5 Emmerdale spoilers next week: Bear Wolf arrested as Laurel Thomas learns a shocking secret
Dawn has some baby news, Kammy plays matchmaker and Cain has hope for Moira.
There's a huge development following Ray Walters's (Joe Absolom) murder in Emmerdale next week, as Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) is brought in for questioning.
He's adamant that he worked alone, but DS Walsh (Amanda Ryan) has her suspicions about Paddy Dingle's (Dominic Brunt) involvement. As he's charged with manslaughter, Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) hopes that it could eventually lead to his wife Moira's (Natalie J Robb) release.
Unfortunately, it does the complete opposite.
Meanwhile, as Arthur Thomas (Alfie Clarke) prepares to flee to Australia, mum Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) discovers where his influx of cash has come from. There's potential baby joy for Dawn Fletcher (Olivia Bromley) and Joe Tate (Ned Porteous), and a flash car turning up in the village turns heads.
Here's everything you need to know about the episodes of Emmerdale airing between Monday 16th and Friday 20th February.
5 Emmerdale spoilers for next week
1. Bear Wolf is charged with manslaughter
Unable to hide from the police any longer, Bear confesses to DS Walsh that he was the one who accidentally killed Ray, but insists that he was alone to avoid incriminating a heartbroken Paddy and Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle).
Walsh notices that he seems somewhat confused about the circumstances, but Bear continues to insist there was no other party involved and quickly becomes agitated. When she changes the subject to Moira, she's intrigued to hear that Cain tried to force him to go to the police and tell them that she wasn't involved.
In the village, Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) urges Paddy to hold onto the hope that the police will recognise his dad's actions as those of a desperate man and that he killed in self-defence. He's also worried that he'll be dragged into the situation, which isn't helped when Walsh notices him interrupting to support Bear's story, and the fact that such a fragile man wouldn't be able to move a body alone.
DC Chen calls him and Dylan in for further questioning, leading to Bear being charged with manslaughter. The family's solicitor tries to offer some reassurance, saying that Bear may get bail.
However, when they put this idea to Bear, he decides to do the 'honourable thing' and face the consequences.
Is Paddy about to lose his father all over again?
2. Cain Dingle's efforts destroy Moira's hopes of freedom
Things kick off with a glimmer of hope for Cain when Liam drops the bombshell that Bear has confessed to killing Ray.
For Cain, who’s clinging to anything that might save Moira, it feels like a lifeline - finally, something that could help prove she’s innocent. He heads to see his imprisoned wife and is on the verge of telling her about his diagnosis, when a sudden scrap between prisoners blows up the visit.
Rattled and thrown off course, he bottles it. Instead of sharing his own devastating news, he blurts out Bear’s confession, pinning all his hopes on it being the key to her freedom.
The next day, she's gutted and furious to learn Cain tried to pressurise Bear, and that his confession hasn’t helped her case one bit. She clocks how wound up Cain is and gently pushes him to open up about whatever’s eating him alive.
Back at Butler's Farm, Cain walks in to find Joe parked on his sofa, and that’s the final straw. He goes for him, grabbing at his collar, but Matty Barton (Ash Palmisciano) jumps in and breaks it up – revealing he’s the one who let Joe in.
Matty asserts that Cain needs to stop picking fights with the world and start showing up for his wife.
Later, Joe tells Kim Tate (Claire King) that Butler’s will soon be theirs, while a guilt-ridden Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly) confesses to Cain that she was the one who tipped off the police about Anya’s body.
Cain is completely blindsided and sees red, accusing her and his half-brother Caleb Miligan (Will Ash) of effectively throwing Moira under the bus by bringing the police into it. In his mind, Caleb’s offer to pay for Moira’s lawyer suddenly looks less generous and more like guilt money.
When Sarah Sugden (Katie Hill) pleads with her grandad to stop shutting out the people who are actually trying to help him, he realises he's reached breaking point.
3. Laurel Thomas is stunned by Arthur's sudden windfall
Conflicted over Ray's money, Arthur’s head is clearly somewhere else, and he receives a telling-off from Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) at work. In a burst of fury, he quits his job at The Hide on the spot and rushes home.
At home, the fallout hits Laurel hard. Already weighed down by everything her son’s been through, she’s left drowning in guilt over the constant upheaval in his life.
She's blindsided when she catches Arthur rummaging around and discovers he’s hunting for his passport – to go to Australia. Confused as to how he would afford such a trip, she intercepts an envelope he’s guarding closely, and she gets her answer.
Arthur admits the money came from Ray’s bag – the same bag that also contained the drugs Laurel secretly got rid of before – and Laurel is livid.
In the heat of the argument, he lashes out with a cruel threat, saying he could tell people she hit him. The words cut deep, and Laurel breaks down, devastated at just how far their relationship has crumbled.
Later, he begins to apologise for trying to blackmail her emotionally and begs her to let him use the cash to fund his escape. After he leaves, Laurel quietly retrieves the envelope from its hiding place and slips it into her bag, determined to keep it safe.
When she overhears Marlon and Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) talking about the debt weighing them down, Laurel plans her next move.
4. Dawn Fletcher stuns Joe Tate with a baby revelation
Following their engagement, there's another huge step in Dawn and Joe's relationship coming up when she informs him that she might be pregnant.
He's become quite the family man in the last year, having taken her three kids under his wing.
Will the sudden reappearance of his presumed-dead father figure, Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough), change his perspective on being a father and finally settling down?
5. The residents play matchmaker between Lewis Barton and Vinny Dingle
It's been a while since we had an update on the sparks flying between Lewis Barton (Bradley Riches) and Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson), and in upcoming scenes, Kammy Hadiq (Shebz Miah) and Ross Barton (Michael Parr) decide to play matchmaker and set them up again.
However, Vinny quickly becomes distracted by their efforts when a Delorean appears parked up outside of David's Shop.
Vinny, Kammy, and Dr Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker) are intrigued by the vehicle, and it's not long before it's taken on a joy ride.
We smell trouble!
Read more:
- Emmerdale's Victoria Sugden makes devastating decision about her future in early ITVX release
- Emmerdale finally confirms who killed Ray Walters following epic flashback week in ITVX release
- Emmerdale flashbacks reveal how Graham Foster was able to return from the dead in ITVX release
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 8pm on ITV1. Stream on ITVX.
Add Emmerdale to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
Check out more of our Soaps coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Michael Adams is the Soaps Editor at Radio Times, covering all of the hot gossip and spoilers from Weatherfield to Walford, Emmerdale to Hollyoaks and everywhere in-between. He joined the team from Metro, where he spent two years as a Soaps Reporter and previously worked on the sets of both Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
