Lydia Dingle decided to tell Joe Tate that it was her and Sam’s actions that caused Kim to have such a devastating accident that led to her beloved horse, Ice, being put down. Joe became furious, meanwhile Kim slipped further into her despair as she cancelled an order for the family Christmas dinner.

During the installment, Joe soon became heartbroken when Dawn Taylor shut down his proposal – bearing in mind she was still married to Billy Fletcher whom she left for Joe earlier this year.

With talk of Ray and Celia packing up to leave the area, Bear Wolf became worried he will be left behind but Ray assured him this won’t be the case. Bear then encouraged Ray to make the most of his time with Laurel as he feared he would have to succumb to Celia’s wishes and stop seeing her.

For Robert and Aaron, Ross was less than pleased to hear that they wanted to bring Seb back into their lives as Ross declared that giving him up was one of the hardest decisions he’s had to make.

Returning home to find his car windscreen smashed, Aaron was sure it’s Ross and his thoughts immediately turned to revenge. However, viewers soon noticed the real culprit lurking in the shadows – Kev Townsend.

Kev introduced himself as Robert Sugden’s prison husband, with Robert having only just returned to the ITV soap himself to try and win back Aaron Dingle. Robert was in shock as he stood face to face with his secret husband, expecting not to see him again. Kev announced that he was terminally ill, and only had months to live.

While the promise of his inheritance brightened Robert’s day, he decided to keep their relationship going until he died. However, it was soon revealed that Kev was not terminally ill, a truth that was uncovered by Dr Liam Cavanagh who accidentally became the getaway driver in Kev’s latest armed robbery.

In the end, Robert decided to break up with Kev but when the latter learned that he was back with Aaron, things swiftly escalated in the soap. Kev decided the best course of action would be to attack them by breaking into their home, wielding a weapon.

Liam Cavanagh also ended up arriving, meaning the trio were all against Kev as they attempted to calm him down. Realising there was nothing left for him in the village without Robert and Nicola King blackmailing him to leave his son, Lewis Barton alone, it was time for Kev to leave.

Viewers were pleased to see him return, and on a Reddit thread, u/brave_reaction_4968 wrote: “I would take intermittent Kev if the actor doesn’t want to be tied down. You know, rocks up every couple years, causes absolute chaos, pulls something amazing out of the bag, and bobs off again. He’s a positive chaos demon, and I’m here for it.”

u/carinreyan replied: “Agreed! I’d rather he remain a character who only makes occasional appearances to rock the proverbial boat and then disappears again. My ‘fear’ is that, if he comes permanent, they’ll have to address the ‘Lewis’ situation and he’ll lose the chaotic element of his characterisation somewhat.”

Another viewer, u/1hannariel added: “Literally the best episode of December… Charity, Ross, Kev, Kim, and Joe (I can’t believe I said this) were all great.”