7 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 23rd to 27th December

Next week on Emmerdale, it’s a dramatic Christmas in the village as April goes missing, Will’s scheme against Kim reaches a climax, and Ruby confronts her father.

1) April continues to spiral

It’s a tough Christmas in Smithy Cottage as 15-year-old April (Amelia Flanagan) continues on a downward spiral following recent events.

Underground boxing promoter Jade (Twinnie-Lee Moore), who believed that Ross (Michael Parr) had stolen money from her, chose to kidnap April in the hope of forcing Ross to hand back the cash. Jade knew that April was a weak point for Ross, with him having been in a relationship with her mum Donna (Verity Rushworth) at the time of her death ten years ago.

A traumatised April was held over the edge of the very same car park where Donna died, and in the aftermath, Ross finally revealed to her the truth about what had happened to her mother on that day. In the time since, April has begun rebelling, particularly after learning that dad Marlon (Mark Charnock) had known all along that Donna had actually taken her own life.

After discovering that April had a stash of vapes on her, and that she’d stolen alcohol from the B&B, Marlon grounded April and confiscated her phone.

Next week, as Marlon looks through April’s phone, he’s shocked by what he discovers.

“For quite a while, she’s been acting out of character,” Mark Charnock explained to EverySoap and other media at a press event last month. “For him, what it really means is she’s growing up and she’s got all sorts of issues. She’s discovered how Donna really died, which is huge for her.”

“She never knew that Donna had taken her own life and so she’s started acting up. It’s caused a real serious rift because she sees it as years of dishonesty, whereas Marlon sees it as years of protection. Ross told her that information, much to Marlon’s twitchy annoyance, because obviously they’ve got history as well with the whole Donna triangle.”

“So, he’s checking her texts because she’s behaved outrageously to family members, she’s been really uncharacteristically rude and a little mean-spirited. And he begins to discover information that he had no idea about.”

The texts reveal that April has been trying to buy weed, but when Marlon tries to confront April about it, she storms out.

Marlon is furious when he later sees Ross leaving Tall Trees, a house that Marlon owns, after April gave him the keys so he could squat there. He storms over and confronts Ross, pinning him up against the wall and blaming him for April’s recent behaviour.

“I felt pretty butch,” Mark quips when asked about that scene. “It was really well written by Peter Kerry. What’s great is that Ross doesn’t even raise his arm, he just says ‘Look, I’m going to make you regret this in a minute.’ They both know that the power only lies with one person, and it’s not the gangling idiot who’s grabbed him!”

Marlon orders Ross to break off all contact with April, and deep down, Ross knows that Marlon is right. His actions in attacking Mackenzie (Lawrence Boyd) have already seen him choose not to try and repair his relationship with son Moses.

When April later tries to open up to Ross, he feels as though he has to be cruel to be kind as Marlon’s words ring in his ears. In a dramatic turnaround, Ross brutally shuts April down, leaving her devastated.

It’s only a matter of time before April discovers that Marlon’s interference was the real reason behind Ross’s outburst, causing her to spiral further. As Marlon feels guilty at making things even worse for his daughter, April manages to get her hands on some more alcohol by swiping a bottle of wine from The Woolpack.

Worried friend Cathy’s (Gabrielle Dowling) refusal to join April in drinking it only leads to April feeling further rejected however.

When April eventually returns home, she ends up making a spectacle of herself in front of her entire family.

“She comes in drunk,” Mark reveals. “And she’s got a great line where Marlon’s going, ‘Are you drunk again?’ and she goes ‘Yeah, wine’s fun’. Amelia does drunk acting disturbingly well!”

“April grabs this Yule log that Wendy’s made and just destroys it and shoves it in her mouth.”

Marlon and Rhona (Zoe Henry) are mortified, but things soon get worse with Marlon having retrieved the memory box that Donna made for her daughter.

“Years ago, Donna did April a video, and he thinks it might do us some good to watch the video, to hear her mum’s voice,” Mark continues. “It might just make her see that not telling her was well-intentioned, maybe it’ll help.”

But in April’s drunken state, she manages to spill wine all over the memory card containing the video, leaving Marlon worried that she’s destroyed it.

“It turns out she’s not ruined it, it’s fine,” Mark clarifies. “But obviously they don’t know that at the time.”

At this point Marlon loses it and rips into April, telling her that she has lost all privileges and won’t be getting her phone back.

