The following article contains spoilers from an episode of Emmerdale dated January 28. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX.

Underneath the nice suits and bravado, Emmerdale’s Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) is a lonely soul wanting genuine love and connection.

He had this in the form of Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough), who Joe considered a father figure for years. In 2020, his mended little heart was broken all over again when he discovered Graham had been killed.

Of course, we now know that Graham was never murdered by Pierce Harris and that he actually paid people on the inside to help cover up his death. After making a brief return to the village last week, Graham was back yesterday to speak with Rhona Goskirk (Zoe Henry), and then headed to Home Farm to reveal himself to Joe and Kim Tate (Claire King).

Once he got over the fact he definitely wasn’t seeing a ghost, Joe broke down as he recalled the moment he learnt about Graham’s ‘death’, and the horror that followed after. He said that in the initial aftermath, he had never felt so alone.

The grief sent Joe on a downward spiral. He stopped eating and sleeping, and could only manage to shove drugs into his system.

His health got so bad as a result of the drugs, he had to get a kidney transplant, which eventually took him back to Emmerdale in December 2024.

Graham had no idea about any of this and apologised profusely to Joe, but his words weren’t ever going to be enough.

Joe was hurt to discover Graham actually didn’t go back to the village for him

The other person who gave Graham their tuppence worth in today’s episode was Kim, who worked out that her ex’s return had something to do with Rhona.

Graham confirmed that he did indeed return because Rhona needed his help but this was overheard by Joe, who believed Graham was back for him.

Joe didn’t have any idea that Graham was in the village a couple of days prior to the Corriedale crash taking place. The fact Graham was so close but chose to keep distance between him and Joe broke his heart even more.

While Joe was outside getting some air, Graham reminded Kim that they are still technically married. The legal declaration was declared invalid when Graham apparently died but because he’s actually alive, they could still be classed as Mr and Mrs Tate-Foster.

Foster-Tate?

Anyways.

After being reminded of this, Kim wondered if Graham was back because he believes he’s entitled to some of her assets. Graham told her that wasn’t the case, and reiterated that he came back for Rhona, and now intends to stay for Joe.

But whether Graham actually stays in the village is currently up in the air, as the instalment ended with two police officers asking the man to go to the station with them.

Joe revealed he had called the police on Graham. He understood a little, but it definitely hurt him.

What does the future hold for Graham? Will the Tates forgive him for his deception? Will he be able to worm his way back into the fold? Andrew Scarborough thinks so.

‘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.’