Next week on Emmerdale, a body is buried on Moira’s land, the Dingles face money troubles, and have Robert and Aaron gotten rid of Kev for good?

1) Bear is forced to dig Anya’s grave

Up at Celia’s (Jaye Griffiths) farm, Bear (Joshua Richards) and his fellow exploited workers are reeling following the tragic death of Anya (Alia Al-Shabibi).

Having failed to escape the village, Anya was captured and returned to the farm with an unexplained leg wound.

With Bear having built up a bond with the young mother during their time in captivity, he did all he could to help Anya as her condition deteriorated over the past week.

Repeated requests to take Anya to hospital were turned down, and by the time Ray (Joe Absolom) finally agreed to source the vital antibiotics she needed, it was already too late.

Anya had passed away, and Ray was visibly unsettled as the workers’ silent, accusatory stares fell on him.

Next week, the shock only deepens for Bear when Simo (Steven Gidwaney) and Mick (Leon Harrop) break the news that Ray has dumped Anya’s body in the feed shed.

Horrified by the indignity of it, Bear rounds on Ray, his grief tipping into fury as he demands to know how she could be treated so carelessly.

The confrontation spirals, and in the heat of the moment Bear has Ray backed against the wall, the former wrestler’s rage threatening to take over before Ray finally manages to talk him down.

But the incident leaves Ray uneasy, especially when Bear insists he’ll be attending Anya’s funeral.

Needless to say, there are no plans to go through the legal formalities, let alone organising a funeral, so when Ray later relays the conversation to Celia, she immediately begins shaping a solution of her own.

Later that evening, Celia leads them out to one of Moira’s (Natalie J Robb) neighbouring fields, unveiling a simple send-off for Anya.

Bear is taken aback by how stark and unceremonious it all feels, but the real blow comes when he and Ray are handed the tools and told they’ll be digging the grave themselves.

Some time later, once Anya has been laid to rest in the makeshift plot, Bear gathers himself enough to say a few words. Celia stands nearby, with not a flicker of emotion.

Just how much further are Celia and Ray willing to go… and how long will it be before Moira discovers that there’s a body in one of her fields?

2) Will Bear make his escape?

There’s no doubt at this point that Bear has been completely brainwashed, convinced that Ray’s doing them all a favour by providing so-called employment and accommodation.

Mick and Simo persist in trying to make Bear realise that Ray hasn’t been straight with him, pointing out all the things over time which haven’t added up.

When the pair outline their plans to escape, they encourage him to think about coming too.

As Bear studies a photo of Anya’s daughter and finds himself thinking of Paddy (Dominic Brunt), he’s left unsure what to do—whether to go with them, or remain under Ray’s watch.

3) Disaster strikes at Wishing Well

Up at Wishing Well, Lydia (Karen Blick) mentions to Sam (James Hooton) that she’s been squirrelling away loose change in the hope of treating herself to VIP tickets to an upcoming Jason Donovan concert, though she’s convinced she’s nowhere near the target.

When Sam and Belle (Eden Taylor-Draper) tot up the jar, they’re able to scrabble enough money together to nudge the total to the amount she needs—but any excitement quickly fades when they discover the tickets have already sold out.

With the plan derailed, Belle starts thinking on her feet.

A short time later, Mandy (Lisa Riley) and Belle steer a blindfolded Lydia into the Dingles. When the blindfold comes off, she finds Sam, with a blonde wig, waiting beside a homemade “Jason Donovan VIP Experience” of his own.

Lydia is thrilled, and the family settles into a session of karaoke.

However, just as Lydia’s about to treat them all to the pièce de résistance duet, the power cuts out—and Sam soon realises the problem isn’t a simple one.

There’s more bad news when Noah (Jack Downham) explains to them that the whole cottage will need rewiring, and the cost leaves Sam and Lydia stunned.

Wanting to play her part, Lydia hands over her ticket fund, not knowing that Belle has since managed to track down some VIP tickets.

With a hefty bill still looming, Sam has a sudden flash of inspiration about how to raise the rest of the money, and pulls Belle in to help him.

But how long will Sam’s plan stay under the radar…?

4) Liam confesses Kev’s secret

Down in the village, Robert (Ryan Hawley) and Aaron (Danny Miller) find themselves pushed towards desperate measures as they try to remove Kev from their lives for good.

Robert has already ended things with husband Kev, even managing to hold firm after Kev’s heartfelt attempt to win him back with a touching rendition of Daniel Bedingfield’s If You’re Not the One.

But admitting he’s rekindled a secret relationship with Aaron feels far too risky, convinced the truth would send Kev spiralling.

In Robert’s mind, Kev only has a few months left, with GP Liam (Jonny McPherson) the sole person aware that Kev’s heart condition isn’t terminal at all, but a manageable problem he’s been exaggerating.

