Emmerdale to air three standalone episodes on key storylines

Emmerdale will air three special standalone episodes featuring key storylines this autumn.

One episode will follow April Dingle (Amelia Flanagan), who is at the mercy of drug dealers, as her worried father Marlon (Mark Charnock) tries to get through to her.

The special episode will explore the fragile relationship between a father and his daughter as she slips further from his grasp.

Another episode will examine Robert Sugden’s (Ryan Hawley) life behind bars.

He served six years of a 14-year sentence for the murder of Lee Posner, the man who raped his sister, Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins).

The instalment will follow what happened when he went to prison and show if it changed him forever.

The third standalone episode will explore what happened to Bear (Joshua Richards) when he left for Ireland after finding it too difficult to live under the same roof as his son Paddy (Dominic Brunt).

Paddy believed his estranged father was safe with friends in Ireland but it becomes apparent he never made the journey across the Irish Sea.

The episode will explore where Bear disappeared and reveal the 100 missing days of his life and show that he is trapped in an all-too-common situation for a forgotten generation.

The episodes will air in the autumn.

The drama on Emmerdale continues Friday at 7.30pm on STV, or from 7am on STV Player.