Emmerdale continues to explore Robert Sugden's dark side next week as he makes two attempts to kill Chas Dingle.
Robert is left horrified when Chas discovers that he has reignited his affair with her troubled son Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller), especially when she starts threatening him by vowing to tell his wife Chrissie the truth.
After an initial plan to kill Chas (Lucy Pargeter) with a rock gets interrupted, Robert makes contact with a hitman to silence her once and for all...
Here, Ryan Hawley - who plays Robert - offers his thoughts on the dramatic situations ahead for his ruthless character.
You've certainly had an eventful few months on screen! When you joined Emmerdale, how much did the producers tell you about their plans for the character?
"I'm really lucky to have been given all of this stuff from the writers. When I joined the show, I knew the backstory of the character and I also had a meeting with Kate Oates, the series producer, who told me everything up until Katie Sugden was killed off. I knew all that was going to happen and I knew about the affair with Aaron.
"Kate told me on the night before I started to film my first scenes - I was like a little schoolboy looking at her! I was thrilled to have all these interesting storylines and relationships. I'm blessed, really, that the writers have given me this and trusted me with this story."
Does Robert feel responsible for Katie's death?
"I've said before that Robert is morally elastic. He'll see that what he's done is wrong, but he'll find a way of justifying it and saying, 'No it was her fault'. What I find so interesting is that it's ambiguous - is he a murderer, is he not? If he was just an out-and-out psychopath going round killing people, I think that's less interesting and there would be less dimensions to the character. With Robert, I think you can always kind of be guessing, 'What's he going to do next?' That's something I really enjoy, trying to find something that's spontaneous or unpredictable."
Do you have to work hard so that viewers still have empathy with Robert?
"Yes, there is a risk of playing a character that is so devious and selfish and does horrible things, but I think in the storyline that my character is going to have, there are going to be moments when you might start to see a nicer side to him. There are redeeming moments, such as when Robert talked Andy out of taking his own life at the quarry. Robert does have empathy and he does feel guilt, but he's not willing to accept that the death was solely his fault."
What makes Robert pick the rock up and prepare to strike Chas next week? It's a very big moment for his character...
"Well, he's absolutely desperate for Chrissie not to find out. He loves Chrissie, but he has developed this attraction for Aaron, who is interesting, different and exciting. When Robert picks up the rock, he's at a point where he is absolutely desperate because Chas isn't going to back down. She is a strong-willed character and there's a personality clash between the two of them. She has got Aaron's best interests at heart and sees Robert for what he is.
"Chas is going to call quits to it by revealing the truth to Chrissie, and there's no way Robert will let that happen. We've seen that with Katie - he won't let it happen and we don't know what lengths he will go to in order to stop her. That moment when he picks up the rock will be really interesting for the viewers - they'll hopefully think, 'Is he going to kill her? Is he not? What's he going to do here?'"
In his own mind, how would Robert justify killing Aaron's mum?
"He's a doer - he does things and then he thinks afterwards. In that situation, he doesn't think, he just does it. He picks up this rock and goes, 'That's it, I'm at my wits' end here. I've got to get rid of her'."
When his original plan doesn't work out, Robert orders a hit on Chas! How does he have the number of a hitman?
"I'm not going to give you the answer to that because that might be revealed in the show, but Robert has spent 9 years away from Emmerdale. There have been moments in the show where you can see just how horrible this person can really be. During that 9 years, I like to think there's a grey area where people don't know what this guy has done. He could be someone really sinister and quite dark."
Have you had any flak from fans while you've been out and about?
"To be honest with you, the main times I get recognised or anything is daytime when I'm in a supermarket. That seems to be when everyone knows who you are. If I go out at 6pm or 7pm, nobody knows who I am because they're probably at home watching Emmerdale!
"There was a woman, during the daytime, working on the till and she hissed at me and started asking everyone around if they knew who I was! She said, 'Oh I know you! You're that nasty one aren't you! Ooh, ooh, I just want to punch you!' Everyone noticed and then people were going, 'No I don't know who he is!' I was like, 'Oh that's embarrassing!' She carried on even as I walked off but I haven't had anyone slap me or anything!"
Are you aware of the hardcore Robert and Aaron - 'Robron' - fans who want them to be together?
"My wife tells me that she's read things and people commenting on it, so it's all relaid to me. I was really surprised that the main people who are quite supportive of the relationship are young teenage girls. It's really nice to be accepted in a show that's really well-established like this. When you're coming back and playing a character that people have loved before, to have people like it is a real honour."
Is Robert starting to fall in love with Aaron now?
"I think he is, yes. I'd say he loves Chrissie, but his relationship with Aaron is very deep. He's his soul mate, really. They understand each other and Robert can be himself around Aaron. When it comes to Robert's sexuality, I don't personally adhere to the belief that it's either black or white - I think there's a spectrum and people throughout their life will fluctuate as they choose and I think that Robert is very much that way.
"I don't think Robert sees himself as gay or straight, but I don't think he would ever admit that he is gay, purely for the status in the village and having that stigma attached to him. It's not something he would like to be seen as."
How bad do you think it would be for Robert if the truth did come out?
"The Whites are the celebrities in the village to some extent and it's one of the most horrible betrayals you could do to someone that you say you love. What I think is interesting about Robert is he says he loves Chrissie, and whether you believe him or not is something that will play out and it will play out over the next few months or so."
Do you think Lawrence could feel empathy towards Robert given his own similar experiences?
"Well, Chrissie is his daughter so he's going to be fuming about that. Robert has been lying to the whole family and doing all of this, but at the same time I think Lawrence is going to see the parallels - everyone will that knows his backstory."
We've heard that Emmerdale has a really dramatic summer coming up...
"There's a very, very big summer they've got planned. I was told a brief of what we're going to be doing for the next few months, and so I'm kind of balancing myself between thinking about that and what we're doing now. The summer sounds like it's going to be unmissable."
So will Robert be involved in that big summer drama?
"Oh yes, certainly."
What else is coming up for Robert in the near future?
"Chrissie involves Ross in a plot with her ex-husband Donny, who is the father of Lachlan. She engages him in this situation and Robert is very alarmed by that. He's worried that she might find out a bit too much about his previous dealings with Ross, mainly the Home Farm raid.
"There are a lot of secrets and things are starting to get too much for Robert to handle now, and I think that's quite nice because he's going to find himself in a lot of situations and predicaments that he's going to need to get his way out of. Whether he'll come out unscathed is, I think, really interesting for the viewers."
Do you think Robert has a shelf life in the show now that he's becoming so villainous?
"I think the empathy thing is very much a part of that. When people start to empathise with Robert, they might start to forgive him for what he's done or they might start to understand where he's coming from. There might be a shelf life to how much I can do with the character, but as I said before, I think Robert's a lot more interesting than just an out-and-out serial killer. I think there's a lot more grey area with him."
