while. As a key symptom of prostate cancer, Manpreet naturally assumed that Liam was in the process of getting things checked out.

But he wasn’t.

‘He’s in a position of medical authority and he needs to be seen as being on top of things in terms of the surgery and also himself’, star Jonny McPherson said.

‘The moment he concedes defeat and admits he’s got a problem, I think he sees it as a mark of weakness, almost. There’s that playing into it, also he has a very busy life and I think he always wants to kick the can down the road – do it tomorrow, do it tomorrow.

‘Without going into sweeping generalisations I think it is a predominantly male tendency, in the same vein as not wanting to show weakness, is not wanting to admit you’ve got a problem and just hope that it all goes away.’

After confirming that other relatives had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, Liam was told that he needed some tests.

What followed was an absolutely agonising wait for the results. Liam spent days incredibly anxious, and then the letter arrived in the post.

Fortunately, Liam learnt that he did not have cancer.

Following this scare, Liam decides to start a new project to help raise awareness and encourage more men to get tested.

As he launches the campaign, the discussion of the important topic prompts Claudette Anderson (Flo Wilson) to admit that her brother died from the illness.

When Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin) later pops by, he admits that he’s been lying about getting checked every few years, leaving surgery receptionist and his mum Claudette furious.

A while later, Liam checks outside his office and is over the moon to see so many men waiting for their prostate exams.

He is further touched when he learns that the only reason why the queue is so long is because his best friend Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) stepped in to help.

Cute.

‘I think one of the main reasons a soap is successful and it’s so particular to the genre of continuing drama is that people who watch it get familiar with the characters over many, many years’, Jonny added.

‘They watch them go through the everyday diagnoses, difficulties, deaths, marriage – all of these things they can relate to in a way that other genres don’t necessarily afford.

‘If someone’s watching the programme and has similar concerns and thinks, “I really should get that sorted,” then it’s a job well done.’