Emmerdale has given fans a first look at the 'new' Cain Dingle ahead of a special Boxing Day episode. The ITV soap will, of course, air over Christmas but it won't be a happy occasion for all in the fictional Yorkshire village.
Cain is set to spend his festive season behind bars after taking the blame for the murder of former enemy Al Chapman. The businessman was shot during a confrontation with Cain, played by Jeff Hordley, but not by the man himself.
As viewers, and some of the characters closest to Cain, know it was his son Kyle who pulled the trigger which led to Al being fatally shot. Cain's wife Moira and Kyle's mum, Amy Wyatt, have since become embroiled in the lie in order to keep Kyle out of prison.
Meanwhile, Cain's sister Chas is watching her life fall apart after her husband Paddy discovered her affair with Al, which is the reason Cain was confronting Al in the first place. But as if the Dingles didn't have enough to contend with, another spanner is set to be put in the works.
Cain is set to get a visit from a ghost of Christmas past so to speak as his long-lost brother arrives in Emmerdale. It was revealed last month that ITV soap viewers will meet Caleb Miligan on Christmas day when he pays Cain a visit in prison after discovering their mum, Faith, is dead.
However, it will soon transpire that Caleb thought Faith had died 30 years ago when he last came face-to-face with his older brother who lied about their mum while Chas is unaware of their being another sibling.
Caleb's arrival will lead to another flashback episode for the soap. "On Boxing Day we'll rewind to 1992 and we'll discover how Cain and Caleb first met, why Cain then rejected him from his life, and what was going on with Chas at that point," Emmerdale's executive producer previously revealed to the Manchester Evening News and other press.
And the scenes will feature three 'new' characters with three young actors taking on the roles of Cain, Chas and Caleb in the nineties. "We have three fantastic actors playing our young Cain, Caleb and Chas and the actor who played Cain, he actually studied lots of footage of Jeff [Hordley] and his positions and his poses and how he speaks," Jane revealed.
"It's incredible when you watch it. There's one scene where he leans against a wall and it's like, 'That's Jeff!' It's so bizarre." She then added: "So it's a brilliant rewind episode that will explain a lot about their family history. And as much as Cain wants Caleb to disappear for another 30 years, Caleb is not going to have that."
And now viewers have got their first look at a young Cain for the first time in more than 20 years on-screen as Emmerdale cast Aiden Kane in the role. Riccardo Drayton and Maddy Barker will play younger versions of Caleb and Chas as fans discover the history behind the characters they have seen on-screen for years.
To prepare for this special flashback episode, the young cast met with Cain actor Jeff and William Ash, who will be playing the adult version of Caleb and who fans will likely recognise from his time in Waterloo Road.
Photos and clips released by Emmerdale show the young cast during a rehearsal together earlier this year and on set their scenes with the episode's director Michael Lacey.
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