There’s a frightening moment ahead in Emmerdale when a village youngster is left fighting for their life over a cup of coffee.
Could mysterious John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) have something to do with it? He’s out to prove himself to a suspicious Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) and the timing is impeccable.
Much like when he needed to prove himself to Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter), then miraculously found her unconscious on the floor and in need of saving.
John is under the spotlight with viewers for potentially murdering Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter) and for possibly being Chas’ spiker. He also disposed of Anthony Fox’s (Nicholas Day) body with the utmost ease through skills no one knew he had.
So, it’s not above the realms of possibility that he would orchestrate a near-death experience to help make himself look good.
It’s Jacob Gallagher (Joe-Warren Plant) who is suddenly facing death, which is particularly unkind given that he is still grieving the loss of his mum.
After making a few mistakes at work, John is being watched by Liam, who is fuming when he learns John misdiagnoses Kerry Wyatt (Laura Norton) as it brings the surgery into disrepute.
As a knee-jerk reaction, Liam tells John he will be reviewing all his work.
John confides in Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) about how unsettled the thought of it is making him. He’s made quite a few mistakes as a medic, it transpires. The two bond as Vic admits to making tonnes of her own mistakes and encourages him to forgive himself.
What John needs is a moment to reassert his medical skills. Jacob takes a sip of the wrong coffee and immediately experiences a huge reaction – his body starts to shut down as it enters anaphylactic shock and worse still – he’s lost his AAI pen.
He quickly loses consciousness, but John sees the commotion and runs to Jacob’s lifeless body. He checks Jacob’s vitals as Vic panics. Can John save the day?
Did he orchestrate this moment to prove himself? Could he have slipped something in Jacob’s coffee to make himself the hero?