“I really did shout at her, and that’s the thing about it. I don’t think Marlon’s a bad-tempered person, but he can be quick-tempered. So he goes, ‘Rar!’ and then it’s burnt out very quickly. But for April, given the context of where she is psychologically, it’s a much bigger thing.”

“And obviously taking away a teenager’s phone, it’s like the worst possible crime you could commit against them So it’s a really big deal, and I don’t think he quite reads how big it is until the next morning.”

2) Marlon and Rhona are terrified when April goes missing

As Christmas Day dawns, Rhona gives Marlon a gift to open from April. He thinks that he should check in on his daughter before he does so, but Rhona convinces him to let her sleep in. Marlon’s particularly touched when he realises the significance of the gift as he opens it.

“She’s got him this mug that he dropped not long after she’d had the stroke in the kitchen,” Mark tells us. “The handle had come off, and she’s stuck the handle back on, and written a thing on the bottom of the mug that says, ‘Things that are broken can always be mended’.”

But when Marlon heads on upstairs to talk to April, after letting her sleep in all morning knowing that she’ll be nursing a monster hangover, Marlon panics when he finds that his daughter has disappeared.

“It’s not like a building horror, it’s just full ten,” Mark adds. “There’s nothing right about that picture, about that empty room on that day. No matter what they’ve been through, there’s no way that room could or should be empty.”

The village soon rallies together to search, but as time goes on Marlon can only think the worse…

3) Horror Christmas at Home Farm

It’s set to be a no-less-dramatic Christmas up at Home Farm too, as the revenge plot against Kim (Claire King) looks to reach an explosive climax.

Having made things up with husband Will (Dean Andrews) and called off the divorce, Kim has no idea that Will has been plotting with her financial advisor Peter (David Michaels) to take Kim for every penny she has. Recent weeks have seen the plans taken up a gear, as Peter has informed Will that there’s mysterious third party involved who is now pulling all the strings.

Will has already started having doubts as the unknown man has piled the pressure on, particularly seeing how excited Kim is to be renewing their vows on Christmas Day where he plans to take her down.

“Will’s wanting it to be very intimate, i.e. just the two of them,” Claire King told us at the press event. “Because he’s got a surprise lined up with Peter, obviously, to surprise her and say ‘Right, there you go, I’m taking everything’. So he’s kind of keeping her on the boil here.”

But Kim has had other ideas, not only inviting Will’s daughter Dawn (Olivia Bromley), Billy (Jay Kontzle) and the kids to the gathering, but also asking them to move back to Home Farm permanently.

“That’s scaring the bejeebies out of Will,” Claire adds. “Because he just wants it to be those two, the ultimate surprise for her. He doesn’t want to hurt his daughter and his family.”

However, things taken an unexpected turn on Christmas Eve…

“Kim takes her horse Ice out for a ride on Christmas Eve, all happy about the vow renewal, but Ice gets spooked and rears up,” Claire reveals.

Ice is later seen wandering the fields alone with no rider in sight, and Will is concerned when he comes across him whilst driving down a country road. When he then sees Kim’s unconscious body lying in the nearby field he immediately rushes over and calls 999.

“Will has a bit of a jolt of realisation,” Claire explains. “He thinks, ‘Oh, actually, I do love this woman. I better call the whole thing off!’”

With Kim taken to the hospital and all thoughts of revenge now gone from his mind, Will makes a call to Peter.

“He tells him he’s cancelled the whole getting back at Kim thing,” Dean Andrews adds.

But it would seem that Peter has other ideas.

“Or maybe someone he’s dealing with as well… he’s in cahoots with A.N. Other,” Claire teases.

Whilst our lips are sealed as to what actually goes down, a flash-forward complete with eerie music will reveal evidence of a struggle on Christmas Day, as we see a toppled over Christmas tree in Home Farm’s living room…

What will happen between the pair, and will the mysterious driving force behind the plot finally be revealed?

4) Ruby threatens Anthony

Over at Mill Cottage, Ruby (Beth Cordingly) is in an impossible situation as Steph (Georgia Jay) insists that granddad Anthony (Nicholas Day)—who is living with terminal prostate cancer—spends Christmas Day with them.

Ruby had been estranged from her parents for decades, and whilst it had been believed it was due to their disapproval of then-boyfriend Caleb (Will Ash), it turned out there was a further much darker reason. It was recently revealed to viewers, during a flashback to Ruby’s 16th birthday, that Anthony sexually abused her as a teen… with it being heavily implied that he could even have fathered Steph.

