blackmailer who has been targeting Will Taylor (Dean Andrews) and now a fresh Kim Tate (Claire King) theory has emerged – and it would be a game-changer.

Since his antics with Rose – who went missing before turning up abroad – Will has been trying to keep the truth from his wife, who is certainly capable of dangerous payback.

But someone has got a hold of the juicy gossip that could be his undoing, and has wasted no time in tormenting him with it.

Withholding their identity, the mystery stalker has been sending threatening messages and demanding big lumps of cash.

Sure enough, Kim soon vanishes and Will learns that she has been kidnapped. He rushes to the woods to find a mannequin of Kim lying on the ground, as the blackmailer closes in.

But is Kim truly as kidnapped as she seems? Some now reckon that she knows the truth of his dalliance with his ex and has lured him into revenge of her own.

Perhaps there is no third party, and Kim is playing games herself to make hapless Will pay a serious price.

Claire King recently indicated that we would see Kim’s darker side emerge once more – and we certainly wouldn’t want to test her wrath like Will has done.

Let’s also not forget that she has form for this kind of trickery – at one point she pretended to be dead to teach her own son Jamie a lesson, so this would come without any guilt.

Whatever happens, actor Dean Andrews warned of a clash in the forest, which may put his character in serious danger.

‘I love that kind of physicality stuff,’ he enthused. The fights and the running, the scared and the panicky. They’re always good to play.

‘Kim’s kidnapped, the horse has been taken, somebody wants fifty grand, he’s up the creek. And he doesn’t really know what to do. He’s basically at the end of his tether and will do anything to make this problem go away.

‘He’s getting notes and directions from a voice in the woods, that he can’t fathom out where this voice is coming from or why. He’s just gone into a random woods, he’s hearing all kinds of voices.

‘He’s got the money, in his bag, he’s got the fifty grand, he doesn’t know what’s going to happen when he gets there.’

Dropping further teasers on what’s to come, the former Life On Mars star added: ‘There’s some good stuff along the way that’s enjoyable.

‘He’s multi-faceted. He’s got quite a few personalities, we keep jumping from one to another.

‘He’s good fun to play and it’s been great working with Claire for the last few years. He’s been pretty lucky in the village.’