Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale's Joe Tate is kidnapped by wicked Dr Crowley next week – but what does the Machiavellian medic want from him?
After Joe is double-crossed and knocked out by his shovel-wielding henchman Shaun, he's taken to a makeshift hospital room and it's clear he's in a very dangerous situation. But is there any way out?
"Joe wakes up in a rather suspicious location," explains Ned Porteous, who plays him.
"He's very confused, scared and not sure where he is. It's a very powerless situation for Joe to be in, which he's not a fan of."
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Prior to this perilous ordeal, Joe's blackmailing nightmare reaches a terrifying climax when a demand for £100,000 is found in the kitchen at Home Farm.
Distrustful Joe shows the letter to his new friend Sam Dingle, but neither are any the wiser to how it got there…
"It could be anyone at this point, couldn't it?" muses Ned. "It's less the money, more the idea that someone has got into the house, because there's the feeling you've lost your safe bubble when someone breaks into your kitchen.
"He's more worried about the fact that his girl and her kids are going to be in danger."
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As Joe mentally runs through his suspect list, he becomes convinced that his dodgy henchman Shaun is behind the blackmail.
Certain of Shaun's disloyalty, Joe gives him the sack. However, it doesn't go down well, and furious Shaun turns on Joe, putting him in grave danger – before shotgun-slinging Sam turns up and saves him.
"They have a little bit of a confrontation, Joe and Shaun, and then luckily Sam turns up with a big old shotgun in tow!" laughs Ned.
"I get to hide behind him and go, 'Yeah, who's laughing now, huh?' They've come a long way, Joe and Sam. I remember six years ago, Sam had Joe down a hole in in the woods somewhere, pointing a gun at his face, and now here they are!"
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After talking through his options with heroic Sam, Joe decides to get out of the village for a while.
Telling concerned lover Dawn Fletcher that he has a short-notice business trip and must leave immediately, he prepares to escape his troubles – but his plan is thwarted when sinister Shaun creeps up on him and knocks him out cold.
"Joe gets whacked over the head by a shovel," explains Ned. "He feels like he's got the all-clear and he's made his final threats, but then Shaun takes a shovel to Joe's head…"
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When woozy Joe comes round, he finds himself in an eerie makeshift hospital room, with dangerous surgeon Dr. Crowley leering over him.
After Joe used Crowley for his dastardly kidney plot, what could he possibly need from Joe now? And how far will he go to get it?
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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