Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale star Oliver Farnworth has broken his silence on his character John Sugden's disturbing dark side.
The ITV soap has just aired a string of unsettling revelations about John, who's been secretly endangering the residents of the village for several months.
As seen in Thursday's hour-long episode, the trained medic has an obsessive hero complex and has taken great pleasure in rushing to the rescue when friends and neighbours have faced near-death situations.
While some of these dramas were merely coincidences, others were deliberately engineered by John so he could prove himself and enjoy the thrill of the drama.
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In one flashback scene, it was revealed that John accidentally killed Nate Robinson by swooping in to give him an injection of drugs after he'd been beaten up by his dad Cain.
Nate, who'd firmly insisted that John's intervention wasn't necessary, immediately suffered a terrible reaction and passed away. John was forced to dispose of the body, finally clearing up why Nate's corpse was spotted in the frozen lake in February.
More recently, John tampered with Chas Dingle's medication while she was struggling with pain following the limo crash. His actions led to Chas collapsing at The Woolpack.
When suspicion fell on Ella Forster as the most likely culprit, John fuelled everyone's mistaken theory by framing her as a dangerous stalker. He created the illusion by smashing a window at the pub and sending a spiteful email to cancel Chas's wedding.
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Thursday's episode also saw relentless John target Jacob Gallagher, switching his coffee at work so that he'd suffer a severe allergic reaction. Once again, John was present to help and take the glory for saving someone in need.
In one scene, John referred to helping people as "the most rewarding thing in the world", and he later basked in everyone's praise for the number of times that he's rescued people.
Speaking about the dark storyline for the first time, Oliver enthused: "For me, the exciting thing is that the viewers find out first before anyone else in the village. So it's letting them into these big secrets that John's been harbouring.
"It's caused him a lot of stress and anguish having to hide things. I think the fact that the viewers find out first is going to be really exciting, although I'll see what the backlash is, I guess! It was bound to happen at some point, so I'm glad it's come out now.
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"I absolutely love it here at Emmerdale. I really, really, truly love it. I think the character is a gift, really, because the backstory that's been created from day one is so deep. The different intricacies of the character are just so interesting to play.
"He's not just a villain or a bad person on paper – there's way, way more to it than that. Even day by day, week by week, I'm literally still discovering things about him. So there's plenty more to come and it's a gift of a part."
With the villagers still unaware of what John is capable of, the big question is how long it'll take before people start to get suspicious.
As fan favourite Aaron Dingle is planning to marry John, could it all unravel ahead of the ceremony? Or will an oblivious Aaron tie the knot with a killer?
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Oliver continued: "There's lots of big stuff coming up. I guess with the web that John's woven for himself in the back of his mind, he's anticipating people to start being suspicious, secrets to come out and people to start finding things out.
"He's probably got a few set pieces prepared in his mind for dealing with all of this, but really what he's had to do so far is just think on his feet and adapt to situations around him. I'm sure this will all change soon.
"The jeopardy at stake for him now is that he's got his whole life in Emmerdale Village. He's got the love of his life, Aaron, he's got a family that he never had. He does not want to lose all that, under any circumstances. There's going to be a few battles ahead, I think."
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Addressing Nate's tragic fate, Oliver added: "Obviously, what happened with Nate to all intents and purposes was an accident, but there's no way that John dealt with it, or is continuing to deal with it, in the right way.
"Not just from a legal point of view, but from the point of view of the families that will be affected. There will certainly be a lot of fallout from that."
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
