Next week on Emmerdale, Ruby confesses to the police, the village learns of Nate’s death, Eric is rushed to hospital, and April sees an unwelcome face from her past.

Please note: Emmerdale will not air on ITV1 on Tuesday evening. Instead there will be an hour-long episode on Wednesday.

1) Will Robert return?

After a whirlwind week which saw various scenarios threaten the wedding of John (Oliver Farnworth) and Aaron (Danny Miller), the happy couple have now left the village on their honeymoon, oblivious to the secrets that are about to unfold.

John had initially been worried sick over the news that a local lake was being dredged, the same lake where he’d dumped the body of Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter) after he accidentally killed him last year.

The dredging had been his own fault, after releasing slurry onto one of the fields at Butlers in order to frame Mackenzie (Lawrence Boyd).

Fearing that PC Swirling (Andy Moore) would interrupt the ceremony in order to arrest him for Nate’s death, John was relieved when it was announced that the dredging had been halted.

But John’s fears quickly shifted when the mother of his ex-fiancé, Aidan (Geoff Dignan)—who’d only recently woken from a three-year coma—arrived in the village with troubling news… Aidan was now talking, and asking for him.

Terrified that the incident in Afghanistan that landed Aidan in the coma in the first place would come to light, John had planned to kill Aidan by injecting air into one of his IV lines.

Although John couldn’t bring himself to do it in the end, the scare caused Aidan to go into cardiac arrest, before conveniently slipping back into a coma.

John’s presence at the hospital on his wedding day threw Aaron though, who believed that John was still in love with his ex and promptly called the wedding off.

Things were soon back on track and as the couple finally made it to the altar, there was an interruption that no-one could have foreseen… the return of Aaron’s ex-husband, and John’s half-brother, Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley).

Viewers were initially left wondering if this was another figment of John’s imagination, but it soon became clear that Robert really was back in the village and putting a stop to the wedding, having been released on appeal after six years in prison over the death of Lee Posner.

“As a massive lifelong fan of soap, this is what we live for,” producer Laura Shaw told EverySoap and other press during a sneak preview of the episode a month ago. “Shocking moments where it’s not what you expect and you gasp out loud.”

Although he managed to steal a kiss during a tense exchange with Aaron on the footbridge, Robert’s bid to win him back fell flat. Aaron returned to the village hall and married John.

As for Robert—having skipped his first probation meeting to crash the ceremony—an ‘anonymous’ tip-off soon brought PC Swirling to the village, and Robert was swiftly hauled back to prison for breaking the terms of his release.

Robert will soon be back however, with Ryan Hawley revealing that he and his family have moved back to the UK from Brazil in order for him to return to Emmerdale permanently.

“It’s indefinite,” Ryan revealed on Thursday’s edition of Lorraine. “Robert is back in the village, he’s coming back to try and win Aaron back and put a stop to John. He’s going to try. Everyone’s like ‘we don’t want anything to do with you Robert, go back’.”

“It’s such a good year going forward,” he added. “I’m so excited with where the show’s going, it just feels like a great time to be involved with it. There’s a lot of obstacles that Robert has to overcome.”

2) Ruby confesses to the police!

Unbeknownst to John and Aaron, as they set off on their honeymoon in John’s van, Kyle (Huey Quinn) was pedalling into the village with bombshell news.

He informed Chas (Lucy Pargeter), Cain (Jeff Hordley), Caleb (Will Ash), and Ruby (Beth Cordingly) that dredging had resumed at the lake—and police divers were now in the middle of recovering a body!

Whilst us viewers know that the body is of course Cain’s son Nate, the family are terrified that the body of Ruby’s father Anthony (Nicholas Day) has finally been discovered.

The final resting place of Anthony is something known only to John, who had disposed of the body after Aaron had mistakenly believed he’d killed Anthony after giving him a beating. In reality, Ruby had entered the warehouse after Aaron left and suffocated him.

Though with the subsequent reveal to the audience of John’s saviour complex, we can’t help but now entertain the possibility that Anthony may not be dead at all…

Despite numerous group discussions with the Dingles and Miligans, John refused to reveal the location of Anthony’s grave, believing that there would be less chance of anyone slipping up that way.

