Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) has been holding things together in Emmerdale while supporting other people, but now that there’s little else he can do for either his dad or Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle), he can’t help but look inwards.

This is a dangerous thing for Paddy, whose mind spirals when it’s not completely distracted from his own troubles. Being out on bail means he’s suspended from work, but work is such a major distraction for Paddy that Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry), takes pity and kindly lets him work reception and keep up with the surgery’s admin.

But, unsurprisingly, his foggy head means a big mistake is made. He tries to help a client and her cat when he shouldn’t, and he’s too fragile to cope with the disappointment from Vanessa (Michelle Hardwick) and harsh words from Rhona.

Just to kick him when he’s down, his court date arrives.

Paddy goes back into supportive mode in trying to keep Dylan positive when all the while, he’s crumbling himself.

There’s a break in the dark cloud when Eve offers up one of her masterpieces and it depicts the whole family, including Dylan, but it’s a short-lived high. Paddy later visits the vets and spots the bolt gun.

It wasn’t that long ago when Paddy had that gun in hand preparing to end his own life. He flashes back to that moment when his suicidal ideation took over and he nearly made an attempt. He panics at the memory and flees the vets, heading straight to his best friend’s house for comfort.

‘Marlon knows the body language is terrible. He looks like a ghost of the person Marlon’s seen earlier, so he knows immediately that something is deeply amiss,’ actor Mark Charnock explains to metro.co.uk of Marlon’s first look at Paddy.

The instant Marlon lays eyes on his bestie, he knows what he’s thinking and pulls him straight into a hug. Paddy is spiralling about the court case, envisioning only the worst possible outcome. Marlon tries to talk him round, but there’s only so much he can reassure him when the worst outcome is entirely possible.

Mark said of Marlon’s attempts to help: ‘I don’t think there is much you can say in that scenario that’s going to make any human being feel better, no matter how well you know them.’

So he concocts a new plan. He goes for the art of distraction and takes him to Celia’s (Jaye Griffiths) farm with a pair of sledgehammers and plans to smash the place to pieces. It works a little bit too well as the men find themselves lost in their thoughts as they destroy the place.