Next week on Emmerdale, Victoria is shocked to meet her half-brother, Samson’s fate is revealed, Kim and Will throw Dawn off the scent, and Mandy finds a new source of income.
1) Victoria discovers Eric’s deception
After discovering the truth about Eric’s (Chris Chittell) blackmailing of Jai (Chris Bisson) in recent times, Brenda (Lesley Dunlop) is horrified to learn that Eric was also responsible for Victoria (Isabel Hodgins) losing her job at The Hide.
Eric had sought revenge on Victoria for breaking his step-grandson’s heart, after she had ended her short-lived relationship with Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant). After being ordered to get rid of Victoria, Jai planted a piece of glass in a pizza that Victoria had just cooked for Lauren (Charlotte Bellamy), firing her on the spot when he later ‘discovered’ the supposed error.
Brenda demands that Eric come clear to Victoria and make amends, but Eric can only go so far as to offer a still-unemployed Victoria a job in the shop. Brenda’s fuming when she learns that Eric has put himself across as a knight in shining armour instead of taking responsibility for his actions.
Eventually, with the pressure from Brenda and the guilt playing on his mind, Eric comes clean to Victoria, admitting that he had orchestrated her sacking from The Hide.
Victoria is gobsmacked that Eric would stoop so low, leaving her penniless as a young, single mother. Eric does his best to explain his actions that Victoria isn’t interested in hearing it as she rips into him.
Later offloading to Aaron (Danny Miller), who is preoccupied on his phone, Victoria is left feeling thoughtful when Aaron suggests that she could actually use the circumstances surrounding her sacking to her advantage… what does Victoria have in mind?
2) Victoria meets John Sugden
The whole sorry saga is soon forgotten when, later in the week, Victoria receives some bombshell news.
Eric finds himself in a pickle when his car breaks down, leaving him unable to attend the funeral of an old friend. Putting their differences aside, Victoria offers to drive Eric to the service. As she waits outside the church, Victoria gets talking to one of the mourners (Oliver Farnworth), and manages to put her foot in it when she discovers he’s actually the son of the deceased lady, Barbara.
When Eric later introduces himself, the man tells him that his name is John Sugden, much to Victoria’s amazement.
After quizzing Eric, he awkwardly confirms that the timing would work for John to actually be Victoria’s half-brother.
Victoria’s father Jack (Clive Hornby) had a short-lived relationship with Barbara (Angela Down) back in February 1988, only for her to call things off when she admitted she was still in love with her ex.
Although Victoria is amazed by the revelation, and keen to get to know her half-brother, John isn’t as enthusiastic.
“His mum was very straightforward with him, very straight-talking,” Oliver Farnworth told EverySoap at a recent press event. “That’s why she gave him the surname Sugden. But she hadn’t kept in touch with Jack. So as far as he knows, he probably thinks he’s got half-brothers and sisters out there, but he’s not interested in that. He had a father figure growing up. He doesn’t need another family and he’s very staunch about that.”
Having left the service, John doesn’t get very far before his van breaks down, and it’s Mackenzie (Lawrence Robb) who ends up coming to his aid with the breakdown truck. When Eric and Victoria return home, they’re shocked to find John in the village.
It’s clear that Victoria is hoping she can break down John’s barriers but he again makes it very clear that he’s not planning on playing happy families.
“There’s the jeopardy that at any given time, John might just up and leave,” Oliver continues. “It’s been hard for me as an actor to play that because Victoria’s so nice and so kind to him. She’s offering him all these things and he’s like, No, I’m going, my van’s being fixed, and I’m off.”
But fate seems to have other ideas as he finds himself stranded in the village for longer than anticipated.
“The garage are being relatively useless with his van, they’re kind of like, oh, we need a part, it’s going to take another week,” Oliver reveals. “So he’s here by default, and despite his kind of brusqueness, he realises that he’s been offered a room to stay and a hot shower and a meal when he needs it. And I think, despite not saying it, he is actually grateful for that.”
“There’s hints, even in the early episodes, that he’s letting Victoria in a bit and revealing things. But then when he realises that, he kind of catches himself and he goes, no, thank you for everything, but I am leaving.”
“Victoria adores him,” Isabel adds. “In her head she’s like ‘I’ve got a week to bring him round and make him love the idea of being in my family and to try and make him stay’. And he is strongly against that.”
“He’s not cruel, but he’s just very clear saying, ‘I’m not staying, I don’t want any part of this, as nice as you are, thank you, but no thank you.’ But she’s trying to be like, ‘Please… love me!’” Isabel laughs.
Revealing more about his character, Oliver explained that John has a military past, and is openly gay.
“He is very much a lone wolf. I think over the years he’s really put walls up and not let anyone in. And that’s a kind of method of self-preservation I think. We find out that he’s very self-sufficient, he lives off grid in his van, doesn’t need anyone, doesn’t need family.”
