Back in February Emmerdale viewers were stunned by a special episode which revealed what happened to April Windsor (Amelia Flanagan) after she ran away from home.
We saw her having a tough time living on the streets and in a squat, and how she was befriended by a young man called Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle), who was also living rough.
When April returned to the village, Dylan later came looking for her. Desperate to protect his daughter, Marlon (Mark Charnock) tried to get rid of Dylan – who was battling drug addiction – by various means. Eventually Marlon agreed to pay for rehab for Dylan and the character left the village.
Now he’s back, and Fred Kettle told us what’s in store for Dylan.
‘I think Dylan’s going to get introduced with a few new characters, including Ray (Joe Absolom),’ he revealed. ‘There’s a bit of a County Lines idea there that we’re going to do which has been really fun to play. It’s Ray that actually helps him. He sort of takes him under his wing and helps him get away from drugs.
‘I think Ray’s trying to get him to gain a bit of trust. I feel like there’s a little bit of a son father figure relationship going on. So Ray can gain trust to make Dylan deal drugs, basically.’
Of course the main attraction of the village, as far as Dylan is concerned, is to see April again, as Fred explained.
‘Their bond they had during that special episode, their time on the street, it was so special,’ he said.
‘They both helped each other get through really, really tough times. And when they parted, I feel like that’s all Dylan would be able to think about, you know. So she’s bound to be on his mind and he’s bound to want to go back and see her.’
These two things are quite contrasting, on the one hand dealing drugs for Ray and on the other trying to keep his life together for April. Fred said that Dylan knows that Ray is manipulating him but it’s the best option he sees open to him: ‘Dylan knows he’s doing the wrong thing but it’s more morally correct than what he was doing when he was back on the streets.’
Whichever way the character goes, Fred is relishing the chance to explore the character some more. ‘I feel like there’s a few different routes it could go down and I’m willing to take any of them,’ he said.
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Fred had some hints when he was previously at Emmerdale that the character of Dylan might have a future in the show, he revealed.
‘I think before I finished there were definitely little talks happening. It was like, “Oh you could come back.” I was like, “Yeah I’d love to.” I think it’s been perfect, really, because I’ve just finished college and two days later I was back on set filming. So it was ideal how that happened. I feel like the stars sort of aligned there.’
He’s looking forward to what’s in store for his character.
‘It’s going to be good. It’s going to be a nice journey for a few different characters actually. I think he’s going to go through a lot of emotions, experience new things and learn a lot as well.’
