Soap Insight: Siân Reeves on Sally's arrival

Emmerdale's Reverend Ashley Thomas (John Middleton) gets a blast from the past this week when his first love Sally Spode walks back into his life and agitates old feelings he thought he'd buried.

Sally - played by EastEnders and Cutting It actress Siân Reeves - turns up in the village out of the blue with her husband Vincent (Antony Byrne), much to the shock of Ashley and Laurel (Charlotte Bellamy).

With a cricket match on the horizon, Ashley and Laurel are forced to practice closely with the pair, but to their disdain.

Explaining Sally and Ashley's relationship, Reeves explains: "Sally and Ashley fell in love when they were a lot younger. He was Sally's first love but I think she was the love of his life."

She continues: "Sally then left him, she broke Ashley's heart and went off with a very successful vicar, Vincent, who will possibly become the next bishop. We're in the village because we're playing a cricket match against Ashley and the village."

With the ongoing frosty relations between Ashley and Vincent unlikely to thaw, Reeves notes: "There was always animosity between Vincent and Ashley, they were friends but great rivals. I think Sally was with Ashley for about nine months and it was idyllic but then she ran away with Vincent because she thought he was going to be more successful."

As Sally walks back into Ashley life for the first time since they were youngsters, the village vicar struggles to suppress the flame that still flickers for her.

Reeves adds: "He's really shocked and unnerved and doesn't really know where to put himself. Sally is quite strong and considered and she really rocks his boat. It's awful, Ashley thought he was going to get married to her and she just left him, he's shocked that she's still with Vincent. I think he still has feelings for her."

Laurel, meanwhile, quickly notices her husband's change in mood and quite rightly puts two and two together, realising that Ashley is unsettled by Sally's presence.

"Initially Laurel is really nice to Sally but I think Sally is going to make it difficult for her to stay being nice to her!" Reeves continues. "She's going to start acting very needy and fragile putting herself in the way to try to make it look like Laurel's being a little bit rude and overly harsh by not wanting her around."

The big question, though, is whether man-of-the-cloth Ashley will act on his emotions or whether he'll be able to fight them until Sally leaves. "I don't think there is lust between them but Sally's one of those awful women who sees something she wants and makes sure she gets it," Reeves goes on.

"I think Sally could cause trouble as she's quite manipulative and she wants the life Ashley and Laurel have. She really starts to like it all - the children, the village, she's so happy there and she wants to be part of the community. She's been travelling around with Vincent for years which has been quite glamorous, but now she just wants what Laurel has."

With Sally expected to stay in the village for around six months, will she manage to push Ashley to the edge and force him to confront his feelings for her? Or will he able to fend off his first love and allay his wife's fears?

Only time will tell, but it's far from quiet in the country, so anything's possible. And let's not forget actress Charlotte Bellamy - who plays Laurel - goes on maternity leave later this year to have her third child.