Joel puts himself in terrible danger.

Note: This article contains discussion of child loss and drug dependency.

Hollyoaks’ Joel Dexter will continue to struggle with his drugs relapse next week, with his desperation leading him into further potential danger as mysterious gangster Blue attempts to cover up their latest murder.

Joel and his wife Leela have recently been dealing with the devastating loss of their baby son, Noah, who was sadly stillborn. Following Noah’s funeral, Joel made the worrying decision to take drugs again following his past addiction.

In scenes that will air next week, Joel shares the news with Leela that his dad Warren Fox has asked them to be godparents to his and Mercedes McQueen’s newborn twin daughters. However, Leela admits that she finds it very difficult to be around the babies after losing Noah.

As Joel continues to battle his emotions, he decides to steal some heroin from Warren’s secret stash, and he heads up to Norma Crow’s flat to take it.

What Joel doesn’t know is that Norma’s body is lying in the flat, after Blue shot her dead in another move against Warren. After Joel enters the flat, Blue turns up to move Norma’s body and, having broken in, finds Joel in a drug-fuelled haze.

Meanwhile, Warren is out walking the twins in the village when he sees someone moving around inside the flat. He quickly rushes up, interrupting Blue’s dark mission.

While Blue hides in plain sight, Mercedes begs Warren to keep his promises to her and stay away from criminal activity once and for all.

Warren, meanwhile, is busy looking after Joel, while also battling his sleep deprivation. When Leela confides in Mercedes that she’s afraid Joel is drifting away from her, Mercedes confronts Joel and insists that she won’t cover for him again.

Mercedes gives Joel a warning that he needs to sort himself out, but will Joel be able to resist taking drugs again?

Unfortunately for Warren and his family, it looks like there’s still plenty of danger in store for them in the coming weeks. Fans will finally discover the truth about Blue’s identity next week, but the villagers will remain in the dark as Blue promises to stop at nothing to take Warren’s family from him.

Hollyoaks streams first online via Channel 4 each weekday at 7.30pm. Episodes then air on E4 the following day, before getting their YouTube premiere a week after that.