Not wishing to alienate Steph, given mum and daughter have also been estranged until recently, Ruby reluctantly agrees to let Anthony join them for Christmas, though is sure to invite sister-in-law Chas (Lucy Pargeter) and her family in the hope of diluting Anthony’s presence somewhat.

With Caleb also inviting Cain (Jeff Hordley) and Moira (Natalie J Robb), it’s set to be a difficult day for Ruby as she puts on a brave face to play host.

Ruby feels sickened as she watches her dad ingratiating himself with the extended family over Christmas dinner, all unaware of his true nature. When Anthony later announces to them all that he is planning to stay in the village for the foreseeable, Ruby begins to spiral.

As the family all head over to the pub following the meal, Ruby unexpectedly finds herself alone with her father. The enormity of the situation putting increasing pressure on her, Ruby grabs a carving knife and warns Anthony to stay away from her!

5) Belle’s Christmas miracle

Up at Wishing Well, with abusive ex-husband Tom (James Chase) now imprisoned, Belle’s (Eden Taylor-Draper) thoughts are now turning to all his manipulation tactics. She and Vinny have already deduced that it must have been Tom who had attacked him at the scrapyard earlier this year, when Belle makes the startling realisation that Tom could have also been lying about dog Piper’s death.

Though he claimed it was an accident, Tom had deliberately run over Piper with his car in order to manipulate Belle further. Tom performed surgery on Piper, but later told Belle that she hadn’t made it. Belle never paid eyes Piper’s body, after it was supposedly brought to her by Tom in a wicker casket, and after the burial we saw Tom secretly taking Piper to be adopted by a couple away from the village.

Belle instructs Vinny to get a shovel in order to dig up the casket, and whilst Vinny warns her that it may be a grisly sight, Belle is determined to know the truth.

As they gingerly open the casket, there’s mixed emotions for Belle as they find a single brick inside…

Now certain that Piper is alive, Belle asks vet Rhona if there’s any way to trace Piper through her microchip, but Rhona points out that nothing will come up until she has visited a vet. Belle remains determined however, and even toys with the idea of visiting Tom in prison, despite knowing that he would just feed her more lies.

As Christmas morning comes around, Belle and Vinny are alone in the cottage reflecting on the year they’ve had. It’s particularly poignant for Belle, as not only is it her 26th birthday, but also the first without both her parents.

When she later spends some time sitting next to late dad Zak’s (Steve Halliwell) grave, Belle is suddenly overwhelmed with joy when Piper runs up to her, having been found by Vinny and Gabby (Rosie Bentham)!

“Vinny and Gabby track down and get in touch with the people who Tom gave Piper to and explain the situation,” Eden Taylor-Draper explained to EverySoap and other press at a press event last month. “And they’re like, ‘Yeah, that is your dog, and we’re really sorry for what she’s been through’. So they just bring her back to me on Christmas morning.”

For full coverage on this story, including further chat with Eden Taylor-Draper, see our article here.

6) Brenda and Wendy cause upset for Bob

Back in the village, emotions are running high for Bob (Tony Audenshaw) as he attempts to pay tribute to late son Heath (Sebastian Dowling) on the first anniversary of his death.

Heath died during a New Year’s Eve joyride with twin sister Cathy and friend Angelica (Rebecca Bakes). Although Cathy was initially suspected to be driving, the real culprit was later revealed to be Angel, who went on to serve an eight month sentence in a secure children’s home.

Although initially confronted by Angel’s recent return to the village, Bob offered an olive branch at the village Bonfire Night.

For the past couple of weeks, Bob has been organising a carol concert to be held in the days before Christmas, in Heath’s memory.

But as the village gathers for the event outside the B&B on Monday, Wendy (Susan Cookson) and Brenda’s (Lesley Dunlop) constant bickering throughout ends up causing a scene, upsetting Bob.

Bob eventually reaches breaking point and lashes out at the pair for being so disrespectful, but is it too late to save the event?

7) Will Sarah and Jacob get together?

Another unexpected development during the concert is the sparks flying between Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) and friend Sarah (Katie Hill).

Jacob has been single since his split from Victoria (Isabel Hodgins) back in April, a romance which had cost him his relationship with father figure, and Victoria’s ex, David (Matthew Wolfenden). Since then Jacob has been concentrating on his studies at medical school.

But as he and Sarah make eyes at each other, could their be a new romance on the horizon?