EMMERDALE bosses have revealed their biggest year ever for the soap’s 50th anniversary.
Speaking to The Celeb Report bosses Jane Hudson and Laura Shaw have revealed 17 massive spoilers including three weddings, a shock baby and one serial killer finally getting what she deserves.
Here’s what to expect from Emmerdale in 2022.
Meena’s comeuppance
Emmerdale boss Jane Hudson has promised Meena Jutla will get her comeuppance this year.
She said: “Judgement Day for Meena is coming. Where she will get away with murder or not, you’ll have to wait to find out.
“There are still some more twists and turns to be had and some you won’t see coming but I think we’re all agreed that Meena can do pretty much anything.
“Judgement day is coming; it won’t play out quite as you expect and it will have a lasting effect on quite a few of our villagers.
“I think within the next few months Meena will get what’s coming to her.”
A darker Jai Sharma
Producer Laura Shaw revealed: “Jai’s desperation to sort out his money woes steps up a gear and he’ll go to extreme lengths to cover the money he owes for the HOP fine – so will his relationship with Laurel be jeopardised?
“We know how Jai can struggle when he’s on the back foot and not winning at life – so will this send him spiralling back to his old ways and will we see a darker Jai emerge from all this?”
Leyla’s hidden struggle
Laura teased: “Leyla has a big storyline coming up in 2022.
“We’ve seen her be a huge support to Liam through the loss of his daughter Leanna but is all as it seems?
“Is Leyla really coping as well as she seems to on the surface or is there a bit more going on there that we’ll uncover?”
Vanity again?
Laura said: “Vanessa is back. Obviously, that is going to set the cat amongst the pigeons for Mack and Charity.
“Will we see Charity and Vanessa back together in 2022, or will we see Vanessa head off in a new direction maybe?
“I think it’s going to be time for people to decide whether they are team Vanity or team Mackity.”
Ryan Stocks’ devastation
The eldest son of Charity Dingle will soon get some devastating news.
Laura teased: “Charity is also going to be affected by some heartbreaking news involving Ryan that is going to see some huge emotional scenes play out between mother and son and this is going to have some influence over Charity’s relationship.”
Jamie Tate’s secret exposed
He might have faked his death and escaped his mum’s clutches but Jamie Tate’s secret is going to be exposed.
Laura revealed: “Up at Home Farm we know that Jamie Tate is actually still alive so obviously that info is still to come out – and what will Kim do once she knows?
“We know what a tough cookie Kim is but we also know that Jamie is her Achilles heel so we can expect huge fireworks if she ever finds out how much he has betrayed her.”
Pierce Harris’ son arrives
Jane revealed the shock news that Rhona’s rapist killer husband Pierce Harris has an adult son – and he’s coming for Rhona.
She said: “Well we have got a new character – Marcus arriving soon.
“And when we meet Marcus we don’t know who he is and then we find out he’s Pierce’s son. Pierce has written to Rhona asking to find his son who she didn’t know about.
“Pierce has no contact with him since he was young because he was abusive to Marcus’ mum.
“And then this young man tips up on Rhona’s doorstep and Rhona makes the wrong decision to not tell Marlon about it.
“Vanessa’s not very happy that he’s there. We will have to wait and see whether Marcus is a chip off the old block or whether he’s the polar opposite of Pierce.”
She added: “I will say that he is going to be involved with one of our villagers – so watch this space as a new romance blossoms.”
Another bombshell for Rhona
Jane added: “There will also be someone else new in Rhona’s life appearing but I’m not telling you that one because Janine says I’m not allowed to.
“Rhona’s going to be having two new characters appearing in her life.”
Dingles rocked
Laura revealed: “Two of our most loved Dingles are going to be facing huge, life changing situations that are going to have repercussions for the whole village, and the effects of this are going to be long last over the course of 2022 and 2023.
“The next few months for the Dingles, we’re going to see so many things hit this family, they’ll be pulled in a lot of directions, and they’ll be at the heart of our very biggest story this year.”
50th anniversary
Jane said: “We’ve been thinking about the 50th all the time. I think we probably held back some of our big ideas while covid was so prominent in our lives because we didn’t know what we could achieve.
“But Super Soap Week has really shown us what we can do. And as brilliant as stunts are – we’ve got to have the stories to back up those stunts.
“We can blow up anything but if there’s no story behind it – what’s the point?
“Our focus at the moment is to really build those stories so when we get to our Golden Month of Celebration, we’ve got secrets that the viewers are desperate to be revealed, there’s probably going to be a birth in there perhaps – babies in soaps are either born on programme celebrations or Christmas so there’s going to be one of those happening, and we’ll do something epic – there will be an epic stunt because we’re well-known for that.
“But at the heart of it, the best loved characters in our show are really going to be tested in some big emotional stories.
“It’s really key to us that whatever happens in the 50th – the fallout is huge. This will continue and take us into 2023.”
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Old faces returning
With the soap celebrating its 50th anniversary in October, producer Jane revealed that they are in talks to bring back some familiar faces.
While she wouldn’t be drawn on exactly who could come back – with half a century of characters to mine, fans will be thrilled no matter who it is.
Never before done episode
“This episode is going to spark off one of our biggest stories for this year, but in a different way,” said Laura.
“It’s something we’ve not done before and it’ll enable the audience to see the story from a whole different perspective to usual.
“I don’t think I can say much more than that without giving it away.
Special week for Cain and Al
Jane revealed: “I think we can probably tease in our special week that Cain and Al’s feud is definitely not over, as we will see in that special week and something will happen that will make those two have to look at their relationship with each other.
“So there’s definitely going to be an explosive Cain/Al moment in our special week.
“I think the audience are really enjoying these two men constantly at war.”
Three weddings
Laura Shaw revealed: “Well it wouldn’t be a normal soap year I don’t think, without a few births, deaths and marriages, would it?
“We’ve already seen Billy and Dawn get engaged on screen and I don’t think I’m giving too much away by telling you that their wedding is definitely going to happen this year.
“It does happen on the most romantic day of the year which is Valentine’s Day, so not too long to wait for their wedding. But will it all go to plan?
“Is it going to be happy-ever-after for these two or will disaster strike? I suspect it’s probably going to be the latter.
“We’ve also got another wedding coming up, a third one. That’s a bit more of an unexpected twist and I think that’s going to shock quite a few of our villagers and ruffle a few feathers.”
Read our soap spoilers live blog for the latest gossip
A baby
Emmerdale boss Jane Hudson also revealed a new baby will arrive in time for the 50th anniversary in October.
She said: “There will be a new baby arriving in Emmerdale before the end of the year, but I think we’ve got enough female characters in the show to not be giving anything away.
“That’s all I’ll say, there will be a new arrival before the year is out.”
Moira Barton’s blast from the past
Producer Laura Shaw teased: “We’re going to see her be given one of the biggest decisions of her life when she’s asked to keep a huge secret and she’s going to struggle massively with that.
“On another side of the fence we’re also going to see something Moira thought was in her past and that she’d dealt with, come back to haunt her in quite a big way.
“The ramifications of that are going to affect quite a few people. And again we’re going to see her really tested to how she deals with that difficult situation.”
The Woolpack gets a new owner
Laura teased things getting even worse for Chas and Paddy this year.
She said: “Things might get a little bit worse for Chas and Paddy before they get better.
“From the ashes of Christmas Day, we’re going to see a shiny new Woolpack emerge this year and the fight for who’s going to control it will definitely be on.
“Who’s going to be victoriously holding their keys at the end of it though? Who’s going to have their name over the door? You’re going to have to watch to find out.”
