9 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 30th December to 3rd January

Next week on Emmerdale, the police find clues to April’s disappearance, Jacob gets a baptism of fire, Cain lets Moira down again, and Anthony learns Ruby and Cain’s secret.

1) The police uncover clues about April’s disappearance

Marlon (Mark Charnock) and Rhona’s (Zoe Henry) nightmare continues next week as 15-year-old April (Amelia Flanagan) remains missing.

The teen has been going off the rails in recent weeks after discovering the truth about her mother Donna’s (Verity Rushworth) death a decade ago, a revelation imparted to her by Donna’s former partner Ross (Michael Parr).

Angry at Ross’s interference, Marlon had warned him to stay away from his daughter, and April was left devastated when her former confidant cruelly rejected her when she needed him most. After discovering that Marlon was behind Ross’s sudden turnaround, April stole some wine from the pub and went on a bender, returning home drunk.

After April made a scene in front of all her loved ones—demolishing a Yule Log made by Wendy (Susan Cookson) and spilling wine over a memory card containing a video from Donna—Marlon finally lashed out at his rebellious daughter.

“It’d be so much easier for all of you if I just faded into the background,” April screamed at her dad.

“I wish you would!” replied Marlon hastily, before immediately regretting his words and trying to take it back. April retreated to her room in tears, with Marlon discovering the next day that she had disappeared.

The village pulled together to try and find April, but with their search proving fruitless, Marlon finally called the police. That night, viewers saw April on a city street with her backpack, getting into the back of a car that had stopped to pick her up.

Next week, Marlon and Rhona meet the family liaison officer, Anna, who has been assigned to the case, and after learning that there’s been no leads so far in the search, Marlon admits that April had been upset following her discovery about Donna’s death.

With Marlon and Rhona’s agreement, the police search the cottage for anything that may give them some leads as to April’s state of mind, or indeed her whereabouts.

When the pair realise that there is money missing, as well as a number of April’s belongings, Marlon and Rhona are devastated to realise that April had made a very deliberate plan to run away.

There’s further concern when Anna informs them that contraceptive pills have been discovered in April’s room, and as he struggles to cope with the mounting revelations, a despaired Marlon begins to believe he’s failed his daughter.

“I was very upset reading the scripts that are coming through,” Mark told EverySoap and other press at an event last month.

“Obviously it’s hopefully going to be a moving story but the scripts were so strong, you could see the writer’s personal investment in a lot of the stuff. I was speaking to the producers and everybody’s like… it’s huge, isn’t it? It’s the most unimaginable thing.”

2) Is Leyla sabotaging Jacob’s chance at love?

With the sparks flying between Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) and Sarah (Katie Hill) in recent weeks, the two decide to bite the bullet and organise to go on a date.

However, having just arranged a time and a place, Jacob is torn when mum Leyla (Roxy Shahidi) insists that he come to lunch with her at that exact time.

Is Leyla deliberately trying to come between Jacob and Sarah?

When the village later starts out on another search for April, Jacob apologises for the clash and the pair agree to make arrangements for another date, but will anything else come between them?

3) Jacob’s baptism of fire

Later in the week, the new year brings a harsh dose of reality for Jacob, as he experiences the pressure of a busy A&E department first-hand.

In a special, stand-alone episode airing on Thursday 2nd January, the medical student will find himself pushed to the limits as he begins a four-week placement at Hotten General, where it just so happens that he comes into contact with various village residents on his first day.

“When Jacob first embarked on his aspirations of having a medical degree we knew at some point we wanted to show a day in his life,” producer Sophie Roper states.

“In this episode we step away from our usual environs of the village and head to the hospital. This episode takes place entirely on our purpose-built hospital set. Accident and Emergency is a place many of our characters end up in, but seldom by choice.”

“He turns up at the hospital feeling pretty energised and ready for the day,” explains Joe-Warren Plant. “Knowing how long he has been waiting for this. I think part of him is proud of his new job so before he starts his shift whilst he has a little bit of time he takes a quick selfie for social media. It’s been a pretty big deal for Jacob leading up to this point. Part of him wants to take his friends and his family on his journey with him.”

As he begins his shift, Jacob is briefed by his supervisor Dr Todd.

“Doctor Todd has got an important job to do in bringing these new trainees in and giving them as much knowledge as she possesses in quite a short amount of time,” Joe adds. “So you get the vibe that although she is strict she is also understanding. She is there to do her job and to also make it easier and as safe as possible for everybody involved.”

“Jacob understands this and knows he is there to learn. He listens to her and takes it all on board. She tells him it’s a four week placement and it starts with observations and from that point on there are all the nurses and doctors to help the trainees along their way.”

