9 Emmerdale Spoilers for Next Week – 31st March to 4th April

Next week on Emmerdale, April takes drastic action after Marlon confesses all, Vanessa refuses to forgive Mary, Brenda has a change of heart, and has Ella killed Liam?

1) Marlon confesses all

Despite there being some improvements in recent times, relations between Marlon (Mark Charnock) and daughter April (Amelia Flanagan) could reach rock bottom next week, as he finally comes clean over setting up Dylan (Fred Kettle).

Marlon had attempted to get rid of Dylan, who had looked after April on the streets, by planting ketamine stolen from the vets in his coat pocket. It initially had the desired effect when April sent Dylan packing, having apparently abused her trust, but backfired dramatically when Dylan was later found after an overdose.

Marlon had vowed to make it up to Dylan by offering to pay for him to go to rehab, and it was Dylan’s suggestion that they don’t tell April about how Marlon had set him up.

Dylan had felt it best that he cut contact with April as he headed off to rehab, deeply upsetting her, but he later had a change of heart and sent a letter to April… which Marlon intercepted.

“He and Dylan have an understanding that he won’t be in contact,” Mark Charnock recently told EverySoap and other press. “Marlon’s paying for his rehab, and Dylan will keep out of her way. That was Dylan’s idea. And so the minute Marlon sees the letter, the alarm bells start ringing.”

Best mate Paddy (Dominic Brunt) despaired when he learnt what Marlon had done, and tried to convince him to come clean about the letter before any further damage was caused. Marlon sat down with April in the pub, and was on the verge of telling her as he pulled the letter from his pocket, only for an oblivious April to rush off elsewhere.

As Marlon and a reluctant Rhona (Zoe Henry) later called in at Mulberry Cottage to check on April, who was at a gathering with Arthur (Alfie Clarke) and some other mates, they were stunned to find April coming downstairs with Kai (Yousef Naseer) whilst doing up their clothes. Embarrassed by her parents checking up on her yet again, April stormed out.

Next week, Marlon finds himself once again trying to assure April that he’s not angry and only has her best interests at heart, but it doesn’t go down well.

When the pair finally do talk properly, the subject of Dylan comes up again, and Marlon feels that now is the time to confess to April about framing him.

“He realises in the middle of the conversation that actually, there just comes a point where you just have to tell the truth,” Mark continues. “Part of him thinks, if I just blab this out now, she’ll hear it, she’ll understand it, and she’ll see in his eyes that he’s done it out of love. And that doesn’t happen. He tells her and it’s pretty disastrous!”

April is shocked by the revelation and storms home, asking Rhona whether she also knows what Marlon did. As she rages at the pair of them, telling them that Dylan’s now forgotten all about her because of their interference, Marlon decides now is the time to reveal the existence of the letter that proves otherwise…

“I have to then say, ‘Well, he hasn’t forgotten,” Mark reveals. “On top of what I’ve just told you, there’s this. So you’re going to hate me even more.”

“And yeah, she does hate me even more!”

Marlon shows April the letter, proving the Dylan does still care about her, and April rushes off. Marlon is left in despair that he’s made things even worse between them.

2) April takes her revenge

The next day, April sneaks in the veterinary surgery and takes another vial of ketamine, and when Marlon later returns home, he’s horrified to find April passed out on the living room floor with the empty vial beside her!

However, as Mark reveals, all isn’t as it appears…

“She fakes an overdose to teach them a lesson, which is so horrifying. He walks in and the horror is total and instantaneous. And after everything they’ve been through, after Dylan’s overdose, after April’s disappearance, for all the world, it looks like she’s dead.”

“He’s screaming about getting help, and then she just sits up and says, ‘THAT’S what karma feels like.’”

“I mean, it’s awful. It’s a really good piece of drama and an awful thing for a parent to have to go through. But I think they’re showing the extent to which their trust has been broken, and it’s a real turning point.”

Marlon doesn’t do himself any favours when he later plants a tracker in April’s coat, and it’s not long before he’s discovered when Rhona gets a notification about a new bluetooth device on her phone.

“At this point, you’ve got to say, ‘Stop doing stuff!‘” Mark exclaims.

“Because running up to that, they’ve had a big family conversation. Rhona tells them off, saying ‘We can’t live like this, it’s insane.’ So there’s a meeting of minds, finally. And I think it’s just emblematic of how terrified he is, and will continue to be, that he still can’t just let April live her life.”

Realising that he’s taken things too far once again, Marlon faces giving April another explanation about his actions, but could this actually be the breakthrough the pair need?

“Once he confesses about the tracking device, that’s where we might begin to see things change properly,” Mark teases.

