Emmerdale loves to excitedly announce a “special episode” lately – and the first of three November standalone editions aired on Tuesday evening as Marlon Dingle and April Windsor’s rocky father-daughter relationship took centre stage. This heart-wrenching visit to the Dales was largely a two-hander for Marlon and April, with evil Ray Walters the only other character to feature in a brief cameo at the end.

As April is currently caught up in a nightmare, a heart-to-heart with Marlon was long overdue – but a shock twist soon revealed that everything wasn’t as it seemed…

The ITV soap has been keeping fans on their toes with these format-breaking editions over the past couple of years – with flashforwards, flashbacks, alternate realities and other flights of fancy creating new ways to tell stories.

In truth, some have been better received than others. Last year, Emmerdale received high praise for the groundbreaking episode in Tom and Belle King’s domestic abuse storyline, which showed the same dinner party from two contrasting points of view.

It did a brilliant job of showcasing how abusive relationships like these can be hidden in plain sight. But a run of further “specials” in the Tom/Belle saga, including one which explored different realities, seemed to lack the same impact after the success of the first.

Emmerdale bosses should also probably be mindful of the running joke among fans that “special episodes” are becoming so frequent, they’re in danger of not being all that special anymore.

In an era of rumoured budget cuts and fewer opportunities to splash out on stunts, though, it’s perhaps understandable that Emmerdale and other soaps are thinking outside the box to create appointment-to-view episodes in different ways.

Continuing a long tradition of keeping big secrets and twists under wraps, Emmerdale managed to avoid any specific details of Marlon and April’s big episode leaking out ahead of release. The show is always very effective in providing this element of surprise for viewers on screen – and long may it continue.

The episode saw April pay a now-rare visit to Marlon at her old home of Smithy Cottage, having recently moved into the B&B. In emotional scenes, she fell straight back into a familiar playful dynamic with her caring dad, with jokes and banter harking back to her childhood.

As actor Mark Charnock – who plays Marlon – recently noted, it was a chance for the Woolpack chef to reconnect with his daughter after weeks of estrangement. And for viewers, who’ve watched April face traumas for nearly a year now, it was a poignant reminder of the innocence that has been lost along the way.

April’s issues were clearly troubling her, so she took the brave step of telling Marlon that she’s killed a man in self-defence after being drawn into Ray and Celia’s disturbing exploitation ring.

With a horrified Marlon as loyal and supportive as you’d expect, there was a ray of hope for April – and the Emmerdale audience – as he insisted on involving the police.

Just as Marlon was about to take action, though, Ray forced his way into the cottage while brandishing a gun. Reminding April that he’d warned her about the consequences of speaking out, he ruthlessly fired at Marlon, who slipped away in his daughter’s arms shortly afterwards.

Of course, Emmerdale isn’t really killing off soap legend Marlon after 29 years. Soon enough, the action rewinded and we saw that a large chunk of the episode had been a figment of April’s imagination, exploring the teen’s worst fears of what would happen if she spoke up about her ordeal.

The fake-out was a bold move from the show for several reasons. First up, there’s the obvious fear that viewers will feel cheated after investing their time in scenes that weren’t real.

This isn’t unheard of in soap – EastEnders also “killed off” Linda Carter in a similar alternate-reality episode last year. In that case, though, it served as a turning point in Linda’s alcoholism story which provided immediate consequence and change for the audience.

In Emmerdale’s case, April’s story is no further forward and we’ve merely had a convoluted way of answering viewers who keep asking: “Why doesn’t she just tell Marlon?”

The special also provides a challenge to the writers for the long-term future of the story. Presumably, there will come a point where April has to tell Marlon the truth for real, so will that long-awaited revelation lose its impact now we’ve already seen a version of it play out on our screens? Marlon’s reaction in April’s imagination was so true to his character that it feels like we’ve already now seen how he’d respond.

Such a well-written and brilliantly-performed episode would have served as a fitting way to end such a dark storyline further on down the line (minus the Marlon murder, of course) but now the pressure will be on for Emmerdale to come up with something equally as gripping when the story ends for real. Our best guess is that the producers have a very different approach in mind for the true outcome, to avoid any repetition.

If there’s one thing we know about the show – which delivers consistently brilliant episodes all year round – it’s that the team are more than up to the task of keeping things fresh, so it’ll be interesting to see where this saga goes next…