John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth)’s behaviour in upcoming Emmerdale episodes gives grounds for concern. And when he admits to having ‘control issues,’ should we start being worried for Aaron (Danny Miller)?

John arrived in the village last summer, a self-proclaimed ‘lone wolf’ who was so guarded about his privacy that he didn’t let anyone close to him – not even his sister Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) who was keen to build a relationship with him.

He’s gradually thawed a little bit, not least in his relationship with Aaron Dingle. The couple’s connection was first very casual but they soon became close and admitted that they love each other and they recently got engaged.

The strength of John’s feelings for Aaron became even clearer when he took charge in the aftermath of Anthony Fox (Nicholas Day)’s death. Believing that Aaron had killed Anthony, John set about disposing of the body and cleaning up the scene to remove the evidence.

In fact his skill and apparent experience of this task led some viewers to speculate that it was evidence that there was a darker side to John than we suspected. Some even thought that he was responsible for killing Anthony, although it turned out that it was Ruby who killed her abusive father.

There’s an unsettling twist to this in episodes to be aired soon, when the Miligan family realise that the place John said he’d buried Anthony’s body seems strangely undisturbed, with no signs of having recently been dug up to bury someone.

It makes them question what John really did with the body and whether Anthony could still be alive after all.

At the same time, Aaron is keen to press ahead with the wedding plans, but he’s upset when John storms out and refuses to discuss it.

John apologises the following day, and eventually opens up to Aaron and tells him he has issues around control. Aaron accepts his explanation, although it’s clear that John is still keeping certain aspects of his personality and his private life hidden.

We could be about to discover more about him, though. When he says he won’t be inviting anyone to the wedding because he has no other family and no friends, Victoria is concerned.

She decides to invite some of his former friends from the army to come to the stag.

How will John react to old faces from his past arriving in the village? Are we about to see John Sugden’s true colours at last?

‘Since enigmatic and inscrutable John Sugden arrived on our screens last summer, he’s managed to hide some pretty big secrets from his family and friends,’ producer Laura Shaw revealed.