Emmerdale businesswoman Chrissie White is left shaken next week as she discovers that her son Lachlan White has been lying to her about his 'relationship' with Alicia Metcalfe.
Lachlan recently accused Alicia of grooming him after she reported him for sexual assault. While Chrissie has taken Lachlan's side, it's finally time for her to face the horrifying truth when she uncovers evidence of his deceit.
Here, Louise Marwood - who plays Chrissie - previews the life-changing moment ahead for her character.
Did Chrissie secretly have doubts about Lachlan's story from the start?
"Obviously there is a past with Lachlan which is the reason the family have moved in the first place. I think Chrissie knows that his behaviour hasn't been normal, but she pushes it away constantly. As and when things happen, Lachlan gives her an explanation and then they move past it. Chrissie doesn't think anything untoward has happened from Lachlan's side at first - she's always going to favour him."
How much do we know about Lachlan's past misdeeds?
"The things that are alluded to are stalker-ish behaviour that isn't normal in a 14-year-old boy. That would be upsetting for any parent to see and Chrissie tries to protect him as much as possible, but it was bad enough for them to move away. Of course it's now happening all over again, so it's her worst nightmare."
Were the police involved last time?
"No, it was very much his word against hers. I think Lachlan just ended up with a girl's hoodie, but it's behaviour that isn't quite normal. He's a very intense boy anyway. The really sad thing is that Chrissie was initially really grateful to Alicia and David for taking Lachlan under their wing, when normally people keep their distance from him."
Is it a We Need To Talk About Kevin-type storyline?
"It really is. At what point do you put things together and realise that your child is capable of something? As a mother you want to go into denial, protect your child and accuse everybody else. When you then have to face up to something, you face questions yourself - is it your responsibility? Were you a bad mother? Was he born like that?"
Surely Chrissie knew Alicia was telling the truth deep down?
"I think she's constantly pushing it away, though. She has constantly questioned Lachlan over various things, but she has her child in front of her saying, 'No mum, I haven't done anything wrong'. Then her heart melts and she feels incredibly guilty. There's a defiance and a strength that comes out in her, where she's like a tigress accusing everybody else."
How does Chrissie react when she learns that David has kidnapped Lachlan to force a confession out of him?
"By the time that happens, the Whites are feeling incredibly persecuted as a family in the village because people are turning on them. Chrissie now wants the Alicia case to go to court because she wants Lachlan to be found innocent to stop all of this bullying and taunting.
"Obviously David does this horrific thing, but by this point, it's so hard to know where to lay the blame. It's all so ambiguous at that stage, so the Whites don't necessarily react with the venom they would have if this had happened months before."
Chrissie doesn't go to the police about David, does she?
"No, she doesn't. Before she was very cut and dry about the whole thing, but by that point she has started to realise certain things and she is wondering who is really telling the truth. She needs to process all of that before she decides what needs to happen.
"David's dad Pollard also comes round defending him saying, 'You don't know how much this has broken my son. He doesn't do things like that, this is not his behaviour, but it's absolutely destroyed him'. Pollard is appealing from a parent's point of view and that affects Chrissie because she doesn't know who is right and wrong."
What is the major turning point which makes Chrissie change her mind?
"When Chrissie is certain that the only way to get through this is to go to court and prove everybody wrong, she needs to make sure that Lachlan is coherent with his story and goes through everything in detail. She tells him that if he doesn't know the story in enough detail, everybody will think that he's lying. Lachlan then tells her the story of his 'first kiss' with Alicia. He does it in such detail and it's so heartbreaking.
"As a mother, Chrissie is very sure about how she feels about everything, but then she finds this video on his laptop which is exactly how he described the first kiss. It's two other people having a demonstration of a first kiss and the woman is wearing exactly the same thing that Alicia did in Lachlan's story. It's all exactly the same and that's a moment of realisation for Chrissie. As she's watching it, her whole world starts unravelling."
How does Chrissie feel about that?
"You can see that she is questioning the whole thing - every lie that Lachlan has told her from the beginning. It's that horrible question - if he can lie about something like this so coherently and easily, then what else is he lying about and what is her son capable of?"
The Lachlan storyline also explores the explicit online content that young people have access to, which may have influenced his behaviour. Were you aware of that problem beforehand?
"I think Emmerdale have handled it really brilliantly, because they're bringing to light what kids can see and how that impacts on their behaviour. I was aware of how sexually mature kids are, which I find terrifying. Especially with the way women are portrayed in pornography, I feel so sorry for young girls growing up with all that pressure. For the boys, there's also pressure with the way they feel they have to behave at such a young age.
"I feel that when I was growing up, it was a lot more innocent and that stuff happened later. To have that at school is horrific, so we looked into the pornography side of it and what kids can get access to. With everything they see on a daily basis, they're almost numb to it because they don't think it's a big deal. It's putting that question out there - whether that does have an impact on behaviour and what kids think is acceptable."
Do you think there's a parental responsibility to restrict that kind of online access?
"I think so. Chrissie is putting parental locks on the laptop as much as she can, but then kids go to school and they have access to everything that their friends do. You can't pin them down for 24 hours a day and you have to allow them a certain freedom.
"Chrissie's biggest conflict is how much freedom she gives Lachlan when his behaviour clearly isn't right. The more she seems to discipline him, the further he seems to go away. It's that balance that you need to find as a parent that is so difficult. It's really tricky for parents to know what is right and wrong."
How does Robert react to the dramas to come?
"I think Robert is more the voice of reason in the relationship when it comes to Lachlan. He can be slightly more objective as to what is happening, while the love that Chrissie has for her son is so fierce that it clouds her judgement. He can see everything more clearly.
"It's a redeeming feature that Robert has got, if he has any! He ultimately loves Chrissie with all his heart, so he's trying to do the best that he can. It's also definitely deflected the attention away from him following Katie's death, which must be a massive sigh of relief."
How has Thomas Atkinson, who plays Lachlan, coped with the storyline?
"Because he's so young and it's such a sensitive storyline, everybody made sure that Thomas knew exactly what was going on. Our producer Kate Oates was brilliant. There were lots of meetings with his parents and we were constantly talking to him about it, just to make sure that he knew the magnitude of the storyline. I think the way they've dealt with it has been incredible.
"There has to be an element for viewers where they can see both sides - they can see the confusion for Lachlan. It can't be something that's done in a way which isolates him and then he is open to abuse from people outside of the show, so there is a responsibility to him as a young person that everybody has."
Have you enjoyed playing out so much drama recently?
"Well, I haven't had five minutes to enjoy being a married woman - I didn't even get through my wedding day! It's one thing after another, isn't it? (Laughs.) It's amazing because we've had big, emotional scenes and we've worked with characters that we haven't really worked with before. I think in Home Farm you can sometimes be quite isolated and you only meet people occasionally in The Woolpack. It's really nice to have different people coming in and different dynamics. I feel really passionately about it because I think the way they've played it out has been really sensitive."