Emmerdale recap: Aaron's father Gordon returns, Ashley reveals his dementia diagnosis to Laurel

Christmas is right around the corner, but things are far from jovial in the Yorkshire Dales. In an episode last week, growing tired of being kept away from grandson Moses, Emma visited Debbie's mother Charity in prison and made her an offer, with the hope that Charity will help her gain full custody of their shared grandchild in exchange for a favour.

Later, Emma returned to the village and – in a drunken state – started up a fight with Debbie, who was at home with Sarah bathing young Moses. When Emma takes it one step too far by entering the house, Debbie leaves the bathroom to deal with her. However, Sarah screamed and Debbie returned, horrified to realise that something has happened to Moses in the bath. The situation worsens for Debbie when Ross blames her for the accident, when Moses ended up in the hospital and he was worried for his son all night.

After weeks of battling with the knowledge that he has dementia and also the fact that he had not shared the news with anyone, Ashley finally tells Laurel – who he is currently divorcing – the news, which leaves her devastated and heartbroken, particularly as she has developed romantic feelings for him again and had confessed as much earlier on. Afterwards, Laurel privately confides in Doug about Ashley's diagnosis and makes it clear that she is determined to help Ashley in whichever way she can. Later at the church, Ashley prays for Laurel to understand why he needs to see it through alone. However, by saying his prayers out loud, Ashley comes to the conclusion that he can't do this without Laurel.

Meanwhile, Aaron is shocked and furious to see his father Gordon emerge from a taxi in the village. He even remains disinterested when Gordon explains that he has been battling cancer. Gordon offers to give his son the money to buy the pub, but Aaron thinks he is trying to buy him off and angrily declines the offer.

Elsewhere in the Dales, following on from last week and the moment where they finally shared a kiss after being interested in each other for a long time, a guilty Zak finds out that Joanie has actually been singing in a working men's club, not a fancy hotel like she has been saying all along. In an equally complicated relationship, Paddy continues to lie to Rhona in order to keep seeing Tess.

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