It’s not long since Dawn Taylor (Olivia Bromley) aimed a gun at her fiancé Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) ready to pull the trigger in Emmerdale.
Now she’s taking violent action on Graham Foster (Andrew Scarborough). These are the actions of a desperate woman.
She’s desperate because she believes Joe is the one to have left ex husband Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) with a brain injury and she’s terrified. Only, he didn’t.
Billy also believed this lie as it was put into his head by Caleb Miligan (Will Ash), until he learned that it was actually Kev Townsend (Chris Coghill) who dented his skull. But did he tell Dawn? Of course not.
Instead, he suggested they run away to Spain together, a plan made possible with Caleb’s backing, who’ll do anything to see Joe destroyed without having to get his hands physically dirty.
Dawn didn’t take much persuading, anyway, having prepared herself to leave Joe previously when she learned about the true depths of his dark side. He won her back around, but not this time.
Caleb was not amused to find out that Billy had dropped the police charges against Joe for the attack at the depot, but he perked right back up when he heard the rest of Billy’s plan – to destroy Joe’s life instead.
Caleb relayed this to Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly), who also agreed it was a good idea and warned Caleb that to make it successful, he should ensure Dawn is never found. Ominous.
The day of the wedding rolls around and Graham tries to assure Joe all will go well. His fake smile tells another story.
Dawn is on a knife edge as her plan starts to come together, all made more difficult as Kim is back, making it all the trickier to drop a bomb in Joe’s life and let it explode. She uses the memory of her dad to keep her guilt at bay and get Kim out of the way.
Billy is also battling his conscience knowing that things might be different for Dawn if she knows Joe didn’t hit him.
But there’s a variable neither Dawn or Billy had considered – Lucas.
Some clever questioning from a suspicious Graham sees Lucas fold like a piece of paper and confess the escape plan. Now Graham knows he’s got something to interrupt.
Graham catches Dawn outside of the stables packing suitcases into the car while on the phone to Billy. He’s flabbergasted that Dawn would do this, but Dawn asserts that Joe’s a wannabe killer and she needs to protect herself. But Graham has a brain teaser for her – how could Billy be so sure his attacker was Joe when he was hit from behind?
The thought is troubling for Dawn, because Graham has a point.
‘It changes everything for her,’ actress Olivia Bromley tells Metro. ‘She doesn’t want to leave him, she deeply loves the man.’
But without enough time to truly reflect on his words, Dawn’s desperation wins out as Graham tries to snatch her keys. She snatches a shovel and whacks him over the head. Now’s her chance to escape. She leaves Graham trussed up like a Sunday roast and heads for the road.
But with the promo showing Dawn in funeral garb, do her and Billy both make it out alive?