But the family’s ignorance is now backfiring, and when Chas learns that the body has been in the lake for several months, it only fuels their fears further.

Ruby is particularly uneasy and begins to consider turning herself in to the police. Caleb suggests a different approach—that they quietly disappear—and Ruby seems to go along with it as Cain begins looking into whether they could lay low with relatives in Ireland.

The family have a stiff drink together as they contemplate their next moves.

However, Ruby clearly has her own plan when, later on, she quietly slips out of Mill Cottage and heads off to the police station, leaving only a note behind.

Caleb wakes to find Ruby gone and panic immediately sets in when he sees the note. At the station, Ruby begins giving her statement, explaining her father’s past abuse and making it clear Caleb had no part in Anthony’s disappearance.

However she’s soon interrupted by the arrival of Caleb’s solicitor.

Back in the village, Chas reels when she’s told about Ruby’s trip to the police. Caleb tries to keep things calm and assures her that his solicitor will soon have things in hand.

When the police arrive at the cottage to speak to Caleb, Chas quietly stashes Ruby’s note out of sight.

As further developments occur, Cain is quietly optimistic that there won’t be any further stresses for now… blissfully unaware of the tragic news that’s about to befall his family as the police visit Tracy (Amy Walsh)…

3) The village learns of Nate’s death

Tracy is shocked as the news is finally confirmed—the body in the lake is that of her estranged husband Nate.

For the past 8 months, Tracy, along with the rest of the village, have believed that Nate had gone to work in Shetland.

But Tracy kept quiet for the majority of that time about the fact that Nate had seemingly cut off her and young daughter Frankie, as she struggled to make ends meet without any financial help from him.

It wasn’t until recent weeks that the family have started realising that something doesn’t add up, with Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) having gone up to Scotland only to find that Nate had never made it to his new job all those months ago.

Despite that, there’s never been any suspicion that he had come to any harm.

“I don’t think it’s ever occurred to her that he could be dead,” Amy Walsh tells us. “There may have been a moment of ‘I hope he’s alright, and then that’s just been overshadowed by this strong feeling of ‘How could he do this to us?‘ She felt so let down and abandoned.“

“Obviously, she’s heartbroken,” Amy continues. “She can’t believe he’s been in that lake where they had the crash. She can’t believe that all this time he’s been there and she’s been slagging him off.”

“It’s a pretty instant emotional breakdown, mainly through the guilt she has about it. About not looking for him, thinking the worst, all the bad things she’s said about him since, knowing that all that time he was dead in the lake. It’s really heartbreaking.”

Up at Butlers, Cain and Moira (Natalie J Robb) are blind-sided when DC Cole drops the bombshell that the body is Nate’s—and it’s so decomposed that Cain can’t even visit his son to say a proper goodbye.

4) Cain is in the frame

Cain has flashbacks to his final moments with Nate, where he’d given his son a severe beating after believing he’d been seducing Moira. In reality, Moira was suffering with the early symptoms of her brain tumour, and had attempted to kiss Nate herself.

Unbeknownst to Cain, it was immediately after their altercation that John decided to step in and ‘help’ Nate, injecting him with a drug that inadvertently ended his life.

Although Cain keeps quiet about the incident, it’s not long before the police learn of it after Tracy begins going over Nate’s last movements in the village.

Pressure’s mounting as Cain faces police questioning, and even Chas starts to wonder if there’s more going on beneath the surface as the family begins to question Cain’s motives.

Cain later offers his support to Tracy, but seeing her former father-in-law with such remorse causes Tracy’s mind to work overtime, as she begins voicing suspicions to Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick).

“He’s really very emotional about it, and it’s just not very Cain, is it?” Amy observes. “It strikes a chord and Vanessa’s like ‘Gosh’, as she’s never seen him like that.”

“And in that moment, Tracy just thinks, ‘Oh my God, I’ve just figured it out—it’s not sadness, it’s guilt!’ And she just runs with it.”

