Emmerdale spoilers follow.
The race is on for Kim Tate on Emmerdale next week, as she tries to talk a grief-stricken Joe out of giving his baby boy up for adoption.
Both she and Graham Foster know that Joe is acting rashly and will almost certainly live to regret putting Baby Tate up for adoption. Given her own heartbreaking history, Kim is determined not to let Joe make the same mistake she did. But with the decision in a devastated Joe’s hands, can Kim help him see the light?
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“Kim and Graham know that Joe is out of his mind with grief,” explains Claire King, who plays the Tate matriarch. “He’s just lost his wife, and he’s looking at the baby thinking, ‘This baby caused my wife’s death’, in a very illogical manner. But when you are grieving, it hits in different ways.”
Joe has sworn that he won’t accept his son and bans any of the family from visiting the baby in hospital, much to Kim’s heartbreak.
Determined to stop this from happening, Graham issues Joe with an ultimatum, telling him that if he goes through with the adoption, he will walk out of his life forever.
So, when Joe arrives at Home Farm with the baby, Kim dares to hope Graham’s words have cut through…
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“When Joe brings the baby home, it’s to tell Kim that it’s to say goodbye and that he’s going to have him privately adopted,” reveals Claire. “She’s absolutely heartbroken. Kim is against the adoption because of what she went through 27 years ago relating to her giving her baby away, or being forced to give her baby away, but we’ll be exploring that later on. Kim is desperate.”
However, with Joe’s mind made up, there’s little she or Graham can do to stop the inevitable happening. What’s more painful for them all is that Graham has to make good on his promise to leave Joe’s side, so Kim must say goodbye to him, too.
“It leaves Kim bereft,” shares Claire. “Graham, the man she likes, works with and has been married to, is now leaving. Even though there’s little trust between them at the moment, and they have to rebuild that, they are allies. So, with Joe in such a state, Kim is kind of left on her own at Home Farm.”
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As Graham takes Baby Tate and leaves, it’s just Joe and Kim under Home Farm’s roof, and the emptiness is unbearable.
“Kim had this dream of a family, and to see it falling apart is devastating for her – she doesn’t know which way to turn,” sighs Claire. “This baby is a Tate, and Kim wants to hold on to the Tate name, expand the family and take in anyone who’s related to her. The lioness comes out, and she wants to protect them and keep them safe. There’s a very rocky road ahead for Kim…”
Emmerdale airs on weeknights at 8pm on ITV1, and streams on ITVX.
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