Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale star Fred Kettle has confirmed that Dylan Penders will be involved in a dark storyline upon his return to the village.
Kettle made his comeback on the ITV soap earlier this week after an absence of four months, with his character already amongst the drama as he sustains an injury following a failed break-in at Butler’s Farm.
Though the figure will interact with his close friend April Windsor and her father Marlon Dingle, Dylan will also come into contact with new villain Ray Walters, and Kettle has teased their meetings.
“Dylan’s going to get introduced with a few new characters including Ray,” said the actor. “There’s a bit of a County Lines idea there that we’re going to do which has been really fun to play. Dylan was supposed to go into hostels to rejuvenate.
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“But everyone at the hostel was taking drugs themselves and Dylan just wanted to avoid that. He wanted to take himself out of situations where he knows he’d go back down south. It was Ray that actually helped him.
“He sort of takes Dylan under his wing and helps him get away from drugs. I think Ray’s trying to get him to gain a bit of trust. I feel like there’s a little bit of a son/father figure relationship going on, so Ray can gain trust to make Dylan deal drugs.”
“He’s manipulating him. Dylan knows he’s doing the wrong thing but it’s more morally correct than what he was doing when he was back on the streets,” added Kettle, who said actor Ray actor Joe Absolom was “very good” to work with.
ITV
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Given the nature of his work, Dylan keeps the facts hidden from April, with Kettle reasoning that his character strives to “protect” his friend from harm while giving the impression that he was a “safe” presence to be around.
“I’m very excited,” said the actor of his upcoming scenes. “It’s going to be good. It’s going to be a nice journey for a few different characters. But especially for the newbies. I think he’s going to go through a lot of emotions, experience new things and learn a lot as well.”
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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