Bear left the village in July following the breakdown in his relationship with son Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt). Prior to the departure, Paddy started to pick up on his father acting differently.

Due to Bear’s sudden change in behaviour, he clashed multiple times with Paddy. As concern grew, Paddy attempted to get through to his dad to work out what was on his mind, but he struggled.

As Bear became more irritable and forgetful, Paddy convinced himself that something was terribly wrong. He tried to do a memory test on his dad in the pub, fearful he might have dementia, but it ended with Bear angrily grabbing Paddy and pinning him against the wall.

It was Paddy getting attacked by a dog that seriously changed things for him and his dad.

Bear was on hand to call an ambulance after Paddy was bitten by a canine on Celia Daniels’ (Jaye Griffiths) land, but his thoughts on what happened changed when they were in the hospital.

Bear claimed that Paddy lets people walk all over him, and that his loved ones are afraid to say things sometimes in case he feels suicidal.

The aftermath of this saw Bear leave the village. He had a massive argument with his son, and then claimed he’d be off to see his old wrestling friend in Ireland.

However, Bear’s mate then called him and said plans had changed, and he therefore wouldn’t be allowed to stay. Feeling unwanted and unloved, Bear got in his hire car and left anyways.

A few weeks later, we briefly saw Bear. He had parked his car in a field and it was clear he had been living out of it. Rubbish was on the seat, he was looking tired, and couldn’t bring himself to contact his son for help.

Back in the village, Paddy was chatting to Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) about his dad. As far as he was concerned, Bear was having a lovely time with his mate, and checking in currently wasn’t a priority.

When Bear returns, he’ll be launched into a big new storyline, and Joshua previously told us that he’s looking forward to the challenge.

‘I’m going to enjoy my summer holiday because I’m off to Wales tomorrow,’ he said, ‘But I’m really looking forward to coming back.’

‘I do love to work. I’m not mad on inactivity for long periods of time, as any actor is if one could be there doing something and having the great fun of taking on a major storyline. It’s exciting.’

The actual details of Bear’s new plot are still being kept under wraps but as we get closer to finding out what it will be, it appears small clues are now being dropped.

Recently in the ITV soap, Dylan Penders (Fred Kettle) was helping Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley) clean the house. The teenager is living at Tenants after Paddy helped Dylan with his injured leg.

Dylan picked up a framed photo of Bear and asked Mandy about him. He gave the picture a lingering look, and then put it back down.

This small moment has left a few fans wondering if Bear may share a connection with Dylan.

We don’t know a great deal about Bear’s life before he was introduced as Paddy’s father, just that he worked as a wrestler. Could this new story confirm he is also a relative of Dylan’s?

Away from this theory though, Joshua also said this when discussing what’s ahead for his soap alter-ego: ‘I’ve done something on this subject which I’m not going to say, but I did a play about it with John Godber a few years ago and it was riveting – quite profound and upsetting and also full of alarming facts.’

In 2007, Joshua acted in John Godber and Jane Thornton’s play Sold, playing a journalist who tries to help a woman who has been sold to people traffickers. It would certainly be a difficult and powerful topic for Emmerdale to tackle if this is what’s planned.

Joshua wasn’t giving any more details but told us that he’s excited about taking on the upcoming storyline.

‘I think it’s going to be an excellent storyline to take on because I haven’t seen anybody take it on before,’ he said.