{"id":250661,"date":"2025-11-08T05:15:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T05:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/250661\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T05:15:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T05:15:10","slug":"emmerdale-confirms-modern-slavery-storyline-as-bears-fate-is-finally-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/250661\/","title":{"rendered":"Emmerdale confirms modern slavery storyline as Bear’s fate is finally revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emmerdale are set to explore modern slavery in a new storyline for Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards).<\/p>\n

The character disappeared into thin air in the summer, telling son Paddy Dingle (Dominic Brunt) that he was going to stay with some friends in Ireland.<\/p>\n

However, in scenes that aired this week, it transpired that he never made it to the Emerald Isle \u2013 and there are now serious concerns for his wellbeing and mental state.<\/p>\n

On Monday, a special, standalone instalment will follow Bear’s journey over the last few months and how he found himself in such appalling circumstances.<\/p>\n

\"Bear<\/p>\n

Bear has been ‘working’ in exchange for lodgings.\u00a0ITV<\/p>\n

As Paddy and wife Mandy (Lisa Riley) begin their search, they’re unaware that he’s still extremely close to their village and living in a barn. Flashbacks will show how he was taken in by seemingly nice people, who offered him ‘work’ on their farm in exchange for lodgings on their property.<\/p>\n

However, events soon take a sour turn and he finds himself at the mercy of his captors, with them controlling his every move. He’s injured, frail, and unable to escape.<\/p>\n

Speaking of his character’s new plot, and the hidden existence of modern slavery in society, Richards said: \u201cIt may surprise many people, but slavery is alive and well, indeed prospering in the modern world.<\/p>\n

“Not only in obscure countries and cultures that we know little about, and not just the exploitation of migrants by criminal gangs of which some of us are aware. It is happening under our very own noses.”<\/p>\n

He continued: “The disadvantaged, dispossessed, those with mental health issues or disabilities, the old, lonely and vulnerable people that our society neglect are the perfect prey for grooming by unscrupulous criminal agencies.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m very excited and honoured to be taking part in this to hopefully educate and highlight this abominable trade of human bondage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ray<\/p>\n

Bear has been taken in by twisted Ray and his mother Celia.\u00a0ITV<\/p>\n

Producer Laura Shaw added, confirming who his captors are: \u201cWith our farming and rural backdrop we have an ideal setting, but it\u2019s not all fluffy sheep and rolling landscapes. The countryside, just like an urban setting, can harbour the dark undercurrents of society.<\/p>\n

“When Ray and Celia (Joe Absolom and Jaye Griffiths) first came to Emmerdale it was clear that both characters were not to be trusted. We have seen their manipulation of April and Dylan (Amelia Flanagan and Fred Kettle), but this special stand alone episode featuring Bear ensnared in Modern Slavery, highlights the cruelty and control that these slave masters can exhibit.<\/p>\n

“Bear is truly trapped in his situation and over a series of scenes you begin to understand a little more how this happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Celia<\/p>\n

Celia and Ray already have a grip on April and Dylan.\u00a0ITV<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the audience will ever like the character of Ray, but hopefully there will be glimmers within this episode that make you realise he too is perhaps trapped in a world not of his making,” she explained.<\/p>\n

“We have been extremely grateful for the support we have received from The Salvation Army for Bear\u2019s story, but also the interlinked county lines drug story that we have been telling with April and Dylan.<\/p>\n

“The Salvation Army has given Emmerdale invaluable help with the portrayal of these shocking, yet prevalent situations in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will Paddy be able to rescue Bear?<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.<\/p>\n

Add Emmerdale to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app<\/a> \u2013 download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Soaps<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emmerdale are set to explore modern slavery in a new storyline for Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards). The character…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-250661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}