Jacob soon finds himself thrown in at the deep end when a stab victim is brought into the emergency department. Jacob panics when he sees the victim has April’s purse on them, and is quick to call Marlon. However this immediately puts him at odds with Dr Todd, who is forced to reprimand him for breaking hospital protocol.

As Marlon and Rhona rush to the hospital desperate for any news on April, a long wait in the relatives room causes tensions to rise. Eventually, a heartbroken Jacob is forced to watch as a nurse enters the room to deliver some devastating news to Rhona and Marlon…

4) Sarah is rushed to hospital

As Jacob later talks with one of the other medical students, another familiar face arrives when Charity (Emma Atkins) brings a drunken Sarah into the hospital. Jacob isn’t too impressed by the state Sarah is in, a completely avoidable situation when the department is already full to the brim, and as he tends to her he delivers some tough love.

Increasingly stressed, Jacob finds a moment of respite when he bonds with an elderly patient named Henry, each lamenting their family situations. Henry’s wise words provide some comfort to Jacob on what is proving to be a very demanding shift.

5) Cain lets Moira down again

Moira (Natalie J Robb) and Cain (Jeff Hordley) are the next to arrive at the hospital and come across Jacob, as they attend an appointment to discuss Moira’s radiotherapy treatment plan.

As Moira undergoes the fitting for her radiation mask, the enormity of the situation begins to hit her as she becomes emotional. Meanwhile, Cain has managed to distract himself by also ending up in conversation with Henry, who reminds him of late dad Zak (Steve Halliwell).

When an upset Moira finally finishes up, she finds that Cain has once again managed to let her down by not being there when she needs him the most.

6) Jacob has a near miss

After a punishing day, Jacob is feeling completely drained as he makes his way back to the village, and is horrified when he nearly hits Manpreet (Rebecca Sarker) with his car.

Jacob can’t apologise enough, but Manpreet is more concerned by the fact that Jacob is very clearly suffering from exhaustion.

With her own knowledge in the field, will Manpreet be able to assist Jacob in getting the help he needs?

7) Anthony learns Ruby and Cain’s secret

Elsewhere, relations between Ruby (Beth Cordingly) and her father Anthony (Nicholas Day) remain on a knife edge.

Ruby has been forced to put on a brave face for the sake of her family after daughter Steph (Georgia Jay) brought Anthony to the village, having been estranged from him for decades.

It was later revealed to viewers in flashback that Anthony had abused Ruby in her teenage years, and tensions reached an all-time high on Christmas Day when Ruby found herself alone with her father.

As he tried to convince Ruby to get over her obvious frostiness towards him, Ruby pulled out a carving knife and warned him to stay away from her.

The moment was interrupted by Cain, and whilst Ruby tried to make light of the situation, Cain could see there were clearly some deep-seated issues.

Having grown up with his father Shadrach’s beatings, Cain tried to get Ruby to open up, but all she confirmed was that Anthony had never assaulted her in that way.

Meanwhile, Cain and Ruby have been keeping their own dirty little secret, with the two having slept together whilst Moira was undergoing surgery, and the hushed conversations between the two are already arousing suspicions with Anthony.

Next week, Cain is beginning to see through Anthony’s innocent facade, and Ruby is forced to step in when Cain is rude to her dad. Telling Anthony to just ignore him, she later warns Cain that he needs to back off her dad if they’ve got any chance of keeping their secret liaison under wraps.

Anthony is already onto them though, witnessing yet another conversation between the pair, and when he later pressures Ruby into the nature of her relationship with her brother-in-law, Ruby eventually breaks and confesses that they slept together.

Cain’s horrified when Ruby later reveals that her father now knows their secret, and the perilous position they’re now in is laid bare when Anthony declares that he wants to make a speech in The Woolpack during the New Year celebrations.

Chas (Lucy Pargeter) can see how agitated Ruby is as she knocks back the drinks, and as she pushes her sister-in-law to confide in her, Ruby finally decides to break her silence… will the truth of Anthony’s abuse come out?

8) Bob struggles

April’s disappearance is also taking its toll on step-grandad Bob (Tony Audenshaw), as the first anniversary of his son Heath’s (Sebastian Dowling) death finally comes around.

Bob had hoped to make the occasion last week with a special carol service outside the B&B, but the constant bickering between Wendy and Brenda (Lesley Dunlop) had caused Bob to lose it, storming off before the event had even got started.

Now having spent New Year’s Day searching for his missing granddaughter, the very day that Heath died, Bob’s grief begins to overwhelm him as he breaks down in tears.

9) A glimpse of what’s to come…

As the year comes to a close, New Year’s Eve will see viewers treated to five flash-forwards teasing what’s to come in 2025… but what do they mean…?