Emmerdale's Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) has taken his grief to a devastating new level by banning Dawn Taylor's (Olivia Bromley) children and her ex-partner Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) from her funeral, before revealing he has buried Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly) alive in a coffin.
Joe, who lost his one true love a few weeks ago, has been spiralling since Dawn's sudden death. After Jimmy King (Nick Miles) crashed his car into a wedding marquee, Dawn and Joe were rushed to hospital. Although Dawn initially seemed to have escaped the crash and subsequent explosion relatively unscathed, she went into early labour, causing worry, but her tiny newborn son survived. Everything felt hopeful for Dawn and Joe – which meant catastrophe was most certainly waiting for them. When Joe left Dawn's ward room to get some water, she took a nap. Joe returned, but very quickly discovered that Dawn had died in her sleep.
Joe's Spiteful Funeral Decision
Consumed by his own grief, Joe has been unable to support Dawn's children in the aftermath of their mum's death. He recently told Clemmie and Lucas that they'd be moving in with Billy Fletcher, and that they'd no longer be welcome at Home Farm with little Evan.
In today's episode, Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin) visited Kim Tate (Claire King) to discuss Dawn's funeral arrangements. Joe then entered and stated that Dawn would be buried on Home Farm land, and that Charles and the church wouldn't be involved. Later though, an irritated Joe told Kim to speak to Charles and arrange the funeral through him after all. Wound up, he announced that he would be the only person at Dawn's farewell, banning Billy and the children.
Joe's Revenge on Caleb and Ruby
The day of Dawn's funeral won't be a time for reflection and an emotional goodbye for Joe, as he remains hellbent on destroying Caleb and Ruby Miligan (William Ash and Beth Cordingly). Joe believes that Caleb and Ruby are the reason Dawn is dead. In upcoming episodes, he will take pleasure in telling Caleb that his wife is in danger.
Caleb pushes Joe for answers, and he eventually reveals that he has buried Ruby alive in a coffin. Horrifying. Can Caleb find Ruby in time?
