The following article contains spoilers from the episode of Emmerdale dated March 18. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.

A very unexpected person has come forward as part of an attempt to save Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) from going to prison in Emmerdale.

On Monday, Bear was back at the police station being questioned by DS Walsh (Amanda Ryan), who was determined to get the truth out of him regarding what actually happened on the day Ray Walters (Joe Absolom) was killed.

For a little while, Bear maintained that he was the only one at the scene when Ray died, but got caught out thanks to a smart move from Walsh.

The detective asked Bear to tie the specific knot that was used when Ray’s body got wrapped up and dumped in a depot van. Because Bear couldn’t guess the correct one, it proved he was lying.

In an attempt to protect Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt), Bear suddenly blurted out that he did intend on killing Ray after all, increasing his chance of being sent to prison for the rest of his life.

Paddy was desperate to find something to help his dad in yesterday’s episode, and concluded that the only way of increasing Bear’s chance of not facing a murder charge would be to tell Walsh that he lied about where he was when Ray died.

Paddy and Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) headed to the station and told Walsh the truth. They were charged with perverting the course of justice and because their lies meant police time was wasted, Paddy and Dylan were told they wouldn’t be returning home anytime soon.

The absence of her two boys left Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) wandering the village like a lost dog as today’s instalment opened.

Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) was at the door ahead of a meeting with Zara the solicitor. Inside, Chas, Mandy, April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan), Marlon Dingle (Mark Charnock) and Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) all listened as Zara explained what will happen next with Paddy, Bear and Dylan.

She pointed out that if anyone saw Ray before he went to attack Dylan on that day, they could tell the police about his state of mind, and increase the possibility of the jury believing Bear killed Ray in self-defence.

Aaron later told Mandy that all they need to do is get someone to lie, make up a statement about Ray, and it would give Bear, Paddy and Dylan a little bit more hope.

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In the café, Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) happened to mention seeing Ray before he went into Tenants, and Mandy and Aaron’s answer was staring them right in the face.

They asked Laurel to lie to the police, but she really didn’t want to due to the fact she could also end up in prison for not being honest.

Overhearing the conversation was Arthur Thomas (Alfie Clarke), who – to literally no one’s surprise – had something to say about Laurel’s reluctance to help out.

He pushed Laurel to make the statement, pointing out how much things could change if she did. The fear of leaving her children behind because she lied to the police was too much though – Laurel wasn’t going to do it.

So, Arthur took it upon himself to head to the pub and tell Mandy and Aaron that he’d do it instead.

Maybe this is some weird way of getting rid of his guilt because he put his mum Laurel in hospital the other week.

Potentially being hailed as a hero who freed three people is no doubt an attractive prospect to Arthur, who was only telling his mum the other week that it he feels bored and stuck in the village.

Does Arthur simply want to help because he’s being kind?

Or is there another reason?

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Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly) found herself connecting with Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) during tonight’s episode of Emmerdale.

Bear spent the start of this week being questioned by DS Walsh, following his confession that he killed Ray Walters (Joe Absolom).

He faced a particularly large hurdle halfway through though due to Walsh believing that Bear wasn’t the only person involved in disposing of Ray’s body.

She brought Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) and Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) in for questioning as well, but they stuck to the story and continued to tell the detective that Bear murdered and covered Ray’s death up by himself.

The CPS granted Bear bail, which meant he was allowed to return home until the trial.

Paddy gently suggested to Bear in this evening’s instalment that they go to the café. He believed that it would help Bear see that no one in the village thinks he’s a bad man.

As they sat down, Bear immediately got overwhelmed at the amount of people in the building. A harmless comment by Lewis Barton (Bradley Riches) about Bear’s ankle tag, and one made by Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) about him being a hero, then saw the character get up and leave.

Bear was found by Ruby at the Pavilion. With echoes of Paddy calling Bear’s name in the distance, Ruby sensed that the last thing Bear wanted to do was return home.

When Bear started talking about taking Ray’s life and the importance in facing consequences for your actions, Ruby started to allude to knowing a little bit about what Bear has been through.

When Ruby was a child, she was sexually abused by her father Anthony Fox. The evil man controlled Ruby for the majority of her life. In January 2025, Anthony died as a result of Ruby killing him.

Her ordeal isn’t the exact same as Bear’s, but she knows what it’s like to be controlled by a man, and to have that man stop you from living a life you deserve. Ruby said that if Bear doesn’t fight and ends up going to prison, Ray has still won.

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Ruby took Bear home, much to Paddy’s surprise. The character was left further taken aback when Bear told Ruby to sit down as he was making her a coffee. Bear even joked about not having the posh coffees Ruby likes.

He told Paddy and Ruby that he quite liked the life he had before Ray took him to the farm, and that he wouldn’t mind getting it back.

It was a lovely moment but most importantly it was hope, something Paddy and Bear haven’t seen in ages.

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Emmerdale’s Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) is doing everything in his power to try and save his dad, but he can’t be in several different places at once.