Will Marlon finally be able to give April the freedom she needs?

3) Has Ella killed again?

Elsewhere, this week has seen Ella (Paula Lane) hounded out of the village after being accused of tampering with Chas’s (Lucy Pargeter) painkillers. Chas somehow managed to overdose on the prescription opioids she’s been taking since the limo crash, and it was John (Oliver Farnworth) who came to the rescue when she passed out behind the bar and hit her head.

With Ella having been spotted in the pub’s backroom, following a tense exchange with Chas at her and Liam’s (Jonny McPherson) engagement party, the finger was immediately pointed at her—the ‘scorned’ ex who Liam dumped in order to get back with Chas.

Ella has repeatedly protested her innocence, and in desperation came to her own conclusion that Chas must have become addicted to the pills and accidentally taken too many.

The accusation didn’t help her cause however. Ella was fired from her job at the surgery, and later thrown out of the cottage she shared with former boss Manpreet (Rebecca Sarker). The new start that she’s made in Emmerdale now in tatters, with friend Mandy (Lisa Riley) even having turned her back on her, Ella departed the village after one final exchange of words with Chas.

“I see you Chas,” Ella told her as she packed up her car. “You’re poisonous. And one day someone’s going to figure you out, and I hope that’s Liam. Your world is going to come crashing down around you, just like mine has.”

But despite her exit, Ella persists in hovering over Chas and Liam’s life next week as she continues sending messages and calling them.

“Ella’s behaviour and the things that she has done, or what he thinks she has done, is incredibly confusing to Liam,” Jonny McPherson tells us. “I think he felt that they were on fairly good terms—things were strained but not acrimonious.”

“And now she’s doing and saying things that are apparently malicious and vindictive, so he’s struggling to understand or come to terms with why she is behaving the way she is. I think the only explanation or conclusion he can come to is that she’s got serious psychiatric problems.”

Ella’s campaign is later ramped up when she seemingly sends an email cancelling Liam and Chas’s wedding. Feeling that he’s running out of options, Liam calls in PC Swirling (Andy Moore), but he advises that there’s nothing he can do until Ella is found.

The situation takes a further shocking turn when someone smashes one of the windows at The Woolpack. Both Liam and Chas are certain that Ella must be behind it, unaware that Ella is watching from a distance as they board up the window.

The next day, Mandy is stunned to find Ella waiting for her back at Tenant House, who demands to speak with Liam. Mandy’s reluctance to call him leads Ella to take desperate measures, grabbing a nearby Stanley knife and refusing to let Mandy leave!

With no other option, Mandy summons Liam to the house, where he’s shocked to find the scene before him.

“He thinks right Ella’s gone off the deep end,” Jonny continues. “All he can think to do is get rid of Mandy so she can call the police and then try and talk Ella off the ledge.”

Adamant of her innocence, Ella tries to convince Liam that she’s being framed, but he tricks her by pretending to rekindle their relationship in the hope of coaxing a confession. When Ella eventually, sees through his deception, she seizes the knife again.

As Mandy storms back over to the cottage with Chas, Ella flees with Liam in pursuit, who isn’t concerned for his own safety.

“I think he knows if it came to it then he could overpower Ella,” Jonny reveals. “I think he just still wants to help her and that plays out in the way that the scene evolves—he just wants to basically give her a cuddle and tell her everything’s going to be all right. Which has pretty dire consequences…”

As Liam follows Ella into the woods, his attempts to calm her lead to a confrontation where Ella pushes Liam. As he loses his balance, Liam falls and hits his head on a rock.

Ella is shocked as Liam shows no response and starts to sob over his body, convinced that he’s dead.

Has Ella managed to kill again?

4) Brenda has a change of heart

Elsewhere in the village, Nicola (Nicola Wheeler) is determined to try and secure Brenda’s (Lesley Dunlop) apparently unwanted cruise tickets for herself and husband Jimmy (Nick Miles).

Brenda was surprised to learn that she had been named as the winner of the luxury 3-month world cruise in an old issue of Chit Chat magazine that was in the cafe. Whilst the prize was still valid, Brenda had entered at a time when she was still in a relationship with Eric (Chris Chittell), and figured taking the cruise would just be a reminder of what she’d lost.

Nicola had attempted to impersonate Brenda on the phone to get the tickets transferred into her and Jimmy’s names, but was thwarted when she realised they’d need Brenda’s passport for verification.

Next week, Nicola is stunned when Brenda reveals that she is planning on going on the cruise after all, and quickly changes tack to try and score herself the spare ticket, in the guise of offering her support. This doesn’t go down too well with Jimmy, who’ll be left looking after the kids on his own for the duration, but will Brenda agree to take Nicola with her?

