Joe Tate (Ned Porteous) takes his cruelty to a new level in Emmerdale next week when he bans Billy Fletcher (Jay Kontzle) and Dawn Taylor's children from her funeral, leaving Billy staggered beyond belief.
The Home Farm favourite has been consumed by grief since Dawn (Olivia Bromley) died on the day she was due to marry him. Jimmy King (Nick Miles) swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle and drove straight through the wedding marquee, leading to Dawn being taken to Hotten General where she went into labour early and welcomed a baby boy.
Her joy was short-lived as she suffered a postpartum haemorrhage and died in emotional scenes, leaving Joe unable to be around his newborn son.
Joe's shocking decision
Earlier this week, Kim Tate (Claire King) convinced Joe to visit the baby, but he later stunned his family by announcing he was putting the newborn up for adoption. Billy was taken aback and urged Kim to make Joe reconsider.
As attention turns to planning Dawn's funeral, emotions run high, and Billy is left staggered by Joe's next move. In a spoiler video from Thursday's (September 17) episode, Billy rails at Joe for banning not only him but also Dawn's beloved children Clemmie and Lucas from the funeral.
Billy urges Joe to reconsider, promising to stay away if Clemmie and Lucas are allowed to attend, but Joe makes it clear he will not change his mind.
Ruby's intervention fails
Ruby Miligan (Beth Cordingly) overhears the discussion and is appalled, but her efforts to help prove fruitless, with Billy reminding her that Dawn would not be dead if she and Caleb (William Ash) had not delayed their plans to flee.
Subsequent scenes will see Ruby pay Joe a visit, but it remains unclear whether she can break through his grief and make him see sense.
Emmerdale airs these scenes on Thursday September 17 at 8pm on ITV1 or streams from 7am on ITVX and YouTube.
