The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale that hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.
Emmerdale’s Lawrence Robb has spoken out for the first time about his character surviving a deadly attack.
Lawrence’s soap alter ego Mackenzie Boyd was hit with a bow and arrow by John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) in August. The last we saw of the character, Mack was begging for his life, but John told him there was no way he’d be able to let him go.
He then grabbed a huge boulder and threw it down onto Mack, making it look as though that was the moment he killed him.
In soapland lore though, a character is only dead once we’ve seen there body. As a result of this, fans of the ITV soap spent just over a week convinced that Mack was still alive somewhere.
And he was.
On Friday, John was once again seen sneaking about in the woods near the cottage. When he returned, Aaron Dingle (Danny Miller) had made a major discovery about the room behind the locked door.
Aaron was standing in John’s childhood bedroom. He was, understandably, taken aback that John had told a huge lie to him, but the local medic was able to manipulate his husband so he failed to think too much about it.
Soon enough, Aaron was agreeing to John’s idea about moving into the cottage permanently.
Just before the instalment ended, John was moving some leaves on the woodland floor.
He then opened a door to an underground bunker and inside was Mackenzie.
John moved the blanket from his face and Mack grumbled, allowing us to get confirmation he was alive – but only just.
Keeping Mack’s fate a secret was quite the task for Lawrence. As much as he liked the mystery, he is glad the truth is out now!
The star explained: ‘I’m glad the secret that Mack isn’t quite dead (yet) is over. I have felt slightly deceitful over the last two weeks when people have asked me about his death.
‘While I have enjoyed being somewhat of an enigma over that time, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the drama we shot is received on screen.
He added: ‘Both Ollie and I really enjoyed shooting it, so hopefully the jeopardy of Mack’s position will keep the audience gripped!’.
Tonight’s episode of the ITV soap, which can be viewed on ITVX, opens with Mackenzie waking up after being drugged by John.
Viewing the bunker for the first time, along with the person who put him there, leaves Mack in a complete panic. He’s urged to calm down by John, who points out that he can’t afford to use all of his energy up at once.
It’s confirmed that Mackenzie sustained a broken leg when John threw that boulder at him. The character tells Mack that he’s not a killer, but knows things have gotten even more complicated because he is now holding Mackenzie hostage in the middle of nowhere.
Joh also tells Mack about how he didn’t intend to murder Nate Robinson, and says that he had a bad reaction to the medication he gave him.
Desperate, Mack decides to take the approach of agreeing with what John says, believing he can get inside his head if he too thinks that John Sugden is a good man.
Mack’s plan works for a little while, but he makes the mistake of plotting and attack far too early. He tries to grab a plank of wood and goes to hit John with it, but Mack is weak and chained up – it was never going to work.
A furious John tells Mack that his word was the only thing keeping him alive, and now he cannot be trusted.
Despite John successfully distracting Aaron last week, he will begin to have a few doubts about his husband in the coming days.
‘His [John’s] behaviour changes and he becomes a bit erratic’, Danny Miller said.
‘He’s going out all the time and he’s out for these long runs. Aaron knows he’s used it personally as an excuse in the past when he wants to get away, and he’s wondering what he’s struggling with.
