Paul Lambert (Matthew Bose)

[lizann]

he was in neighbours and home and away (sam and lockie)

[Serena Williams]

I am glad he is returning

I am guessing Paul is going to be connected to Finn in some way. Maybe Paul and Finn will become friends. Aaron is so masculine and macho he would never give Finn or Paul his time. Aaron is not into effeminate guys like Paul and Finn. Aaron likes alpha male guys like robert.

[Perdita]

Emmerdale producer Kate Oates has revealed that she isn't ruling out a more permanent return for Val Pollard's son Paul Lambert.

Paul, played by actor Mathew Bose, arrives back in the village next week after Val is admitted to hospital following a shock collapse at the B&B.

Val's scare comes after she starts to take a more casual attitude towards her health, despite the need to be careful due to her HIV positive status.

Speaking of the storyline, Oates commented: "If anything is going to bring home how ill Val is, then it's going to be the return of Paul. It was really nice to have Mathew back and I know that he really enjoyed it.

"It'll be interesting to see how the viewers respond to that and whether there's something a bit more permanent on the cards. He's got so many great links to characters like Rodney, Nicola, Bernice and Diane. When you've got a character who has already got all of those links established, it's really nice to see them back."

Viewers will see Val's health crisis play out after she spends days ignoring some worrying symptoms, which turns out to be a terrible decision. However, Oates admitted that it was a storyline that needed to be approached sensitively.

She explained: "This story was a bit of a challenge because we wanted to talk about Val's HIV again and get her to a position where she is going to start using meds. I was rightly concerned by this story because what we show is Val having a bit of a blip and a panic. She is taking a couple of backward steps in how she views her status.

"I didn't want that to undo the good work we'd done about challenging some outdated myths about HIV. I hope it shows that Val is only human and these things do take time to come to terms with.

"Val has a near-death experience but she will work through that with the use of meds. It has meant that we can talk about the storyline again and look at a different phase of it, but hopefully what we'll show is that she overcomes that challenge."

Eric and Finn sit and wait for news about Val
© ITV
Val's loved ones wait for news

Mathew Bose's return to Emmerdale was first announced last week, but exact details of his storyline were only revealed yesterday.

Bose said: "I'm really pleased and excited to be popping back into the show. It's been such a massive part of my own life and my alter ego Paul still has so much of his life in the village. He has relatives and friends everywhere and they're all in need of a bit of Paul's love and attention.

"The show, and of course Charlie Hardwick, have been handling this HIV storyline so well and really tackling it, so it is great to be part of that journey."

[Serena Williams]

Paul will be connected to Finn maybe he will become his friend. I can't see an effeminate guy like Paul being with aaron. I wish the writers brought in a new bloke for aaron.

[Perdita]

Matthew Bose is heading back to Emmerdale to say goodbye to Val Pollard.

Bose memorably played Val's son Paul Lambert, and will return to the village for the Pollard and Lambert family matriarch's funeral.

"I'm like a sad & unhappy Cinderella. I shall go to the funeral. How will I cope...?! @emmerdale #ValNEric #me #Paul," Bose tweeted.

This will be the second return for Bose on Emmerdale this year, and this time it is directly tied to the deadly helicopter crash that rocked the soap.

Bose was a regular cast member on the soap from 2004 to 2008.

Charlie Hardwick made her final appearance as Val Pollard last week, following months of build-up to her departure.