Emmerdale recreates iconic 27-year-old storyline as Kim Tate watches another husband die
EMMERDALE has recreated an iconic scene from 27 years ago as Kim Tate is set to watch another husband die in front of her.
The scheming superbitch – who is played by actress Claire King in the ITV soap – started off having a great Christmas with her romantic vow renewal with husband Will Taylor.
She had no idea he had been scheming to destroy and humiliate her – before having a last minute change of plan after she suffered a riding accident.
Viewers know Will was working under the direction of a mystery man – Joe Tate – in order to take Kim’s money, send her to prison and leave her humiliated by jilting her during their vows.
But despite Joe’s demands, Will refused to humiliate Kim and instead the pair renewed their vows in a touching ceremony in front of their family.
“I know I don’t say it enough,” said Will. “But you are my world. Genuinely my better half.
“So whatever we have to face in the future, we face it together. Sorry if that was a bit much. I don’t think I’m going to want today to end.”
Dawn, Billy and Gabby left with the kids to give them some alone time but almost instantly Joe Tate appeared leaving Kim stunned.
“Hi Kim, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said adding: “Merry Christmas.”
Kim immediately went into defence mode and told him to go and crawl back under whatever rock he’d crawled out from under.
But Joe had a bombshell to drop first – he was back to expose Will, conveniently leaving his own role out of it.
He told how he was in touch with Jamie – now like a brother to him – and that Will reached out to him for help in destroying and humiliating Kim.
But he claimed that Jamie didn’t want anything to do with it and that he had returned to expose Will’s plan and reunite with Kim, his family.
Joe spun a yarn that he was simply trying to find out how far Will’s revenge scheme would go to save Kim.
Kim told him to get out and turned her rage on Will.
He begged her to believe him that he’d tried to stop the plan and that he meant every single word of his vows.
“Whatever you think about me right now, you cannot trust Joe,” said Will, getting increasingly worked up.
“I am so sorry but I love you and there’s no-one else in this world who loves you like I do,” he said.
Struggling to catch his breath under Kim’s onslaught of rage, Will clutched his chest and collapsed, dragging the Christmas tree down with him.
But as Will hit the deck, Kim just rolled her eyes and looked distinctly unimpressed.
The scene is a hark back to 1997 when Kim’s first husband – the evil Frank Tate – suffered a heart attack in front of Kim.
But instead of helping him, she stopped him from calling an ambulance while he died.
The iconic scene saw her check his lack of breath on her compact mirror before fixing her own makeup.
Kim Tate's biggest Emmerdale storylines
First appearing in 1989, Kim Tate (Claire King) is an iconic Emmerdale character. Here's a look at some of her biggest storylines over the years.
MARRIAGE TO FRANK TATE
Kim has been married three times in the soap, but her first, volatile pairing was with Frank Tate (Norman Bowler)
They were an on-screen partnership for almost a decade – including divorcing and remarrying.
However, Frank ultimately suffered a fatal heart attack, brought on by Kim’s return to the village after being presumed dead.
During the marriage, Kim had affairs with Neil Kincaid (Brian Deacon) and Dave Glover (Ian Kelsey).
FAKING HER OWN DEATH
Kim disappeared from the village in February 1997. A few days later, Frank identified a woman found dead at the wheel of her car as Kim.
However, everyone was in for a shock after Kim revealed she was still alive – and the full extent of her plan.
While she’d fled to the Caribbean, Kim had paid a lookalike prostitute to drive her car around the village to fool people into thinking she was still there. It was, in fact, her body that Frank previously identified.
JAMES’ KIDNAPPING
Kim’s business partnership with Lord Alex Oakwell (Rupam Maxwell), resulted in the death of Linda Fowler (Tonicha Jeronimo), in a car crash.
As an act of revenge, Linda’s mother Jan (Roberta Kerr) kidnapped Kim’s son James.
DEPARTURE
After a decade of causing chaos, Kim left Emmerdale in 1999 as she fled in a helicopter with her son James and £190,000 of Chris Tate’s money.
LATER MARRIAGES
Upon Kim’s return in 2018, she was first revealed to be married to Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough).
However, he was later killed off in a whodunnit storyline.
She later pursued a relationship with her employee Will Taylor (Dean Andrews), marrying him in 2022.
Kim’s vow renewal outfit – a black blazer dress – was also a nod to the scene where Kim wore a black suit to deal with Frank.
But will Will suffer the same fate? Or will Kim save him instead?