Emmerdale’s Bear Wolf gets the chance to escape Celia Daniels and Ray Walters’ cruel clutches next week, following his friend Anya’s tragic death. Fellow prisoners Mick and Simo reveal to Bear that they’re plotting a daring getaway from their slavery prison, but will brainwashed Bear be willing to join them?

In upcoming scenes, Bear is devastated when his friend Anya dies after being denied medical treatment that could have saved her life. When Bear is told that her corpse has been callously dumped in a feed shed, he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

Ray had previously promised Bear that he would deal with Anya’s death respectfully. So when he discovers from Mick and Simo that Ray has lied, Bear’s temper boils over and he violently lashes out, shoving Ray up against the wall. Is this the moment the scales finally fall from Bear’s eyes about his captor?

Worried Bear is starting to rebel, Ray urges Celia to deal with him before he properly blows. Celia reluctantly agrees to hold a funeral for Anya – but there’s a grim twist when Bear realises that he and Ray will have to dig Anya’s grave themselves.

Anya’s lowkey, makeshift funeral takes place in one of the fields on Butler’s farm. Her lifeless body now in its final resting place, and with cold-hearted Celia observing without an ounce of emotion, Bear attempts to lend the occasion a sense of dignity by saying a few words.

Back in their filthy communal quarters, Simo and Mick urge Bear to wake up and see Ray is not to be trusted, so they bring him in on their secret plan to break out.

“Bear is neither friendly nor antagonistic towards Mick and Simo,” explains Joshua Richards, who plays him. “He doesn’t want to upset anybody so is going along with what Ray wants. Because he felt rejected by his real family, Bear has come to view Ray as a surrogate son.

“Ray’s manipulation is clever and insidious, he has a natural charm and the ability to get under peoples’ skin.”

Presented with the opportunity to potentially make peace with Paddy and the rest of his estranged loved ones, will Bear take it and flee? And if he does, what will the consequences be for betraying Ray?