What do you get a teenage boy for his birthday? A contract killing – If you’re Emmerdale’s Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths). The people trafficking Devil of the Dales ruins Dylan Pender’s (Fred Kettle) big day by crashing his party with an unusual gift – Robbie, the mole in their organisation.

She wants Dylan to kill him. So much for cake and balloons…

For weeks, Celia and her drug dealing son Ray (Joe Absalom) Celia have suspected that there is a rat in their criminal empire working with the police.

Now finally convinced she’s found the grass, Celia summons Dylan to Butler’s farm, drags out a terrified, tied up Robbie and hands Dillon a baseball bat.

From drug dealer to hitman – quite the promotion! Actor Jay Griffiths delves into her character’s ruthless reasoning.

‘Celia wants Dylan to be her new Ray.’ Jaye admits. ‘ She wants Dylan to prove he’s loyal by being in charge of the consequences, and the consequences for this lad Robbie, are with a baseball bat.

‘She wants Dylan to administer the consequences, but he won’t, and Celia is secretly thrilled, it means he’s not the muscle, that’s not him. He’s meant to be a manager.’

When Dylan can’t bring himself to hurt Robbie, Celia brings in one of her slaves, Mick (Leon Harropp) to finish the job and leads Dylan out. To Dylan’s horror, Celia proudly reveals her intentions to put him in charge of the forced workers.

So when it becomes that Celia’s made him an ‘offer’ he literally can’t refuse, the realisation begins to dawn on Dylan that he’s been exploited.

Celia is growing tired of constantly fixing Ray’s mistakes

Like so many young people exploited by county lines drug gangs, Dylan is from a troubled background. Viewers were first introduced to the wayward teen whilst he was living in a squat in Leeds, where he saved April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) from a pervert.

Why does Celia see such potential in him? Jaye Griffiths has the answer. ‘Celia has a fondness for Dylan because he reminds her of Ray’. She explains.

‘There is something so still about Fred, the way he plays him, that is always very attractive. Celia has a soft spot for him and she’s prepared to overlook her gut instinct that says he’s not all as he seems.’

Celia’s got good reason to worry.

With the police already conducting an investigation into her drugs business, the net just might be closing in. Emmerdale fans will be chomping at the bit for the nastiest farmer in Yorkshire to finally get her comeuppance, although Jaye Griffiths has other ideas.

‘Her comeuppance is that she’s lonely. She has a penthouse that you never see, because she’s never in it. What is her life? What does she enjoy? She never goes home. She has all this money in the bank, and yet she does nothing. She doesn’t go anywhere, she doesn’t have friends, she manipulates everyone she meets, it’s a lonely existence.”

Somebody get the violins out!