Tonight’s episode of Emmerdale opened with a deeply disturbing scene. Ray Walters (Joe Absolom), a drug dealer, was stood on his

doorstep enjoying a cup of tea. In the background, multiple vulnerable adults were working in the background as Ray and Celia Daniels’ (Jaye Griffiths) slaves.

 

 

The modern slavery part of this storyline was hinted at last Friday, but was officially confirmed yesterday. In an episode that focused solely on Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards), we learnt that he was lured into Ray and Celia’s dangerous world shortly after leaving the village.

 

 

Bear and many other adults have been groomed, put to work, injured, gaslit and abused by Celia and Ray. Another person who has fallen victim to this horrific ordeal is Anya, the young woman who arrived in England via the back of a depot truck from Caleb Miligan’s (William Ash) business.

 

 

Anya sustained injuries after leaving Mill Cottage and really isn’t in a good way. Despite this, she is still being forced to work, but Bear is still keeping an eye on her as best he can.

As the slaves began their morning jobs, Celia was chatting to Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb) in the cafe, who had some concerning news.

 

 

Moira informed Celia that the turkeys that came from her farm were sent to the local butcher in poor condition. Celia was horrified. She has incredibly high standards and the fact the produce wasn’t plucked properly made her furious.

On the farm, Ray instructed the workers to line up while Celia gave them a talking to. It was suggested that Anya was responsible for the poorly produced turkeys, but Bear stepped forward and said it was him.

After Ray slapped Bear, he was taken inside and told by Celia that if he doesn’t pluck the turkeys properly this time round, everyone will go without food for the evening and the entirety of tomorrow.

Bear – who is called Ted by Celia and Ray – returned to the bedroom area of the barn and found Anya. The woman believed that they’re not in a safe environment and need to leave, but Bear has been manipulated by Ray and is convinced that working on the farm is his life for the foreseeable.

Ray continued his grooming of Bear by secretly giving him a beer and a snack when the others weren’t around. He also gave him some pills to aid the pain Bear was in and to the vulnerable old man, it looked as though Ray was looking out for him.

In the village, Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) spoke to PC Swirling about his dad, but there wasn’t a great deal of progress in terms of searching for him.

With no path to trace, finding Bear is going to be extremely difficult, suggesting he’s going to be working for Celia and Ray for quite some time.

‘I think there’s a lot more to come,’ star Joshua Richards confirmed. ‘The seedy underbelly of this exploitative business will be peeled back for all to see.

‘It will be revealed in all of its vileness. I think it’s important that we’re not afraid to show these things and, as a continuing drama, I think we’re fortunate that we can highlight these things so that the public can be made aware.

‘It will be harrowing, but of course there’s always light at the end of every tunnel.’