Emmerdale star Joshua Richards has spoken about Bear Wolf’s dark new storyline for the first time, following the shocking revelation that

he’s become a victim of modern slavery. Bear’s story will take centre stage in a special flashback episode on Monday (10 November), which finally reveals what happened to him after he left the village in July.

 

 

The special scenes show how Bear was taken in by people who seemed to be kind, offering him “work” in exchange for board and lodgings. Over time, the situation grew increasingly sinister as Bear became injured and frail – and was left entirely at the mercy of his captors…

We recently caught up with Joshua for a big chat about Emmerdale’s new story shining a light on modern slavery and forced labour.

What was your first reaction when you heard about this story?

 

 

“Well, I found it a bit disconcerting and frightening at first, because I wondered: ‘What experience do I have to bring to the table?’ Which is nothing, really! But I also thought it would be interesting, because of course Bear has been experiencing this depression and confusion.

“Maybe it’s a great thing to find him so vulnerable – a big strong man being exploited like this. So as an actor, I rubbed my hands together and pulled my sleeves up to get stuck in.”

How did you prepare for it?

 

 

“We can only prepare by reading the script and finding out exactly where the character is going. Luckily, we do have very good writers and very good producers, who can steer you towards the place where you need to be.

“Beautifully up here at Emmerdale, a lot of the design team, the lighting team, the camera team, make-up, costume – everybody has got together to create an atmosphere that is very conducive to letting your imagination run wild.”

“It’ll be a standalone episode, where we’ll have an explanation of what exactly happened to Bear after he got in his car and drove away from Emmerdale.

“We did see a few weeks after he’d left the village that he was still with his car and not with his friend Gnasher in Ireland at all. So we will find out exactly what happened to him.”

“Well, funnily enough, we’ve just been talking to the Salvation Army and I’ve been speaking to a lovely gentleman who had been exploited. Basically, it’s something that you can slip into if you’ve been manipulated a certain way.

“Being a certain age as well, where maybe you do think that you’re useless and redundant, someone can step in and convince you that you are worth something and that you do have some kind of currency.

“But ‘currency’ is the operative word. You can be manipulated into a situation that you didn’t envisage seeing yourself in. It’s quite fascinating how these things actually do happen.”

Was there other research involved?

“Well, one fortunate thing for me is that in 2007, I did a play written by John Godber and Jane Thornton from Hull Truck Theatre Company called Sold. That was all about modern slavery, so it’s not a new subject for me.

“It’s something I’ve been aware of for many years – and even before I did that play. It is quite frightening that even as we speak, there are about 40 million people in modern day slavery, which is horrific.”

What do you hope viewers will take away from Bear’s story?

“Soap does have a responsibility to educate and maybe show things that go under the radar, which you may not necessarily see on the main news. Things like Mr Bates vs the Post Office, the blood scandal or various other things have been brought to light by great television drama.

“I think it’s our job to do that. I’m very proud to be part of what ITV is doing with these wonderful writers and the great research which has gone on.