Lydia Dingle gets shock blast from the past in Emmerdale as an old face returns

AFTER standing on the side-lines from all the drama surrounding her granddaughter Esther, Lydia Dingle is back in the spotlight.

The Emmerdale favourite played by Karen Blick gets a shocking visit from a mystery man next week. Who could it be?

Lydia and Sam Dingle have been adamant on being present for their granddaughter Esther, particularly as Dan Spencer could be sent to prison for assaulting creepy Lloyd.

With the baby girl’s first birthday coming up, Sam (James Hooton) wants to make her feel special despite the turmoil around her and his finances running low.

In scenes airing next week on ITV, Sam finds an old dolls house in a skip he brings it home to do up for Esther’s birthday.

It reminds Lydia of the one she had in the children’s home.

As they work on the doll’s house, Lydia takes a trip down Memory Lane by talking about the children’s home and her son, Toby.

Despite everything to do with Dan, the Dingles celebrate Sam’s birthday.

In the pub Kim Tate (Claire King) rejects Lydia’s proposal for more hours.

Worried about her finances Lydia is thus prompted to take on a second job.

The following day, Lydia announces she’s going to the Hide recruitment fair in search of another job but Sam is unhappy with the situation.

Lydia’s awkward to see Kim arrive at the Hide recruitment fair but she is utterly shaken to bump into a mystery man from her past.

While she has become one of the most beloved residents in the eponymous village, Lydia’s backstory is tainted by tragedy.

Born Jennifer “Jenny” Finn, Lydia was placed into the Hotten Grange children’s home at the age of 5 when her mother became too ill to look after her with no memory of her father.

At the age of 15, and as she recalled in 2019, Lydia was placed next to Craig Reed in her maths lessons and the pair went on to become romantically involved.

Lydia fell pregnant and went missing in November, 1990, before giving birth to a stillborn son whom she buried in some woodland.

Regular viewers of the Yorkshire-based soap will remember that Jenny took on the name Lydia Hart when she stayed in a Scarborough bedsit and the real Lydia was found dead on the bedroom floor.

Scared the police were looking for her, Jenny took on Lydia’s identity, marrying a man called Steve and ending up in the Dales in 2016.

But will the man recognise her from her days as troubled teen Jenny?

Emmerdale airs weeknights from 7.30pm on ITV.