Emmerdale star Liam Fox has confirmed his exit from the soap as he teased a "sad ending" for his character Dan Spencer, who faces a lengthy prison sentence.
After 12 years in the village, Dan's future has been thrown into jeopardy after he punched daughter Amelia's stalker Lloyd (Matt Sutton) and put him in a coma.
Lloyd antagonised the protective dad during their confrontation and a furious Dan lost his temper and punched Lloyd in the face, causing him to fall down and hit his head on a rock.
Horrified by what he had done, Dan pleaded guilty to GBH in court. However, Lloyd died on the same day as Dan's court hearing and he now faces a prison sentence for manslaughter.
Terrified at the prospect of going to prison, Dan agreed to Amelia's plan of running away to Ireland in order to stay together as a family.
However, Dan changed his mind at the last minute and drove back to the village as he realised that he couldn't let Amelia (Daisy Campbell) and Esther live a life on the run for his actions.
As the long-standing resident prepares to say farewell to the village, Liam told us about Dan's emotional final days in Emmerdale.
He told What To Watch and other press: "When I read the script it was like, 'wow this is awesome.' He’s kind of taking it all in and realising that he’s going, and getting support from other people in the village.
"There’s some lovely stuff before he goes. He goes into the Woolpack and Man Club are there and really supporting him.
"It’s really, really well written, really nice stuff. It made me cry a few times reading it. Very emotional, lovely stuff. I feel very, very lucky to get that sort of script around this story."
Liam shared that Dan is terrified at doing a long stint in prison, and while we are yet to find out how long he is facing locked up, Liam did hint that the mechanic will be a "different man" if and when he is released.
"He’s scared about how long he’s going to get. He’s presuming he’s going to get about 3 years or something like that, so he’s got it in his head that after 18 months he might be out, but can he cope with 18 months? Is that something that Dan can get his head round?
"Whatever Dan does, when he comes out, if he comes out, he’s going to be a different man. Someone like Dan will not benefit from prison.
"There’s no rehabilitation as a human being needed for Dan, but at the same time he has committed manslaughter. So that’s the balance in these cases, isn’t it? As a human being, Dan will not be better for going in prison, in my opinion."
Liam opened up about Dan's sad ending after 12 years in the village.
"He lost it. I don’t know how much he feels like he should be punished but he just seems wracked with guilt more than anything else. Obviously anyone would hope for the lightest sentence but it’s just pure guilt, really, and he doesn’t know where to turn. It’s really sad."
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30 pm on ITV1, with a hour-long episode on Thursdays — see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on ITVX.
