Emmerdale has confirmed that the final chapter to Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) and Tom King’s (James Chase) storyline is set to air next month.
Over the year, fans of the ITV soap have watched in horror at Belle’s suffering at the hands of her husband’s domestic abuse and coercive controlling behaviour.
She has now found the strength to report him to the police, and the storyline will reach its conclusion with an hour-long instalment airing this December.
The special episode will also highlight the real-life voices of domestic abuse victims and survivors.
Emmerdale producer Laura Shaw said: ‘When we first embarked on this journey we knew we wanted to show domestic abuse, coercive control and manipulation in all its guises.
‘The privilege we have on a drama such as Emmerdale is being able to show the reality of a situation like Belle’s over a longer period of time to authentically reflect what so many people go through in real life on a daily basis.’
While she stopped short of revealing the outcome of the episode, Laura hinted that Belle will get justice.
‘We knew from the outset that Belle would need some sort of closure on Tom and we know our Emmerdale audience always look forward to our villains getting their comeuppance,’ she said.
We don’t want to spoil the outcome of this story and reveal what will happen to Tom, but needless to say, Belle’s going to be in a much better place by this Christmas.’
Lindsay Oliver CEO of New Beginnings Peer Support added: ‘When Emmerdale explained they hoped to include the real life testimonies of domestic abuse victims and survivors within these scenes we knew it would be the truest way for them to authentically close this storyline.
‘We have been on board with this story since 2023 when Emmerdale first approached us about depicting a cohesive and controlling relationship on the series. We are pleased Emmerdale have highlighted and are continuing to showcase this issue right to the end. And we hope these final episodes will continue to raise awareness about domestic abuse, controlling relationships and the fact there is help out there.’
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7.30pm on ITV1 and from 7am on ITVX.
