The following article contains spoilers from the episode of Emmerdale dated January 27. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.

We never thought we’d see the day where Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) expresses how grateful he is for his family in Emmerdale but hey, Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough) is back from the dead, anything is possible now.

 

 

Earlier this month, Joe was involved in the Corriedale crash and believed he saw Graham while in the hospital. Due to the fact every man and their dog thinks Graham was murdered by Pierce Harris in 2020, Joe put this puzzling moment down to the fact he was somewhat concussed after being knocked to the ground by an explosion.

Despite telling himself this, Joe couldn’t shake the thought of what if he really did see Graham? He had to get some answers, and asked a PI to look into it. The PI then brought DI Dent to the meeting with Joe, who said that Graham is definitely dead, because she saw the body.

Dent was later seen in her car on the phone to someone, telling them that she told Joe exactly what he needed to hear.

Last week, when Graham made his official return to the village, he told Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry) how DI Dent and a number of other emergency services personnel helped him fake his death.

The last Rhona saw of Graham, he was heading out of Smithy Cottage ready to kill Ray Walters (Joe Absolom). He was involved in a confrontation with the drug dealer in the village hall, but didn’t go as far as murdering the man because Joe entered, which meant Graham had to make a run for it.

With Rhona unaware of who killed Ray, she’s been wondering if Graham has disappeared because he did as she requested. Unable to get some answers, Rhona’s had no choice but to carry on as though that interaction with Graham never happened.

As she wandered into the vets in today’s episode, Rhona got quite the fright as Graham was stood waiting for her. They chatted, but Graham was forced to hide again when Joe wandered in.

Joe told Rhona that he had found a horse that he wanted to buy Kim Tate (Claire King), and needed her to check the advert was completely legit and the foal was healthy. In a thoughtful and surprising twist for Joe, the horse is a blood relative of Ice, Kim’s beloved horse who was put to sleep as a result of an injury.

As Joe chatted about rebuilding the trust between him and Kim, he also spoke about how he never thought he’d enjoy having a family that had children in it as well. Unbeknownst to him, Graham was listening to everything.

Joe left and Graham told Rhona that he’s happy Joe has a strong family unit, but it’s just a shame Kim is in it.

That evening, Joe was sat with Kim at Home Farm. They were chatting, but Joe was finding it difficult to hide the massive smile from his face.

He couldn’t keep his secret any longer and told Kim about the horse he intends to buy for her. Kim was incredibly grateful but declined, telling Joe that she had happy memories of Ice, and feels it’s important to move forward.

Just as she said it isn’t possible to bring someone back from the dead, smooth talking Graham arrived and told Kim that she is very, very wrong.

‘It was brilliant because it was like a Play For Today.’ star Andrew said, discussing what lies ahead as Joe processes his father figure has been alive this whole time.

‘It was lovely to flesh that out and it was very well written. The scenes are quite heightened, which I think they should be, as it’s an unreal situation for somebody to come back from the dead. I loved acting in these scenes because we were bouncing things around like tennis balls and that is what it should be. I think many actors would know what I’m talking about.’

He added: ‘Well, I think if Kim Tate can forgive Joe for harvesting an organ she can forgive Graham for coming back from the dead. And if he helps matters by proving himself by fixing some things for them, they will appreciate his skills and his loyalty. But it might take some months.’