Samson Dingle (Sam Hall) was recently given a prison sentence that will keep

him away from Emmerdale for several years – and his family back in the village are

still reeling. Samson was caught up in a nasty incident when his new friend Josh

(Osian Morgan) was goading Matty Barton (Ash Palmisciano) at the Hide. When this all culminated in Samson accidentally getting stabbed by Matty, Samson and Josh threw the blame at Matty, saying he’d attacked them. This led to Matty doing prison time himself, a horrendous ordeal for the kind and gentle Matty who’d been completely innocent. Meanwhile his family tried to get Samson to tell the truth about what had happened, terrified about what Matty might have to face in prison because of being trans. Eventually Lydia (Karen Blick) persuaded Samson to tell the truth to the police, and he knew he’d face prison time for what he’d done. Cain (Jeff Hordley) taught him some fighting skills to help him while he was inside and he used these to beat Josh up.

Noah (Jack Downham) saw this and called the police, who arrested Samson and promptly locked him up. Samson’s dad, Sam (James Hooton), still thinks it was Moira (Natalie J. Robb) who called the police that day and he was still stewing about that in Tuesday (August 13)’s episode, thinking if that hadn’t happened his son might have got away with a suspended sentence. He said it was constantly going round in his head what might be happening to Samson in prison. Lydia said she was doing the same. ‘It’s not the same!’ Sam snapped at her. Lydia was stung.

‘You mean because I’m not his real mum,’ she said, and soon left Sam sitting on his own at the cafe. Sam and Lydia have been together since Samson was a child and she very much thinks of him as her own son, loving him unconditionally and always trying to be his moral compass and support. So for Sam to throw this comment at her was very harsh – and he knew it. Later he came to find her and apologised for what he’d said. ‘Of course you’re his mum, and you’re going through this an’ all,’ he conceded. Lydia wondered whether he was still angry with her for making Samson confess. He said that wasn’t it. ‘I just miss him and I’m scared for him,’ he said, adding that Lydia was much better than him at ‘the emotional stuff.’ He said that sometimes he thought she was the only thing holding the family together. It was a lovely moment that left Lydia genuinely touched – and glad that she and Sam are on the same page.