Samson Dingle (Sam Hall) makes plans to get away from Emmerdale in upcoming episodes as he continues to insist he’s telling the truth about Matty Barton (Ash Palmisciano) stabbing him.
Matty is, of course, perfectly innocent – but he’s currently in prison based entirely on the story concocted by Samson and his mate Josh (Osian Morgan).
The two had been making nuisances of themselves at the Hide, with Josh making Amy (Natalie Ann Jamieson) uncomfortable with his creepy version of ‘flirting.’ Later he resorted to transphobic comments directed at Matty when Matty tried to deal with the situation.
Then, as Matty was clearing some plates away, Josh demanded money from the till and shoved Samson towards Matty so he could get it – and Samson was stabbed with a knife Matty happened to be holding.
Samson and Josh have stuck to the story that Matty deliberately attacked them, despite Moira (Natalie J. Robb) and Cain (Jeff Hordley) doing their best to get Samson to tell the truth.
Battle lines have been drawn between Moira and Cain on one side and Sam (James Hooton) and Lydia (Karen Blick) on the other as both sets of parents stick up for their sons.
In upcoming episodes Matty faces terror in prison when another prisoner discovers that he’s trans – and it’s very clear that he’s going to make things very tough for Matty.
Meanwhile back in Emmerdale, Josh and Samson are bringing forward plans to travel around Europe, clearly partly because of the suspicion surrounding them from Matty’s family. Moira is furious when she hears that the boys plan to leave and she vents her fury at Sam.
He continues to protest that his son is innocent and after Moira has gone Sam tells Samson that he agrees to him going abroad, providing he comes back for the trial. Lydia is not so sure, and starts to suspect that Samson is lying about what happened at the Hide.
With Samson wavering, Josh threatens him to stick to his story and Lydia sees their interaction. Will she be able to take action to convince Samson to change his story? Or will he leave for Europe, leaving Matty in deadly danger?
The storyline comes amid previous rumours that Sam Hall was leaving the show and even being killed off, rumours which the actor subsequently shut down.
‘Samson has some big stuff coming up,’ he said in May. ‘However, don’t worry, as he’s definitely not being killed off! There are some good stories coming up for him, and I was very excited when I read the scripts…’