“Given his past and the ramifications of 12 years in the army, there’s potential damage there and stuff that he doesn’t want to revisit. Whether or not that comes out in his behaviour and his behaviour towards people, we’ll see. I think ultimately he is a good guy. He’s an honest guy, but yeah, he does have baggage.”
3) Samson learns his fate
Elsewhere in the village, as Samson’s (Sam Hall) court date looms, Moira (Natalie J Robb) continues to show her contempt for her nephew, after his lies had her own son Matty (Ash Palmisciano) locked up for several weeks.
Moira knows full well that Samson’s friend Josh (Osian Morgan) was behind everything, but Samson has been threatened by Josh into remaining silent about his involvement.
Samson eventually decides to put his recent ‘prison training’ from Cain (Jeff Hordley) into good use, and finally stands up to Josh… only it doesn’t go as planned, when Samson later finds himself arrested for assault!
Sam (James Hooton) and Lydia (Karen Blick) are horrified, but Cain can’t help but observe that Moira seems quite satisfied about the turn of events, and wonders whether it was her that grassed Samson to the police.
The next day, everyone is anxious to hear the outcome of Samson’s hearing, particularly Amelia (Daisy Campbell) who worries about the fact that baby Esther’s biological father could also be facing prison when her grandfather is already serving time.
Finally, Lydia enters The Woolpack with news from the court… will Samson be coming home?
4) Kim and Will throw Dawn off the scent
Up at Home Farm, Kim (Claire King) and Will (Dean Andrews) are still suspicious of each other over Rose’s (Christine Tremarco) mysterious disappearance.
The pair had ousted Rose out of the house after learning of her scheming with Ruby (Beth Cordingley), and dumped her on the side of the road to find her own travel arrangements. We later saw one of the Home Farm vehicles approaching Rose, but what happened next remains unknown.
Both Kim and Will were seen returning home separately, and the next day PC Swirling (Andy Moore) came by for a welfare check, having found Rose’s handbag abandoned at the roadside.
Kim and Will are seeming guilty about the whole affair next week, as they continue to be on edge around each other. Will is particularly nervous that Kim will somehow find out that he had slept with Rose in a moment of weakness.
Dawn remains completely oblivious to truth of her mother’s deception, having been told that Rose had done a runner after being caught trying to steal from Home Farm’s safe. Trying to cover up their guilt, Kim and Will don’t know what to say when Dawn suggests they hire a private investigator to track down Rose.
Kim later suggests to Will that they send Dawn a message from Rose’s phone, in order to put her off the scent. But Will is particularly interested in just how Kim has managed to get Rose’s phone in the first place…
Dawn is devastated when she later receives the message from ‘Rose’ telling her that she won’t be returning, and whilst it seems one issue may be overcome for the pair, Kim and Will still have their own trust issues to deal with.
Kim opens up to Lydia about the issues she and Will are facing, whilst Will makes to plan to confess about about his dalliance with Rose… but before he can do so, the situation changes…
5) Caleb learns what Ruby has been up to
Caleb (Will Ash) has also been completely unaware of Ruby’s plot to destroy Kim, and so Kim takes great pleasure in bringing him up to speed on his wife’s antics.
Ruby is worried about how Caleb will react, particularly since Ruby has been doing this for revenge on his behalf, but is baffled when he drives her in silence to a warehouse at an unknown location.
As he gets out of the car, what does Caleb have planned?
6) Mandy becomes a financial dominatrix!
As Mandy’s (Lisa Riley) money woes continue to spiral out of control in the run up to her wedding to Paddy (Dominic Brunt), Mandy resorts to trying to overcharge Tracy (Amy Walsh) for her nail appointment, hoping that the extra £20 won’t be questioned.
Tracy isn’t fooled however, and a shamed Mandy is forced to reveal that she’s in serious debt. Mandy makes it clear that Paddy knows nothing about her struggle, and that she’s determined to fix it on her own.
Later in the week, a chat with Gail (Rachael Gill-Davis) gives Mandy some food for thought, when the idea of becoming a financial dominatrix comes up.
Mandy’s sure that she has the skills to earn a few quid, and swiftly sets about creating an online profile, despite Tracy’s reservations.
Madame Diamante Dales is eventually revealed to the world, but will it be enough to fix Mandy’s issues…or will she be caught out?
7) Rodney scores a new job
Also next week, Rodney (Patrick Mower) finds himself with a bit more to do than serving up tea and coffee in the cafe, when he starts work as a driver for son-in-law Jimmy (Nick Miles) at the haulage firm.
Jimmy hopes that he won’t end up regretting his decision, but it doesn’t appear to be a good start when a customer gets in touch to say that several items were missing from Rodney’s delivery.
Jimmy’s quick to put the blame on Rodney, but is there more to this than meets the eye?
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