Emmerdale unites four characters for new Woolpack storyline

Four unlikely characters are brought together in Emmerdale when a brand new storyline begins at The Woolpack. With darts enjoying a surge in popularity, dubbed the Luke Littler Effect after the young sportsman took the game by storm, the ladies of Emmerdale are setting up their very own darts team.

The storyline aims to “inject fresh social dynamism back into the heart of the community: the village pub,” according to soap bosses.

Vanessa Woodfield, Mary Goskirk, Caitlin Todd, and Claudette Anderson band together to form the team in upcoming scenes.

Speaking about the inspiration behind the storyline, producer Sophie Roper explained: “We had heard local darts teams, particularly those made up of women, were springing up across Yorkshire. It felt right that the ladies of Emmerdale would mirror this by setting up their own pub darts team.

“With fewer people heading out mid-week, many rural pubs are finding times tough. These teams, much like pub quizzes, are a fantastic way of encouraging people back in to socialise face-to-face. And The Woolpack, like other village pubs, is a vital rural community hub.”

It’s not the first time the world of soaps and darts has crossed over, with a former world champion player revealing that he had been appearing in EastEnders for a decade.

Last year, Scott Mitchell, who won the BDO World Darts Championship in 2015, shared that he appears in the soap to throw darts in the Queen Vic, but is never shown on screen.

“I don’t know whether I’ve had the duff duffs because I haven’t been watching it,” he told talkSPORT.

“But yeah, I’m a bit of a, I’m like the Stig of the Darts world where I pop in to various shows and throw a dart, but you never see me.”

Explaining his role, he continued: “Basically, we see the darts hit the board where they want the actors to put them.

“Obviously, it’s part of the script. So sometimes, where the dart lands is where the script is heading and going. So it needs to land in certain places.

“So if they need a bullseye to win a match, obviously, then the script goes to the next two minutes off the back of that bullseye. I haven’t watched EastEnders for a long time. It’s just the way the game works.”

Emmerdale teen Dylan Penders makes a heartbreaking decision next week as he prepares for a future behind bars.

As Dylan and Paddy Dingle both resign themselves to the likelihood of a prison sentence, their thoughts turn to those who they’ll be leaving behind.

Paddy seeks reassurance that his wife Mandy will have financial security if he’s not around, while Dylan worries that his girlfriend April Windsor will waste her life waiting for him.

“April makes it very clear to everyone that she’ll wait for Dylan if he gets sent down,” explains our Emmerdale insider. “After everything they’ve been through together, she’s adamant that they come as a team and that won’t change.

“While some people may think that Dylan and April are just kids, they’ve had to grow up quickly following the traumas of the past year. But as the trial gets closer, it becomes obvious that they may not be on the same page…”

April is unaware that Dylan plans to end things with her if he goes to prison. In his eyes, it’s better to keep April at arm’s length by ghosting her so that she’s not tempted to put everything on hold for him.

Before long, April’s dad Marlon finds out what Dylan has planned and he warns her what to expect. But how will she respond?

“April doesn’t stand for much nonsense these days, so it’s unclear whether she’ll take Dylan’s plan lying down,” continues our spy. “There’s still plenty of time for her to speak up – and potentially change Dylan’s mind.

“It’ll be interesting to see what Marlon makes of it all, too. He’s become fond of Dylan but would he rather April moved on with her life?”

Paddy and Dylan recently confessed to their part in helping Bear Wolf cover up Ray Walters’s murder.

They were initially keeping quiet about their involvement, but ultimately came clean in the belief that it could help to back up Bear’s claims of self-defence.

We’ll see how it all plays out when the trial begins next month…