Emmerdale newcomer Billy Fletcher

Emmerdale newcomer Billy Fletcher gets beaten up already – but who's responsible?Just 24 hours after turning up in the village, he's already in a spot of bother.Emmerdale star Sandra Marvin, who plays Jessie Grant, revealed that we could expect her character's son Billy Fletcher to cause "a whole heap of trouble", after he dramatically turned up in the Dales for her Christmas Day wedding to Marlon Dingle.
But tonight, it was Billy (Jay Kontzle) who found himself in trouble, as he's already been beaten up by someone just 24 hours after his surprise arrival in the village.
Aaron (Danny Miller) wasn't pleased to see Billy, giving him a warning shove within seconds of spotting him at the wedding reception.

Naturally, Marlon (Mark Charnock) wanted to find out why there's bad blood between them, especially given that Aaron had previously told him he went through "hell" in prison.

But Billy didn't seem keen to give much away in terms of detail, telling Marlon that he believed Aaron was far from a "helpless victim".


And Jessie seemed confident that Billy would get his life back on track quickly after his time in prison, suggesting he could stay at her flat – and within moments, she helped defend her son, as police officers came knocking to investigate an unexplained break-in and "a lot of damage" at the Dingles' Wishing Well cottage...

Also tonight, Aaron's husband Robert – and Emmerdale viewers – learned for the first time that Billy was part of Jason's gang who bullied him and beat him up in prison.
Robert reassured Aaron that he'd have his support no matter what, as he slowly convinced him to talk about what happened.

"Billy, he was evil, they all were… there was a gang of them," Aaron explained. "You know all this anyway… Billy kept himself in the background most of the time – avoiding any trouble, I suppose – but he was still part of it.

"He had this way of staying under the radar, and he'd never let on. He was clever with it, though. He only had to look at you and it'd make you hate yourself – and now, he's here."

And moments after Aaron confided in Robert, guess who turned up – their new next-door neighbour…

Well, until Billy quickly realised it could be horrendously awkward living in Jessie's flat next to Robert and Aaron, and they all talked it out and decided he could live at Marlon's place instead.
However, Ellis (Asan N'Jie) did not seem *remotely* enthusiastic about the idea – but agreed with Jessie and Marlon to try and help make it work.

Then, just as Marlon and Jessie were settling in for a quiet night and placing a pizza order, the episode closed with Billy stumbling through the village at night, disoriented, with blood coming from a wound on his head.

But who was responsible for Billy's injuries? Could it be Robert, Aaron, Marlon... or someone else entirely? Some viewers have been sharing their theories already...

Emmerdale continues on Thursday (December 27) at 7pm and 8pm on ITV.