Emmerdale's Jimmy King, played by Nick Miles, died on the ITV soap on Thursday after a crash, with fans referencing the 'King curse' on the show. Nick Miles has left the role after 22 years.
Some may say it was inevitable given the so-called King curse. Every member, or almost every member, of the King family have died brutal deaths across the last 20 years. Jimmy is no different, and he's the third King brother to die in a car accident. Fans are furious that they have killed off the last surviving King brother after over 20 years on screen.
Fan Reactions and the Sadie King Return
So has the soap made a big error here in their efforts to have a shocking and heartbreaking demise for a loved character? Some say curse, others might say easy pickings, bad writing or maybe the character just ran his course.
What's most irritating is Jimmy's iconic ex Sadie King, played by Patsy Kensit, is about to return to the show. Why on Earth are we missing out on the reunion of all reunions? We've been deprived of Jimmy and Sadie onscreen together, and Nicola's reaction. Of course, we don't doubt the soap bosses have something up their sleeves, and Sadie's return will still be fabulous, and also relevant.
Some fans might be asking why she's coming back if Jimmy's gone. More will be revealed very soon, and trust us, Sadie's comeback is not one to miss, it's great. BUT should we have at least seen Jimmy and Sadie together for one last time?
The King Family's Tragic History
Jimmy and Sadie debuted back in 2004 along with the rest of the family. Jimmy's brothers Matthew and Carl and their father Tom King arrived and took over Home Farm. A year later they were joined by younger brother Max, and this is where the repeated tragedy began.
Max was killed in a car crash involving warring Sugden brothers Robert and Andy. A year later, Tom was murdered when he was shoved out of a window. Then Matthew died in a car crash in 2008, after trying to kill his own sibling Carl. Villain Carl was then murdered in 2012 during a live episode, while Tom's widow Rosemary also died, offscreen in 2007.
In 2023, the return of Carl's son Tom King Jr revealed that Tom's mother, Carl's ex, Colleen King had died offscreen from a heart attack. Tom himself isn't dead, but is in prison after he abused and tried to kill his wife Belle Dingle.
Jimmy's Final Moments
Over the years, Jimmy hasn't shied away from scandals. His marriage to Nicola King has hit so many rocks, and he's had kids with two other women, Kelly Windsor and Juliette Holliday. His daughter Angelica, who he shares with Nicola, accidentally killed her friend Heath Hope in a car accident too, not so long ago.
So perhaps with so much doom and gloom in his family, it was destiny that Jimmy would go the same way! More recently, Jimmy and Nicola have been looking to the future, even planning to renew their wedding vows. Jimmy had not disclosed to Nicola about his financial troubles though.
There was no time to reveal this as just as he planned a surprise for his wife, Jimmy crashed into the wedding marquee where Joe Tate and Dawn Taylor were having a heart-to-heart. It's not yet been explained why he crashed. Nicola was with him in his final moments, telling Jimmy she loved him and holding his hand, as he imagined their vow renewal. With Jimmy gone, Nicola wept before fleeing the marquee just as it exploded.
Was Killing Off Jimmy the Right Call?
Jimmy is definitely dead, with actor Nick written out of the show by bosses. But should Jimmy have died, or even been axed for that matter? Fans are furious and rightly so.
We finally have a couple in a soap whose marriage lasts longer than five minutes, who have a backstory, a history, and who are likely to stick it out. But now that couple has gone. Perhaps there came a point where there wasn't much more to write for the character, and having Jimmy die will produce some new content or storylines for those linked to him. But does this justify killing off an iconic character who has been on the show for two decades?
Fans don't think so, with some saying the character has been "done dirty". It feels like an unnecessary death, and there are other deaths that could have had the same impact. Maybe it would have been more of a shock and more impactful if it hadn't been leaked months ago. The anger from viewers would have remained the same though, with fans furious that he "didn't get the ending he deserved".
Some fans argued that if Jimmy had to go, why couldn't the door have been left open for him? Some also commented that of all the characters on the show that they'd want to be killed off, Jimmy wasn't one of them. So has Emmerdale got this one right, or should this latest twist have been avoided? Have your say in the comments section below!
