Emmerdale revisits Caleb Miligan’s ruthless side next week as he heads off for a secret meeting with his mother-in-law.

Caleb visits the hospital to see Ruby’s estranged mum Helen, who’s terminally ill.

The no-nonsense businessman doesn’t show much sympathy when Helen admits that she regrets being distant from Ruby for so many years.

Never one to miss an opportunity, though, Caleb demands a £100,000 bribe from Helen in return for bringing Ruby to see her before she dies.

Here, Will Ash – who plays Caleb – previews the latest drama for his character.

“Caleb had Ruby’s phone following the barn fire and noticed her receiving a call from a withheld number. He answered it and it was Ruby’s mum, so he immediately said, ‘Look, don’t phone this number again’ and blocked the number on Ruby’s phone.

“Then Ruby’s mum phones him instead – she’s got his number. She tells him: ‘I want to see Ruby. I’m in hospital, I’m dying and I want to see her’. Caleb says: ‘No, you can’t see her, but I’ll come to see you’. That’s how it starts.”

Why does Caleb agree to see Helen?

“Caleb decides to go to see what she wants. Helen says that she’s on her deathbed, but Caleb doesn’t know if that’s true. He knows Helen has been so manipulative and has behaved terribly in the past, so he just doesn’t trust anything that she’d ever say.

“But Caleb thinks that, if Helen is on her deathbed, then maybe Ruby does need some kind of closure with that and there’s a potential for sorting it out. As it turns out, that’s not what happens.”

What is Helen like?

“Ruby and Caleb don’t have any relationship with Helen at all. When Ruby and Caleb got together when they were about 17, Ruby’s parents really disliked Caleb. They hated him just because he’d come out of a care home, he didn’t have any family, and they thought he was beneath their daughter.

“Helen was really snobby and judgmental. She and her husband then gave Ruby an ultimatum. They basically said: ‘Look, if you want to be with this boy, then we don’t want anything to do with you’.

“So they totally cut Ruby out of their

“Yes, it comes totally out of the blue for Caleb – that this woman wants to get in touch and reconnect with her daughter, having treated her so appallingly in the past. They never expected this to happen.

“Caleb and Ruby thought that Helen, and Ruby’s dad, would get old, pass away and they’d never hear from them again because it’s been 30 years.”

What does Caleb find out at the hospital?

“Helen is dying. When Caleb turns up at the hospital to see her, it’s pretty clear that she’s not got long left. She’s quite resigned to the fact that she is going to pass away reasonably soon. There’s a definite clock on it with regards to Caleb allowing Helen to reconnect with Ruby.”

Helen tells Caleb that she’s now divorced from Ruby’s father. How does he react to that?

“It’s a big shock because they were such a formidable partnership and it always felt like Helen and the dad against Ruby and Caleb. They felt like they were really tight and they would never split up.

“Caleb has no interest in finding out why they’ve broken up, though. He certainly doesn’t have any compassion for her in that moment, because as far as Caleb’s concerned, Helen was as bad as the dad was.”