Six big storylines for Emmerdale this summer (Image: ITV)

Emmerdale boss Sophie Roper has given insight into “explosive” storylines happening on the ITV soap this summer, including a tribute to the legendary Zak Dingle, a new Sugden joining the village and a “fun” wedding. The ITV producer recently replaced Kate Brooks as she began to work alongside Laura Shaw.

Speaking at a press day on Monday, the soap boss told Express.co.uk she has been involved in the soap for eight years now and has “lived and breathed” the show. Sophie said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for me to produce and see the vision of ideas from the very start, all the way through. It’s a really exciting opportunity for me.”

She added: “We’ve got some brilliant storylines hitting at the moment. Lots of drama in the Dales that you’re already watching on screen and we are continuing to see as we go through the summer and into the New Year. We are very much keeping Emmerdale on top form.

“We have lots happening. Lots of brilliant and different stories with different tones and genres of stories. Lots to keep our viewers interested for the next few months.”

Emmerdale will remember Zak Dingle (Image: ITV)

Remembering Zak Dingle in a special tribute episode

Emmerdale legend Steve Halliwell passed away in December, however his character Zak Dingle has not yet departed from the soap. While he has not appeared on screen since June last year, Zak, the character has been mentioned several times.

Addressing Zak’s departure from the ITV soap, Sophie said: “The Dingles have been at the heart of our show for 30 years now and will continue to be so. As many of you will know, we lost Steve recently. [Who played Zak Dingle.]

“We’re going to be marking the iconic Zak Dingle character and his passing in the coming months. It will be very difficult for a lot of people who worked with him on the show and obviously for a lot of our viewers who have grown to love Zak. It will be a fitting tribute to such an iconic character.”

Mandy and Paddy are set for a big day (Image: ITV)

Mandy and Paddy’s second wedding day

Mandy Dingle and Paddy Kirk (played by Lisa Riley and Dominic Brunt) have been down the aisle once before, 25 years ago. Now they have rekindled their love they are set to have a second big day.

Sophie teased: “Elsewhere in the Dingle world, we have Mandy and Paddy building towards a wedding. It is Mandy and Paddy so that’s going to be filled with fun. We’ve had Mandy’s dress made in house by one of our dress makers. It’s going to be very Mandy, it’s going to be very big and very fun.”

Oliver will join as John Sugden (Image: ITV)

New generation of the Sugden family

Sophie explained: “We’ve got some returning and new faces coming into the show over the next few months.”

She added: “I’m pleased to confirm we will have Oliver Farnworth joining us in casting. He’s coming into the show as a new Sugden.

The Sugdens, just like the Dingles, are an iconic family group in Emmerdale and we’re keen to cement them back into the show. Oliver is a brilliant new addition. He’s incredibly talented and we’re really looking forward to welcoming him.

“He’s going to bring lots of drama to the Dales, which I’m going to keep quite tight-lipped about for now.”

Speaking at an Emmerdale press day, explaining the relationship between John and Victoria, Oliver told Express.co.uk: “There was a dalliance with Jack Sugden and then John was obviously the result of that. This is the first time we’re meeting him. He’s never been spoken of and Victoria (played by Isabel Hodgins) had no idea she has a half-brother.”

John is brought into the soap as Barbara has died and he attends her funeral but when his van breaks down he finds himself stuck in the village. Oliver said that the character was described as “enigmatic”, adding: “There’s a lot to him and a lot of stuff in the initial character breakdown that wasn’t necessarily revealed because obviously we can’t give too much away too quickly.

Tom will continue to abuse Belle in hard-hitting storylines (Image: ITV)

Belle and Tom’s abuse storyline continues in special episode

Tom King (James Chase) has been making Belle Dingle’s (Eden Taylor-Draper) life hell in a relationship that’s abusive and controlling on the ITV soap. He’s been deliberately trying to cut her off from family and friends, messed with her mental health and on several occasions has been violent.

But it seems that things are only going to go from bad to worse for Belle in a special episode featuring on the couple going on a getaway. Sophie said: “Belle and Tom is a huge storyline for us at the moment.

“It’s an incredibly important, if not difficult, storyline to watch at the moment. It’s resonating with our audience because it’s such a huge and real issue.

“We are continuing with that story and trying to be really truthful to those kind of relationships. We have a special episode coming up that sees Tom and Belle head off to Wales on a trip away together.

“We recreated Wales in Yorkshire. Our fantastic design team got a cottage in the village that we redressed to make into a beautiful Welsh retreat. So it’s really fantastic the lengths that they’ve gone to, to create that in our world.”

She continued: “The story that is set to the beautiful backdrop of the cottage will be really hard-hitting and difficult at moments. Tom is very much isolating Belle from her family, from her surroundings of everything that she knows and loves which is very much unfortunately a typical trait of abusers. It will be difficult drama at moments, but a really important message and story that we are keen to continue to tell.”

There will be an explosive week in Emmerdale (Image: ITV)

Explosive week full of stunts

Sophie also teased that there would be some stunts, including the use of fire engines for an “explosive week”. She said: “As much as we have all of the hard-hitting stories, we also have a lot of stunts.

“There will be fire engines involved, so take from that what you will. There is going to be a really explosive week of Emmerdale coming up.”

Ella is returning to Emmerdale (Image: ITV)

Ella’s past will continue to haunt her as she returns

Emmerdale star Paula Lane recently teased her upcoming return as Ella Forster. Ella arrived in the village last year with a major secret, which was eventually revealed to be that she is a child killer – having taken the life of her friend in a rage on her 11th birthday.

Although Ella had said she had done her time for the crime, the villagers weren’t so keen on accepting her past. Last month, it seemed that Ella’s exit was confirmed when Liam forced her into her car, instructing her to leave the village.

But now it is confirmed that she is returning with a new shocking storyline and it seems she may not be able to escape her past.

Sophie said: “We’ve had the Ella storyline lately which was unexpected but powerful.

“Ella will continue in the show with her past continuing to haunt her. Her relationship with Liam will remain complicated. We will question if she will ever get her happily ever after and if she will ever really escape the past that’s led her to this point.”

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Source: The Wall Street Journal