Joe and Kim got a huge shock tonight

Graham Foster, Kim Tate and Joe Tate being in the same Emmerdale room in 2026 was not on our bingo card, but we are loving it!

Graham’s return from the dead has been one of Emmerdale’s biggest talking points this year. But let’s be honest, everything has been building towards one moment. Graham coming face to face with Kim Tate.

Tonight’s episode (Tuesday January 27) delivered exactly that, and then some. Over-the-top, deliciously dramatic and unapologetically camp, it was classic Emmerdale at its very best. And now the big question is simple. What on earth happens next?
Graham once again went to visit Rhona tonight (Credit: ITV)

Graham back in Emmerdale tonight

Ever since Graham’s shock return during Corriedale earlier this month, viewers have been counting down the days until Kim discovered the truth. Until now, Graham had vanished once again, leaving Rhona trying and failing to get answers from him.

Tonight, he resurfaced quietly, waiting for Rhona in the vets. He reassured her that despite everything, he did not kill Ray. As viewers know, that grim truth belongs to Bear Wolf, another character previously thought dead.

Just as Graham explained that he backed off once Rhona told him to, Joe Tate stormed into the surgery looking for her advice about a horse for Kim. With Graham forced to hide, a flustered Rhona tried to hurry Joe out. Naturally, Joe chose that moment to open up, admitting he thought he’d seen Graham and then confessing how much he missed him.

Graham heard every word.

It was clear that Joe and Kim playing happy families struck a nerve, even if Graham tried to pretend otherwise. But Rhona wasn’t convinced, questioning why he was really back in the village.
Joe and Kim were blindsided by Graham’s Emmerdale return (Credit: ITV)

Graham reveals himself to Kim and Joe in Emmerdale

It didn’t take long for Graham to make his move however.

Over at Home Farm, Joe was telling Kim about a horse he’d found, a direct descendant of her beloved Ice. Kim wasn’t interested. Ice was gone, she said, and best left as a happy memory.

As the opera music swelled, Kim delivered the line: “I don’t believe you can bring the dead back to life.”

That was Graham’s cue.

“That, Kim, is where you are so wrong,” he said smoothly, stepping out of the shadows.

Cue the dramatic crescendo, stunned silence and jaws hitting the floor. A perfectly pitched moment that felt made for the history books.
Graham looking dashing (Credit: ITV)

Everything explodes!

Kim and Joe were left reeling. Kim had Graham cremated, or so she thought. Seeing him alive again was almost impossible to process. The question now is who is struggling more with that reality.

The last time Kim saw Graham alive, she was plotting to have him killed. Those feelings don’t just disappear overnight. As Emmerdale fans know, love and hate often sit dangerously close together.

Some viewers are convinced Graham is back to finish Kim for good. Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen, but anticipation is sky high.

Fans were buzzing after the episode aired. “I knew it would end on that cliffhanger, can’t wait for tomorrow,” wrote one on X.

Another praised the show’s form, saying: “Emmerdale really is in a class by itself right now. Fantastic writing, compelling storytelling and brilliant pacing.”

One viewer summed up the mood perfectly: “Tomorrow I kind of want a full twenty minutes of Joe and Graham. And Kim, I guess.”

Honestly? Same.