“She knows he’d have not gone out to kill Nate,” Amy adds. “But she fully believes that a fight could have gone too far. He’d have chased him down and he’d have done whatever he could to just get rid of him.”

Will Cain be able to prove his innocence as he grieves for his son?

5) Eric is rushed to hospital

Elsewhere in the village, Eric (Chris Chittell) is finding it harder to keep on top of things as his Parkinson’s symptoms worsen, but refuses to admit that he is struggling.

Unfortunately, that stubborn streak catches up with him, and before long he finds himself in hospital.

Tracy can see that Eric is having a tough time as he sorts out boxes of stock in the shop next week, but he shuns her offer of assistance.

But that bravado comes back to bite him when he has a nasty fall at home, and there’s nobody around to lend a hand.

Later, in hospital, Eric can’t remember much about what happened, which only deepens the concern for grandson Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) and lodger Kerry (Laura Norton).

They gently suggest it might be time to consider a bit of support at home, but Eric—offended and a bit insulted—digs his heels in. He’s not ready to be written off just yet.

Despite Eric’s protests, Kerry isn’t taking no for an answer and secretly gets the ball rolling with a home-help agency.

When Eric takes another tumble at home not long after, he finally concedes that a little help might not be the worst idea in the world.

But will Eric be able to swallow his pride and accept all the help offered to him?

6) Will Dawn do the dirty on Belle?

Meanwhile, having now taken over the running of event planning business Take a Vow—following the deaths of Suzy (Martelle Edinborough) and Leyla (Roxy Shahidi)—Belle could be about to face some deceitful behaviour from a new partner.

Up at Home Farm, one of Take a Vow’s preferred venues, Joe (Ned Porteous) suggests to Dawn (Olivia Bromley) that they could take on the wedding bookings themselves, cutting out the middle man entirely.

With not much to do in her job on the estate, Dawn instead has another idea, as she goes to Belle and suggests that she could become her new business partner.

Whilst Belle is happy to consider the idea, she has one important caveat for Dawn—the business will never take any cash injection from Dawn’s boyfriend Joe, the very man responsible for the deaths of Suzy and Leyla.

Dawn has a tricky decision to make, particularly when Joe predictably offers to lend her the cash behind Belle’s back.

When Dawn later rocks up for her first day of wedding planning, has she gone against Belle’s wishes by secretly injecting Joe’s cash into the business…?

7) April sees an unwelcome face from her past

Over at Smithy Cottage, April (Amelia Flanagan) is at a low ebb as she struggles to revise for her impending GCSE exams.

April’s return to school has not been easy, after she ran away over Christmas and spent several weeks living on the streets of Leeds, during which time she gave birth to a stillborn child.

Her life-changing experience reduced to being the subject of gossip at school, as well as attempting to catch up on all the work she had missed, has led to the teen feeling particularly demotivated.

Things come to a head midweek when April freezes during an exam, leaving Marlon heartbroken when she turns up at The Woolpack and admits that she panicked.

After Marlon speaks to the school, Belle suggests that redoing the year might give April the breathing room she needs. It worked for Belle, so Marlon hopes that it could be a good option for April.

With April looking for a summer job to keep her occupied in the meantime, Belle offers to give her a trial shift at Take a Vow.

April’s first task is to film a Christening celebration at the pub.

But April’s blood runs cold when she recognises the baby’s father as one of the vile yobs who threw lager over her, and threatened to urinate on her, when she was sleeping on the streets!

As an oblivious Marlon and Mary (Louise Jameson) watch on, how will April react…?

8) Sarah goes rogue with Kammy

Also next week, still determined to have a baby via IVF despite her cervical cancer diagnosis, Sarah (Katie Hill) comes to the sad realisation that she won’t be able to come up with the funds required.

But with ex-boyfriend Kammy (Shebz Miah) back on the scene, could Sarah be tempted into raising some quick cash via less than legitimate means?

As Friday rolls around, so does Sarah’s 20th birthday—however, it’s far from a happy occasion.

Whilst Sarah has already confided in Jacob about her diagnosis and IVF plans, her family still remain in the dark about what she is going through.