Meanwhile, Jimmy goes on to tell Eric that he’s sure there’s a chance that he could be reconciled with Brenda following their sad split last year.

So when Brenda wants to talk with Eric the next day, he quickly gets the wrong end of the stick.

Whilst Jimmy’s words have Eric hopeful of a reconciliation, has he inadvertently set him up for more heartache?

5) Will Dawn attempt to fix things with Billy?

Up at Home Farm, Dawn (Olivia Bromley) is feeling torn over husband Billy’s (Jay Kontzle) desire to fix the issues in their marriage.

Billy recently confessed to Dawn that he had been messaging other women online, completely unaware that Dawn herself had in fact been conducting an affair with housemate Joe (Ned Porteous).

But whilst Joe has been carrying on with Dawn, he’s secretly been suffering with chronic kidney failure, and plotting an audacious scheme to harvest a replacement from his uncle Caleb (Will Ash). As he put his plan into action this week, going into hiding as an attack on Caleb was formulated, Joe abruptly ended things with Dawn.

Having been aware of her stepdaughter’s dalliance for a few weeks now, Kim (Claire King) is determined for Dawn to work on rekindling her marriage with Billy, and next week deliberately starts to engineer time for Dawn and Billy to be alone at the house together.

Although things are tense between Dawn and Billy as they try to navigate through their issues, Kim is relieved when it seems her plan is working.

But little does she realise that Dawn is still hung up on Joe, and isn’t willing to give up on him without a fight.

Will Dawn go so far as to try and track Joe down?

6) Vanessa rejects Mary’s olive branch

Meanwhile, Mary (Louise Jamieson) is faced with further rejection after making another attempt to patch things up with Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick).

Vanessa was devastated when girlfriend Suzy (Martelle Edinborough) was killed in the recent limo crash. But the blows kept coming when Vanessa, who was on the verge of proposing to Suzy, subsequently discovered that Suzy had shared a kiss with someone else in the days before she died.

She never expected that person to be Mary, the mother of her best mate Rhona, who it turned out that Suzy was actually planning to leave Vanessa for.

Next week, Mary desperately hopes that now that Vanessa has cooled down, she can try deal with the situation again.

But Vanessa makes it clear that she has no intention of forgiving Mary, leaving her concerned that their friendship is over for good.

7) Cain turns against Sarah and Kammy

Elsewhere, it’s been a whirlwind few weeks for Sarah (Katie Hill) as she’s found herself in a romance with newcomer Kammy (Shebz Miah), and letting free her rebellious Dingle side.

Sarah was intrigued by Kammy’s charm when she first came across him in possession of a stolen quad bike from Butlers, and soon wanted to be part of his racket. As a romance began between the pair, much to the disapproval of Sarah’s gran Charity (Emma Atkins), Sarah persuaded grandad Cain (Jeff Hordley) to offer Kammy a job at the garage.

Next week, Sarah’s ex-boyfriend Jacob (Joe-Warren Plant) is beginning to regret ending his short-lived relationship with her. Jacob had pushed Sarah away as he struggled to come to terms with the death of mum Leyla (Roxy Shahidi).

Jacob comes to the garage in the hope of talking things through with Sarah, but she quickly makes it clear that she isn’t interested in giving him another chance, particularly now that she’s with Kammy.

Sarah’s rebellious streak later continues when she offers Kammy a joyride in a sports car that has been brought into the garage for a service. Whilst Kammy declines, the car’s owner later comes over and accuses Kammy of scratching his car. 

Sarah is furious when Cain refuses to take Kammy’s side in the matter, and when the customer later terminates his contract with the garage, Cain decides to fire both Sarah and Kammy!

8) Is Vinny moving into Home Farm?

Also next week, Gabby (Rosie Bentham) decides that it’s time to try and find some alternative childcare for young son Thomas (Bertie Brotherton), rather then constantly relying on his grandmother Kim.

Gabby’s delighted when boyfriend Vinny (Bradley Johnson) suggests that he could move into Home Farm with her and help out.

But how will Kim feel about having a Dingle living under her roof?

9) Jacob has a proposal for Belle

Whilst everyone has been mourning those lost in the limo crash, Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) has been left with something of a dilemma.

With boss Suzy and colleague Leyla both being killed in the accident, Belle has been left to take care of the Take a Vow wedding planning business all on her own whilst Leyla’s estate is sorted.

But she’s left with a curveball next week when Leyla’s son Jacob offers to sell the business to Belle.

With Belle finally starting to move on from her traumatic 2024, which saw her married to abusive husband Tom (James Chase), could this be the fresh start that Belle needs?