Emmerdale confirms return of major character – and he makes his presence felt

Arthur Thomas (Alfie Clarke) stages his long-awaited Emmerdale return next week and he wastes little time in making his presence felt, taking Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) to task over his behaviour.

The teen has been enjoying some time away from the village in Australia, which means that he was absent for the breakdown of mum Laurel’s (Charlotte Bellamy) marriage to Jai, in addition to her heart attack.

Jai, as fans will recall, conned Suni (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana) out of his share of The Hide when he forced Amit into signing over the business in exchange for him not reporting the patriarch’s role in Rishi’s death to the police.

Laurel found out about her hubby’s betrayal and ordered him to come clean but Jai refrained from doing so, which prompted an argument between the couple, with Laurel subsequently suffering a heart attack.

Jai was apologetic for a while but he soon returned to form when Laurel ended their marriage, with the businessman repeatedly undermining his former other half while at work.

But despite his efforts to stay in control, he soon gets called out over his childish behaviour when Arthur sets foot back in the eponymous village next week.

The school boy’s impromptu return interrupts Gabby Thomas (Rosie Bentham) and new flame Vinny Dingle’s (Bradley Johnson) alone time as he makes his presence felt, turning his attention to Jai.

Jai gets absolutely annihilated by his stepson, who gives him a piece of his mind about the impact his behaviour is having on Laurel as the divorce proceedings continue.

For the first time in weeks, Jai somewhat falters as he realises that Arthur means business. Will he do as Arthur demands and back off Laurel? Or will he simply come up with another way to torment his soon-to-be-ex-wife?

And what does the future hold for Arthur now that he’s back in the village? Prior to his departure, it had been a rather quiet time for him, with his last appearance coming just shortly after the death of Heath Hope (Sebastian Dowling).

The popular character, who came out as gay two years ago, was left heartbroken when crush Marshall Hamston (Max Fletcher) left the village with his aunt last year.

Marshall, as fans will recall, was being subjected to homophobic abuse from his father Colin, which led to Laurel taking him in to live with her at Mulberry.

He and Arthur became boyfriends after a date but their happiness was very short-lived, with Marshall departing soon afterwards, much to the upset of fans.

One to watch: Thursday August 29 at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.