Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale’s Paddy Dingle makes a bold new decision next week – sending his struggling dad Bear Wolf off for counselling. But could this risk exposing the big secret over Ray Walters’ death?
Village vet Paddy has become an unlikely puppetmaster in recent weeks – doing everything he can to make sure that the police don’t find out about Bear’s guilt in the Ray case. However, the pressure of the high-stakes situation is clearly taking a toll on Bear.
In next week’s scenes, Paddy’s young co-conspirator Dylan Penders breaks his silence by telling April Windsor exactly what’s going on.
Paddy is furious that Dylan has brought another person in on their cover-up, but there’s an unexpected outcome when April becomes a new source of support for Bear. During a heart-to-heart, April and Bear share details of how they’re really feeling after their respective ordeals.
ITV
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However, Paddy later walks in to find his traumatised father in the midst of an emotional breakdown, and April shaken.
Telling April she’s not to blame for pushing Bear over the edge, Paddy realises how desperately his dad needs professional help – even though it risks the truth being exposed.
“Paddy’s only just got his dad back, now he fears he will go away again,” reveals Dominic Brunt, who plays Paddy.
“Bear might go down for murder. I think Paddy trusts the judicial process, but Bear is struggling so badly, he’s psychologically in the midst of this Stockholm Syndrome in terms of how he feels about Ray.
“Paddy is trying to save his dad, and also knows Dylan would be implicated because they all hid the body…”
ITV
ITV
Related: 11 huge Emmerdale spoilers for next week (9 to 13 February)
As Bear sits down for his counselling session, he’s still overwhelmed by confusion and guilt over killing Ray. But can he find a way to open up about his fragile mental state without incriminating himself? Paddy certainly hopes so…
“Paddy’s thinking it all through,” adds Dominic. “Most of his spare time and probably all the way through the night, he’s thinking, trying to stay one step ahead and trying to save his family.
“He’s kind of succeeding, but he’s got that paranoia that the police are going to ask a question. He’s trying to save face and keep it together but he’s not very good at that!”
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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