Emmerdale fans fume as Bear's whereabouts finally confirmed: 'Ofcom ringing off the hook'

Fans of Emmerdale finally got to see where missing Bear Wolf has been for the last 100 days. The character, played by Joshua Richards, had a special episode dedicated to him on Monday evening as it was revealed that he was being held captive by evil drug dealer Ray Walters (Joe Absolom).

The episode explored the true depth of Ray and Celia's cruelty as the ITV soap took on the important topic of modern slavery. It saw that Bear was initially welcomed by Ray and given lodgings in exchange for hard labour, but he soon became trapped in a terrifying situation. At one point, he is injured by a tractor with his arm left cut wide open, but Ray won't allow him to visit a hospital. It leaves him vulnerable, frail and unable to escape. The heartbreaking scenes showed Ray bullying Bear over and over again as he sank into himself, with his softness on full display, with the ITV soap leaving fans in tears.

However, many fans thought that the heartwrenching episode could lead to a huge influx of complaints to regulator Ofcom. Posting to Reddit, one viewer was clearly touched by the programme as they said: "I feel like I need, to open up a VIP room, so we can all have a lie down in a dark room. The worst episode, I've ever seen, and at 7:30pm! Ofcom's phone lines will be ringing off the hook tonight."

Another replied: "We ended up turning it off - just too depressing and mum was getting a bit upset." As one more echoed: "Sorry but couldn't watch that."

One more fan fumed: "Emmerdale really does only know how to do dark, depressing, stories. And I'm bloody sick of it!"

Someone else played devil's advocate, saying: "Absolutely harrowing episode. Haven't watched much Emmerdale in the past few years, but it was extremely well-written, great acting and directing. It's dark, but crucially very realistic and something that could easily happen next door with no-one being any wiser."

Actor Joshua Richards, who plays Bear, said on this huge new story: "It may surprise many people, but slavery is alive and well, indeed prospering in the modern world.

"The disadvantaged, dispossessed, those with mental health issues or disabilities, the old, lonely and vulnerable people that our society neglect are the perfect prey for grooming by unscrupulous criminal agencies."

Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.