Kev’s financial claims have been equally misleading. The sizeable inheritance he promised Robert doesn’t exist, and despite assuring the Sugdens he could help them fund some new farm machinery, he’s actually penniless—a fact underlined when he proceeded to carry out a robbery at a Hotten pawn shop, with an unsuspecting Liam forced to act as getaway driver.

It didn’t take long for Aaron to cotton on to the fact that Kev was responsible, and when Robert found Kev in possession of the stolen goods, the truth came tumbling out about both the robbery and his lack of finances.

Although Robert has promised to stick by Kev in his ‘final days’, both he and Aaron realised that they now have the perfect opportunity to get rid of Kev, by reporting his crime to the police.

The only problem is the ability to prove it, and for that they need to know where the bag of loot has been stashed…

Next week, Robert quietly tries to steer a conversation with Kev back to the robbery, hoping he might slip up about where he’s hidden the goods.

But when Kev pointedly reminds him how much he hates being lied to, Robert’s confidence falters, leaving him uneasy that Kev may have clocked what he’s up to.

Later, Robert and Aaron take a moment to assess the situation, both acknowledging how slim their chances are of tracking down the missing goods.

Meanwhile, Liam is thrown off balance when Kev turns up without warning and pressures him into backing the story he’s planning to tell Robert—that his supposed terminal heart condition was a misdiagnosis.

Back at the Woolpack, Robert and Aaron outline the plan they’ve pieced together to finally rid themselves of Kev, and after some initial reluctance, Chas (Lucy Pargeter) agrees to help them.

They’re barely into the details when Liam walks in and immediately senses something is being kept from him.

Once he’s updated, it doesn’t take long for Robert and Aaron to spot that Liam is also holding something back.

Pushed to be honest, Liam finally admits the truth that’s been eating away at him—Kev was never terminally ill at all!

5) Kev is hauled in by DS Carter

Liam’s admission leaves Aaron and Robert stunned, but it doesn’t change their thinking—they’re convinced their original plan is still the only way to remove Kev from their lives.

Chas and Liam agree, albeit with some reluctance, and give the pair the go-ahead to see it through.

Later on, Kev slips into the church, taking a moment to make sure no one else is around before retrieving the holdall stuffed with the loot.

Unbeknownst to him, Aaron has been watching from a hidden vantage point. Certain they finally have what they need, he phones Robert, ready to bring the whole thing to an end.

The next day, DS Carter (Lisa Diveney) arrives and escorts Kev to the station, where he’s formally questioned over the armed robbery… has Robert and Aaron’s plan worked?

6) Caleb’s depot is raided!

It’s a busy week for Hotten’s police department as they descend on Emmerdale again the following day, following a report that drugs are being moved through the depot.

The accusation isn’t wrong; new employee Dylan (Fred Kettle) has been forced to take advantage of his new position at the firm by Ray, using nationwide truck deliveries to drop and collect packages between Ray and his contacts.

Billy (Jay Kontzle) and Jai (Chris Bisson) are baffled by the police’s claims when they rock up, and Jai can only suggest that they speak to owner Caleb (Will Ash) directly.

When Ray learns of the raid, he tells Dylan that they’ll need to halt any activity until the situation cools down.

Whilst Dylan may be thankful of a short reprieve, he and April remain on edge when Ray later approaches them, reminding them that he’s still in search of the rat who made the report to the police…

7) Moira signs another deal with the devil

Meanwhile, Celia is back on form after her unexpected visit from landlady Kim (Claire King).

After becoming suspicious of supposedly busy farmer Celia’s constant presence in the village, Kim made good on her threat to turn up unannounced at her farm to inspect the property—despite Celia’s reminder that she’d require 24 hours written notice.

With her ‘workers’ scattered around the farm, and with a large amount of cash hidden in the kitchen, Celia had to think on her feet to get rid of Kim before she discovered Bear and Anya in the makeshift slave quarters in the attic.

Making a veiled threat towards Kim’s horses saw Celia successfully convince Kim to leave. Once the coast was clear, Celia’s confidence slipped and she was left visibly shaken at how close she’d come to being exposed.

Next week, Celia vents to Moira about Kim’s visit the day before and, in the process, produces a fresh contract for her to look over.

Blissfully unaware of what her business partner is really up to across the fields, Moira signs it without hesitation…

8) Nicola digs for info on Ray

Also next week, with a gentle nudge from Nicola (Nicola Wheeler), Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy) starts to feel enthusiastic about her upcoming date with Ray.

When Nicola decides to dig around online for a bit more information about him, her quick bit of cyber-sleuthing only raises more questions when she finds barely anything about Ray at all.

Will that be enough to raise the red flags that Laurel desperately needs to avoid becoming involved with the dastardly dealer?