The following article contains spoilers from the episode of Emmerdale dated October 19. It hasn’t aired on ITV1 yet, but can be viewed on ITVX and YouTube.
Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) was given some horrendous news in Emmerdale today – Tom King (James Chase) is being released from prison.
In 2024, Tom was sentenced to three years behind bars after physically and psychologically abusing Belle.
In the time he’s been in prison, Belle has moved forward and healed.
As today’s episode opened, she was at Wishing Well with boyfriend Kammy Hadiq (Shebz Miah). The duo were chatting to Lydia and Sam Dingle (Karen Blick and James Hooton) about Cain Dingle’s (Jeff Hordley) recent fishing trip, and generally enjoying the calm morning.
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Belle and Kammy’s morning was far too quiet for two characters living in the middle of the most dramatic village in Yorkshire.
And we all know the rules of soapland: when things seem to be going suspiciously well, it’s usually only a matter of time before disaster comes knocking. Sure enough, their peaceful morning was shattered by the arrival of a liaison officer, whose news threatened to change everything for Belle and Kammy.
The woman told Belle and her family that Tom will soon be released from prison. Due to licencing conditions, Tom cannot legally come anywhere near Belle once he’s out, but she knew that wouldn’t stop him from meddling.
In the café, an overwhelmed Belle updated Nicola King (Nicola Wheeler). She then spoke to Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin), who revealed that he’s been seeing Tom in prison in his role as the chaplain.
Belle was absolutely horrified when Charles said that Tom is a changed man, and wants to seek her forgiveness. There wasn’t a great deal of consideration from Charles as to how his comments would make Belle feel. It was hard to not assume that he had taken Tom’s side.
Panicking over the fact Tom had gotten inside Charles’ head, Belle felt as though she was losing control over the situation already.
Back at home, Belle told Kammy that she needs to visit Tom in prison because, according to her, that was a far better option than sitting around and waiting for him to do something.
Poor Kammy didn’t know how to help Belle.
Will things get any better for her once Cain discovers what’s going on?
Discussing his return to the show, James added: ‘Stepping back into Tom’s shoes is a responsibility I don’t take lightly. He is a character driven by obsession and a desperate need for control, and it is both fascinating and challenging to step back into that mindset.
‘The audience knows exactly who he is and what he is capable of, so the challenge now is to show the lengths he is willing to go to in order to get what he wants, even if it means dismantling Belle’s life all over again. It’s a dark path, and I’m ready to see how far Tom will push it.’