After Emmerdale’s Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) saw Victoria Sugden (Isabel Hodgins) covering up her murder of John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth) during Corriedale, he realised just how much power he was holding in his hands.

He wasted no time in heading to the Sugden household to confirm he had evidence that Vic had killed her brother. Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) asked what Joe wanted – because there’s always something – and he said their farm.

Feeling as though they had no other choice, the siblings agreed to give Joe their farmland for free. Afterwards, Joe then headed to see Celia Daniels (Jaye Griffiths) for rent money.

When Joe arrived, he couldn’t find Celia, unaware that she’s actually dead. He decided to snoop around the kitchen, and made a discovery in the process.

Joe found an envelope full of passports that ultimately confirmed Celia had been using illegal workers on her farm. He took it back to Home Farm and showed Robert later in the day. Joe told him to plant the items at Butler’s, so Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb) would get framed for the crime.

Celia is Kim Tate’s (Claire King) tenant, so Joe immediately knew this wouldn’t look good for the family if the truth got out. Alongside this, the Tates are hoping to buy all of the land that surrounds Home Farm, and Joe realised if Moira was destroyed, they could swoop in and get Butler’s from her.

In tonight’s episode, Kim had got word about the true extent of Celia’s operation, including how she’s been using Paddy Kirk’s (Dominic Brunt) father as a slave. She relayed this information to Joe and Robert, who both had to contain their horror so Kim didn’t get suspicious.

When Kim left, Robert railed at Joe for forcing him to frame Moira for all of Celia’s crimes. Joe was just standard Joe though – he didn’t react with guilt, he simply told Robert that he can’t pretend he’s got a backbone, as he’s currently helping his sister cover up a murder.

The start of 2026 hasn’t been easy for Moira and Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley) – and things are only going to get worse.

‘The Dingle family are set to face huge repercussions and Cain is at the centre of a major prostate cancer storyline spanning across 2026′, producer of the show Laura Shaw said.