Trying to protect Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) from the realities of his actions has become a fulltime job for the vet.

Bear is still in a state of trauma from his experience of the human trafficking ring, followed by him accidentally killing his captor, Ray Walters (Joe Absolom). For weeks, Paddy battled to keep his dad from revealing his part in Ray’s death.

Paddy’s priority has remained his dad, even going up against Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) in the face of Cain trying to pry the truth from the frail old man to save his wife Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb), Paddy firmly put his foot down to protect Bear.

What a waste of time that was. Ultimately, Bear couldn’t cope with his regret and sadness, and told DS Walsh everything. Well, almost everything. He kept secret the parts that Paddy and Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) played in the body disposal.

Fragile Bear is heading for another bump in the road with Ray’s burial around the corner.

Dylan is also struggling with his complex emotions attached to Ray’s death and Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) too is also battling her conscience. She decides Ray should have at least someone there.

For Paddy, Dylan, and Mandy, it’s the contrary and they try and keep it a secret from Bear for fear it may break him. Unfortunately for their best laid plans, Claudette Anderson (Flo Wilson) puts her size sixes in and lets the cat out of the bag.

So now Paddy must cope with a traumatised Bear insisting he attend the ceremony and neither Laurel or Claudette can talk him down.

Paddy doesn’t find out until afterwards though, and is left with the aftermath of the event. In response, he utterly loses his mind at Laurel and her reckless behaviour putting Bear at risk.

And he’s right, Bear rages at his son, revealing his fresh trauma and start of a new spiral.

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Laurel finds Bear drinking on his own and tries to get him to open up.

Actress Charlotte Bellamy shares that the pair have an unusual connection.

‘A really lovely sort of relationship starts to form between them that is kind of a connection. Of course, Bear sort of, a bit like the Stockholm Syndrome, kind of feels the same, like she does. So they’re both kind of conflicted with pain but also, she loved Ray and Bear loved Ray in a weird sort of way.’

But Bear’s struggles are deepening by the second.

Having not got the painkillers he needs from Manpreet Sharma (Rebecca Sarker), he heads to hospital with a cut hand on a mission to get what he needs. But with the state he’s in, chaos ensues. He’s dangerous without meaning to be, who will fall foul of Bear’s mental decline?

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During Friday’s episode of Emmerdale, Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) sat with a counsellor called Lucy, and began to speak about the horror he went through on Celia Daniels’ (Jaye Griffiths) farm.

Ever since Bear returned to the village, he’s struggled to completely see that what he went through was wrong. This is down to the high level of manipulation and abuse he suffered, which left left Bear believing that Celia was helping vulnerable people, and that Ray was his friend.

Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) has tried to help his dad see the reality of what he went through, but he realised a couple of days ago that Bear wasn’t going to completely heal without some therapy from a professional.

Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin) then organised for Lucy to visit the village. As a victim of exploitation herself, Lucy knew exactly how to approach the session with Bear. She gently tried to steer him in the direction of seeing Ray as a monster, but it wasn’t easy.

This was because Bear spent a lot of time being plagued with visions of Ray. Whenever Lucy spoke the truth, Ray would appear as a figment of Bear’s imagination and counteract her comment.

A breakthrough happened when Bear opened up about his friend and fellow slave Anya, who died as a result of Celia and Ray failing to get her any medication for her ill health. Telling Lucy about Anya’s death saw Bear slowly start to realise that Ray most certainly wasn’t his friend.

The situation for Bear changed when Lucy called him a good man. Overwhelmed with the pressure of keeping his murderous secret, Bear fell apart and confessed to killing the man who kept him prisoner for months.

The instalment ended with a horrified Paddy watching his dad get into a police car. The beloved character has already been through so much, and it sadly isn’t over yet.

Calling Bear’s killing of Ray ‘poetic justice’, actor Joshua Richards recently opened up about the next part of Bear’s story, which will see him questioned by DS Walsh at first.

‘It sets off another dilemma, of course, because this isn’t the end of the horror. Horror continues’, he said.

Teasing what lies ahead in the coming days, Joshua added: ‘I think the police officer is particularly ruthless and obviously wants to get this crime sorted, but also wants to nail as many people as possible. I mean, her remit seems to be quite wide with Moira after Cain and after Paddy, after Dylan, after Bear. She doesn’t want one person, she wants everybody.’

DS Walsh will charge Bear with manslaughter. According to Joshua, his character believes he should face the consequences for his actions.

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‘I think in his mind, taking a life is taking a life, it’s a life for a life…even if it was in self-defence. He was almost the victim of a nervous breakdown and being practically insane at the time, but he still believes he should take the consequences.’

Joshua noted: ‘I think he has this mistaken sense of honour, and that he’s got to own up to what he did, even though he was totally unaware of what he did at the time he was doing it.

‘And it’s just this old-fashioned sort of “Well, I did it, therefore I should take the consequences.” It’s misguided and wrong, but he firmly believes that that’s the honourable thing to do.’

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