Viewers last saw Bear three months ago when he drove out of the village in a rental car, telling his son Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) he was heading to Ireland to stay with a friend. But recent episodes have revealed that Bear never made it there — and his silence has left Paddy terrified something terrible has happened.
Now, the truth is set to emerge in a powerful standalone episode that delves into Bear’s disappearance and the disturbing ordeal he’s endured since leaving the Dales.
Joshua Richards confirmed the episode will finally “explain what exactly happened to him after he got in his car and drove away.”
“We did see a few weeks after he’d left that he was still with his car and not with his friend Nasha in Ireland at all,” the actor said. “So we will find out exactly what happened to him.”
A Storyline Rooted in Vulnerability and Exploitation
Joshua revealed that the new arc tackles the sensitive issue of modern slavery — a storyline he admits was initially “disconcerting” to approach.
“Well, I found it a bit disconcerting really. I found it a bit frightening,” he told the Daily Star. “Bear has been experiencing this kind of depression and confusion, so maybe it’s a great thing to find him so vulnerable — a big strong man being exploited.”
For Joshua, the challenge lay in showing the emotional and physical decline of a character known for his strength and warmth.
“As an actor, you just think lovely, lovely, jubbly, jubbly,” he said with a laugh. “Then pull my sleeves up to get stuck in.”
Behind the Scenes: Joshua’s Transformation
The actor revealed that producers deliberately kept him off-screen to build mystery around Bear’s absence — and asked him to physically transform for the role.
“I was told by [producer] Laura Shaw that I’d be off screen for a while, that I will disappear,” Joshua explained. “I thought, ‘Oh, I’ll get my P45 now and off I go.’ But no, they said, you’ll be coming back.”
During his break, Emmerdale’s makeup designer Clare Golds gave him a specific instruction: “Whatever you do, don’t cut your hair and don’t shave your beard. Go raggedy.”
When filming resumed, Bear looked unrecognisable — scruffy, gaunt, and visibly broken.
“You first see Bear when he’s at rock bottom, looking filthy and scraggly,” Joshua said. “Then bit by bit, we took it away, showing the stages of his recovery. It’s been a very complicated way of portraying Bear’s journey.”
A Heartbreaking Journey Ahead
With the upcoming standalone episode set to expose the truth behind Bear’s disappearance, fans can expect emotional scenes as Paddy and Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) rally to find him.
What begins as a search for a missing father will evolve into a powerful story of survival and resilience — one that exposes the hidden horrors of exploitation and the strength it takes to come back from the brink.
